Codecraft Foundation, Brevard Public Library, and Northrop Grumman Team up to Empower Middle School Students in Cybersecurity

2023-05-31

Brevard County Students Finish #2 in State Round Competition and Summer Camp for Beginners at Brevard Public Library in Cocoa

Cocoa, FL, May 31, 2023– The Brevard Public Library, Codecraft Foundation, and Northrop Grumman have teamed up to host, mentor, and introduce a new group of middle school students to the high-tech possibilities available to them in cybersecurity. Two new US CyberPatriot competition teams were formed that finished very strong in the final Florida state round of the competition.

The Brevard County student competitors attended free weekly meetings and monthly competitions at the Catherine Schweinsberg Rood Central Library. The two teams competed against 938 other teams from across the country, and eventually placed 2nd and 11th overall in the state of Florida Middle School Division. This is a great accomplishment for these new teams and a testament to their hard work and dedication as well as that of the incredible community of stakeholders that made this possible.

The Air Force Association’s US CyberPatriot competition is a national youth cyber defense competition that challenges middle and high school students to manage a small company network. Students compete in teams of 2 - 6 and are evaluated on how well they can find and protect against known vulnerabilities on a virtual network.

The Codecraft teams were well prepared for the competition. They trained for months and built a new, deep understanding of the material. They were also able to work well together as a team.

In the final round of the competition, the teams were tasked with defending a virtual network from a series of attacks. The teams had to identify and fix vulnerabilities, as well as respond to attacks in real time.

The Codecraft teams performed very well in the final round. They were able to identify and fix many of the vulnerabilities and successfully defend their network from the attacks. This is a great accomplishment and a testament to their hard work and dedication.

“We are so proud of these young students for their hard work and dedication,” said Volunteer US CyberPatriot Coach, Gilberto Creque. “They have shown great enthusiasm for learning and technical skill in network administration and security, and we are confident that they will continue to excel in this field.”

Summer CyberCamps

Together with its supporters, Codecraft Foundation and the Brevard Library in Cocoa will offer two one-week long summer camps for students interested in learning about cybersecurity and the US CyberPatriot competition. The camps will be will be open to students in grades 6 - 9 and held at the library during the weeks of June 12th ⎋ and July 10th ⎋.

The camps will cover a variety of topics related to cybersecurity, including:

• Operating systems
• Network administration
• Network security
• Ethical hacking
• Malware analysis
• Cyber forensics
• Related College and Career Paths

Students will also have the opportunity to participate in a mock US CyberPatriot competition.

“Programs like this change lives and create opportunities for the future. Partnerships like this demonstrate how local libraries can change lives and impact the community,” said Wendi Bost, Director of Library Services in Brevard County. “We are so excited to partner with Codecraft Foundation to provide opportunities for youth in our community to engage in digital literacy.”

The camps are a great opportunity for students to learn about cybersecurity and get a taste of the US CyberPatriot competition. The camps are also a great way for students to meet other students who are interested in cybersecurity. No experience is required for the Standard Camp, and some experience is recommended for the Advanced Camp.

To sign up your student for an upcoming, in-person AFA CyberCamp, visit the webpages for the June ⎋ and July ⎋ programs. Or, you can view Codecraft Works’ full list of summer camp offerings at app.codecraftworks.com/programs/type/camp ⎋.