written by Taylor Massey
It’s not often that a new club starts up at the high school, but this year,
multiple nationwide clubs have started a chapter in Republic. One of these
clubs is called CyberPatriot, which is a program designed by the Air Force
to encourage middle and high school students to pursue careers in
cybersecurity, science, technology, or mathematics.
At the high school level, students participate in a number of competitions
on the weekends. These competitions showcase different simulations that the
participants work through. The Monday before the competition, the names of
the simulations are given to the participants, which gives them time to
effectively prepare for what they could end up seeing that weekend.
At Republic, the CyberPatriot team is made up of Juniors Colton Swanson and
Jocelyn West. Only having two students on the team has made competitions
tougher. They must still complete every simulation, assignment, and quiz
just as any other team in the division they are competing in. These teams
could have up to four more team members.
“For competitions, we come into the school over the weekend. We are then
given six hours to complete three to four simulations, the Packet Tracer
assignment, and the quiz. With only Colton and me on the team, it can be
very challenging trying to get it all done, but I enjoy the experience,”
said West.
One competition left this year is the National Finals. Usually, the top 28
teams from each semifinal division are invited to this prestigious event.
Teams who qualify will compete in their respective divisions for a National
Championship at this final competition. The event was set to take place
from March 18-22 in Bethesda, Maryland, but due to COVID-19 concerns, this
event was moved to a virtual platform on March 19-21.
On January 22 and 23, both Swanson and West participated in the Gold
Division of Round 3. They made it to the Gold Division based on their
previous scores in Rounds 1 and 2. Unfortunately, scores have not been
released for this round yet.
“Our competition this last weekend was very challenging and definitely
tested our skills. I learned a lot and was very proud to be placed in the
gold division for the competition,” said West.
West also commented on being a part of CyberPatriot during its first year.
“We tried to get CyberPatriot started up last year and faced some
challenges, but it has all been worth it for the amazing experience this
year has brought getting the program running. I would encourage anyone
interested in cybersecurity or technology to join us next year.”
