Students from the Brooklyn STEAM Center answered our call to become ‘Digital Defenders’

Located at the Brooklyn Navy Yard, the Brooklyn Steam Center is a New York City Department of Education (NYC DOE) high school, focused on Career and Technical Education (CTE). Here, students have the unique opportunity to select one of several career tracks including: Design and Engineering, Film and Media, Computer Science and IT, and Culinary arts & Management — and explore these fields through project-based learning.

Over the course of the six week AccessCyber Apprenticeship program hosted at STEAM, students explored in-demand technologies, gained hands-on experience in tools used by security practitioners, and worked in teams to report their findings on data breaches.

The full day programs led students to earn introductory certificates in:

• Cloud Computing

• SQL

• Computer Networking

• Linux

• Python

• Ethical Hacking

• Project Management

• Security Operations

In addition to technical skills, participants also explored a wide variety of cybersecurity careers, created a cybersecurity resume and learned to use LinkedIn as a valuable career tool. For their final project, students utilized their newly discovered skills to (legally!) break into a website, identify security vulnerabilities, and present their findings. Graduates of the program earned the AccessCyber Digital Security Credential, and a certificate of completion.

One student — an avid gamer — drew parallels between gaming and cybersecurity: “Video games and cybersecurity both require you to solve challenges, think creatively, work with [other players] around the world, usually to stop someone from doing something evil… like cyber crime.“

Another student shared that she had always been discouraged from pursuing tech, some people even went as far as to tell her ‘tech was for boys’: “So, to be honest, I didn’t think I would enjoy this as much as I did — but I think I have a better idea of what I want to study after high school.”

“We’re big fans of the STEAM Center and excited about this partnership. The leadership at STEAM is setting the example for what high school education should look like: Hands-on, project-based, career-focused, relevant. And perhaps the most important metric is one that can’t be readily quantified: students are smiling as they walk down the hallways, eager to get to class. It’s the perfect environment for learning cybersecurity career skills,” says AccessCyber Co-founder, Gotham Sharma.

A number of other organizations around the country are starting to think about cybersecurity career pathways for their students — yet, despite the increased demand, many aren’t sure where to start. Here’s our advice.

• Map curriculum to industry-recognized certifications. A great place to start is CompTIA: Curriculum can be aligned to their relevant certifications, including: Network+, Security+, and the CySa+. Additionally, there are a number of certificates students can complete online, at no cost to learn valuable digital security skills.

• Start with our collection of free resources.

• Create student-led cybersecurity clubs. Clubs help drive engagement and interest in a less formal setting. Connect with industry speakers to present to the group about their career journey or emerging topics in security.

• Assemble an Industry Advisory Board. Ask cybersecurity practitioners for advice. These professionals have their finger on the pulse of the rapidly changing industry, and are in the best position to share what skills students must acquire to remain competitive in cybersecurity.

• Schedule a call with us to discuss your specific needs, and explore our offerings, including professional development workshops for educators, curriculum design, CTE teacher recruitment, career days/ cyber competitions, customized student workshops, and more.