HUSD students place gold, silver, in Air Force Association’s Cybersecurity competition

HEMET, Calif. — On January 23, 2021, students enrolled in Cybersecurity at Hemet High School finished in the gold and silver tiers at the Air Force Association’s Cyberpatriot state competition.

Over 3,000 students from across the nation competed in CyberPatriot, the National Youth Cyber Education Program created by the Air Force Association to inspire K-12 students toward careers in cybersecurity or other science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) disciplines.

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During the competition, Hemet High School students were grouped into two teams, The Cybears and the Stop Cyber Boolean. Both teams were sent to virtual breakout rooms where they were tasked with identifying and fixing vulnerabilities in Windows, Windows Server, and Ubuntu or Debian images. The images were self-graded, alerting students each time they did something right or wrong.

As a part of the competition, students also completed a packet tracing exercise and quiz that was scored by Cisco. The Cybears team finished in the gold tier and included students Nahum Pina, James Simon, Salem Walsh, and Miranda Martinez. Stop Cyber Boolean finished in the silver tier and included students Mckenna Galetta, Robert Novarro, Andrew Bonano, Trevor Castetter, Conner Lugo, and Chayton Helms.

“Students prepared by meeting Thursday mornings, studying on their own, and giving up six hours every Saturday of practice and competition! It has been a great extracurricular activity during these challenging times,” stated Hemet High School’s cybersecurity instructor and club coach, James Walsh.

The competition gave the students an opportunity to test the skills that they have been learning in class and participate in an activity that was both engaging and relevant. The job outlook for careers in cybersecurity remains high, with California market and labor statistics trends showing a 28.4% job growth for information security analysts through 2026. Opportunities to compete in events like the Air Force Association's Cyberpatriot are a perfect match for hands-on, real world experience.

Congratulations to Cybears and Stop Cyber Boolean for their gold and silver placement in the Air Force Association’s Cyberpatriot state competition!

Submitted by HUSD

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Contact the writer: [email protected]

Trevor Montgomery, 49, moved in 2017 to the Intermountain area of Shasta County from Riverside County and runs Riverside County News Source (RCNS) and Shasta County News Source (SCNS).

Additionally, he writes or has written for several other news organizations; including Riverside County-based newspapers Valley News, Valley Chronicle, Anza Valley Outlook, and Hemet & San Jacinto Chronicle; the Bonsall/Fallbrook Village News in San Diego County; and Mountain Echo in Shasta County. He is also a regular contributor to Thin Blue Line TV and Law Enforcement News Network and has had his stories featured on news stations throughout the Southern California and North State regions.

Trevor spent 10 years in the U.S. Army as an Orthopedic Specialist before joining the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department in 1998. He was medically retired after losing his leg, breaking his back, and suffering both spinal cord and brain injuries in an off-duty accident. (Click here to see segment of Discovery Channel documentary of Trevor’s accident.)

During his time with the sheriff’s department, Trevor worked at several different stations; including Robert Presley Detention Center, Southwest Station in Temecula, Hemet/Valle Vista Station, Ben Clark Public Safety Training Center, and Lake Elsinore Station; along with other locations.

Trevor’s assignments included Corrections, Patrol, DUI Enforcement, Boat and Personal Water-Craft based Lake Patrol, Off-Road Vehicle Enforcement, Problem Oriented Policing Team, and Personnel/Background Investigations. He finished his career while working as a Sex Crimes and Child Abuse Investigator and was a court-designated expert in child abuse and child sex-related crimes.

Trevor has been married for more than 30 years and was a foster parent to more than 60 children over 13 years. He is now an adoptive parent and his “fluid family” includes 13 children and 18 grandchildren.