On October 13, 30 technology students and Mr. Kevin Papke visited Coastline Community College to learn about the world of cyber security.  Cyber security is a mix of technologies, processes and practices designed to protect networks, computers, programs and data from attack, damage or unauthorized access.

For the whole day students got to learn about cyber security, what it is and what it does.  Project Lead The Way, a non-profit organization that develops STEM curricula for use by U.S. elementary, middle, and high schools, asked Mr.Pake if him and his kids were interested.  “And I said yeah,” said Mr. Papke.  With a total of 30 students, the participants had a hands on experience in finding out what a job in cyber security takes.

While at Coastline Community College, the students listened to a lecture, got a short tour of the computer lab and even played a short game.  That game did not go so well, according to Papke.  “We were the only middle school,” he said, “The Kids really enjoyed it, they learned a lot about the career and had a good time.”

“We went to the auditorium with other college students and there was a game maker there and he presented us with a powerpoint about hacking. Then we went to the hard drive room and walked into the crime scene room, went to lunch then left to go back to school,” said eighth-grader Joselin Nunez.  

Joselin was not interested in a job in cyber security “because you got to study a lot and learn about the drives and how they work. Drives are a computer disk were all the information about the computer is saved.”