Cyber Learn-a-thon slated

Mark Urban, The Record-Eagle, Traverse City, Mich.
·3 min read

Feb. 17—TRAVERSE CITY — When 20Fathoms and the Cisco Networking Academy announced a cybersecurity program, it was targeted at career-oriented individuals.

Not that it stopped Newton's Road Executive Director Barb Termaat from asking if high school students could enroll.

Termaat first discovered the grant funding the cybersecurity certificate program was for post-high school graduates. Then she discovered the 14-week CyberOps Associate Program was full.

A few weeks later, Termaat received even better news from instructor Cyndi Millns.

"She said, I can do one with you just for high schoolers," Termaat recalled. "That's how this whole thing got started."

What got started was Newton Road's own partnership with 20Fathoms to present a free Cyber Learn-a-thon for northwest Michigan high school students ages 14-18 in the five-county region.

The course takes approximately 15 hours to complete, any time from Feb. 26 to March 26. According to a release, the self-guided course is designed to teach "how to protect personal data and privacy online and in social media and explores cyber trends, threats and staying safe in cyberspace."

Parents are also welcome to attend the Cyber Learn-a-thon with their children.

"The risk was parents could be nervous about cyber security, hackers, etc." Termaat said. "So we said, 'Why don't you just come and be a part of it?'"

All participants (including parents) who successfully complete the course will be awarded a Cisco Networking Academy Introduction to Cybersecurity digital badge.

Those who complete the course and score at least 70 percent on the final assessment will be entered into a raffle to win Hacker, a cybersecurity logic game. Students need to register with their school email in order to be eligible for the prize or email contactus@newtonsroad.org.

"But only kids are eligible for the prize," Termaat joked.

More information on the class and registration is available at https://www.netacad.com/portal/web/self-enroll/m/course-298485.

Cisco Networking Academy instructor Millns is facilitating the Cyber Learn-a-thon. Millns, who became a full-time resident of Suttons Bay in October, teaches cybersecurity, business and information technology classes at Washtenaw Community College in Ann Arbor.

Termaat said she met Millns a number of years ago and "thinks so highly of her." Termaat worked at the Cisco Networking Academy for 19 years — first in California and then remotely in Arizona and Michigan — before joining Newton's Road in 2019.

In addition to the Cyber Learn-a-thon course, participants can attend a panel of local educators and professionals teaching and using cybersecurity skills.

The panel includes Colin O'Brien from Traverse Bay Intermediate School District's Career-Tech Center, Scott Goethals from Northwestern Michigan Collee, Jeff Mertz from Safety Net and and Salina Olmsted from Munson Healthcare.

Also facilitated by Millns, Termaat said the panel is purposely designed to have two computer information technology educators and two professionals working in the field.

"That way they know about the next steps they can do," Termaat said of the panel.

The panel discussion scheduled for March 9 will be recorded and available to those outside of the class at a later date.

Termaat added Newton's Road has a Career Investigator Platform for students interested in more than 60 STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math) careers. She said the platform "for kids, by kids" can be accessed at www.nwmicareers.org.

More information specifically about a Cyber Security Analyst highlighted at the Cyber Learn-a-thon is available at https://tinyurl.com/NewtonCyberSecurity.

"Cybersecurity careers are growing 2-3 times faster than the average career, and offer exciting career opportunities that pay very well," Termaat said in the release.