Armstrong State University’s Center for Applied Cyber Education recently held the 2016 Summer Cyber Camp in conjunction with the Air Force Association’s CyberPatriot Camp curriculum, awarding $95,000 worth of cybersecurity certification scholarships to 16 rising high school juniors and seniors. Fourteen students were local, representing seven schools in the Savannah community. Camp sponsors included Mile2 Cyber Security Certifications and the U.S. Army ROTC, 6th Brigade.
 
As a designated Center of Academic Excellence in Cyber Defense Education by the National Security Agency and the Department of Homeland Security, the Center for Applied Cyber Education’s mission is to reduce vulnerability in the nation’s information infrastructure by promoting higher education opportunities in the cyber field. The high school students received first class, hands-on training about cyber security from a nationally recognized team at Armstrong and participated in a team competition.
 
“We’re working on creating a more cyber-aware and cyber-proficient community in Savannah and the nation,” notes Scott C. Scheidt, director of the Center for Applied Cyber Education. “By giving opportunities to high school students, Armstrong is paving the way for better cyber education among future generations.”
 
The winning team was comprised of three Herschel V. Jenkins High School students and one student from Brunswick High School. Each student received a scholarship for a six-month cloud-based course, Fundamentals of Information Security, in addition to three certification courses: Certified Incident Handling Engineer; Certified Vulnerability Assessor; and Certified Secured Sentinel. The remaining three teams and their members were all awarded various certifications based on their final rankings. Total awards to all participants equaled $95,000.
 
“Due to this exposure to cyber education at Armstrong, all of students expressed interest in pursuing cyber defense studies at the collegiate level,” says Scheidt. “That process will be made easier thanks to the camp and to Armstrong’s recent signing of a memorandum of understanding with the U.S. Army Cyber Center of Excellence at Fort Gordon to develop cyber curriculum for training the next generation of the National Cyber Workforce.”