Thank you for your interest in CyberPatriot and the CyberTexas Foundation’s efforts to support and promote this national program.
What is CyberPatriot? CyberPatriot is National Youth Cyber Education Program created by the Air Force Association (AFA) to inspire K-12 students toward careers in cybersecurity or other science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) disciplines critical to our nation’s future. The Air Force Association founded and operates the program.
CyberPatriot challenges teams of high school and middle school students to find and fix cybersecurity vulnerabilities in virtual operating systems. Teams are scored on how secure they make the system using a proprietary competition system. Top teams advance through the online round of competition, and the best of the best advance to the in-person National Finals Competition.
In this portion of the Website you’ll find information valuable to any competing team. You will find a deeper explanation of the competition under the “What is CyberPatriot” section. “Team and Volunteer Registration” will provide you with links to the required registration and background check necessary for adults to register themselves as Coaches, Technical Mentors, and Team Assistant. There is also information on how to register the team members (“competitors”) and the complete team itself. There is a section for “Coaches and Students” with an overview of the competition and further definitions and, finally, a critical “Coach and Mentor Tools” section. This section includes not just training and practice material but also invaluable first-hand guides for Coaches and Mentors created by alumni of the competition with helpful tips on preparing your teams for their tests and the test environment.
Its important to point out the two most influential individuals in the team’s mandated structure are The Coach and the Technical Mentor. A team Coach is responsible for all aspects of a CyberPatriot team’s activities and preparation and is affiliated with the school or organization the team represents (e.g. a teacher or member of the schools’ staff). A person is automatically designated as the coach when he or she creates a team on the registration system. A Mentor, on the other hand,is a cyber-knowledgeable individual who helps CyberPatriot Coaches and teams prepare for the competition. He need not be associated with the team’s school or organization. Mentors serve as technical advisors and role models to CyberPatriot teams. They are encouraged to work with as many teams as possible.
We strongly encourage you to subscribe to our Newsletter to receive information on newly available tools, schedules, upcoming workshops, clinics and other information to help your teams.
Thank you for your interest and let us know what other information you may need.
The CyberTexas Foundation