San Juan College opens cybersecurity camp for middle school, high school students

Instructor Kevin Beckner stood before his class of several dozen middle school and high school students Monday afternoon and asked his students to name some of the ways they could store their computer passwords without leaving them vulnerable to hackers or identity thieves.

Several hands shot up with suggestions, and over the next few minutes, Beckner and his students discussed those answers – why some of those methods were valid (memorizing them, writing them on a Post-It note and carrying them in your wallet) and some weren’t (sending them in an email to yourself).

The session, which was designed to introduce or refresh the students to some of the basics of cybersecurity, was part of the opening day of activities at the GenCyber Camp on the San Juan College campus. The college is presenting two, one-week free camps this summer, with the sessions designed to increase student awareness of cybersecurity, pique their interest in cybersecurity career opportunities and increase student diversity in cybersecurity college and career-readiness pathways at the K-12 level, according to a news release about the camp.

This is the third time San Juan College has presented the camp, according to Lorenzo Reyes, executive vice president for workforce development at the institution. The event is funded through a $150,000 National Security Agency grant, and the college held back-to-back camps in 2017 and 2018 before they were interrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Reyes said one of the goals of the NSA is providing funding for the camps aligns with one of his institution’s goals — building interest among minority young people in careers that are expected to experience high employee demand in the years to come. Cybersecurity and information technology jobs, Reyes often has said, already are plentiful and are expected to become more so when today’s young students become adults.

San Juan College can help even middle school students put themselves in a position to take advantage of that, he said, with events such as the GenCyber Camp.

“We’re trying to build a going-to-college culture in our future generations,” Reyes said.

The camp is open to students who have completed grades six through 11. For several hours a day over a five-day period, the students take part in hands-on activities, listen to guest speakers, engage in competitions and are exposed to computer architecture, operating systems, network fundamentals and programming.

Reyes said he believes the college made significant progress in building that going-to-college culture through the first two GenCyber camps it presented, noting that approximately 40% of the students who had registered for this year’s camp by late last week were returning students from the first two events. He said that indicates to him that many of those young people already are well down the path of pursuing a college degree in the computer field.

“The last two times, we had significant interest,” Reyes said of the 2018 and 2019 camps, when demand exceeded the number of spots provided for in the NSA grants.

Reyes said the college was able to accommodate most of those extra campers by getting additional funding from the San Juan College Foundation and local businesses.

“It was very hard to say no when you have kids and parents who really want to be a part of this,” he said.

The camp is not just for students interested in cybersecurity or IT, he said. The event offers students a good foundation in those two fields, but it also prepares them to pursue degrees in programming, web design, graphic design, software design and other fields that require advanced computer skills, Reyes said.

Some of the more appealing activities planned for students include the chance to program robots and drones, he said. Reyes acknowledged those activities help whip up initial enthusiasm among young people and expose them to more advanced interests they may wish to pursue later.

“They may not be interested in cybersecurity, but they may be interested in robots,” he said.

The camps also emphasize the building of skills in the areas of teamwork, analysis and communication, Reyes said.

While many young people, especially those as young as middle school students, may not be ready to start thinking about a potential career yet, Reyes said the camp is intended simply to open their eyes to different opportunities they may not otherwise have considered.

“It allows them to expand their horizons and see what the future holds for them,” he said. “Some of them may think, ‘If I was able to do it in the classroom, why not try it in real life?’” he said. “‘I can pursue this, and I can fulfill my dreams.’”

This week’s camp runs through Friday, June 30. The second camp begins Monday, July 10 and continues through Friday, July 14. There are still spots available for the second camp, but students must commit to attending all five days of the program, according to the news release.

To learn more about the program or to register, call the college’s Community Learning Center at 505-566-3214.

Mike Easterling can be reached at 505-564-4610 or measterling@daily-times.com. Support local journalism with a digital subscription: http://bit.ly/2I6TU0e.

This article originally appeared on Farmington Daily Times: San Juan College presents GenCyber Camp for third time with NSA grant