Jackson County student earns invite to national cybersecurity academy

JACKSON, MI – A Jackson Area Career Center student has been named a finalist by the National Cyber Scholarship Foundation for his performance in a challenging online cybersecurity training program.

The honor has earned Western High School senior and Jackson Area Career Networking & Cybersecurity student Karson Durocher an invitation to participate in the Cyber Foundations Academy – a multi-week online program based on the nationally-recognized SANS Foundations training course and certification – valued at more than $3,000.

In April, 20 students from the Career Center’s Networking & Cybersecurity program participated in CyberStart America, an immersive cybersecurity training game for high school students that has more than 200 fun-to-play challenges that require them to solve real-world cybersecurity problems.

Students who scored highly in the CyberStart America training program were invited to apply for a scholarship award offered by the NCSF.

More than 45,000 students across the nation competed, with 4,127 having the 20,000 needed points to make it to NCS semifinalist status. In Michigan, 760 students competed, and 64 made it to the NCS semifinalist stage - including Durocher.

“I am proud of the initiative that Karson took in the competition,” said Josh Goodrich, Career Center Networking & Cybersecurity instructor. “While every student was allowed time in class to work on the competition, Karson went above and beyond. Karson took the time and effort to make sure that he was scoring the most points in the class, but leading many people in the state and the nation. The skills that he was practicing and building in the competition will serve him well into the future.”

The National Cyber Scholarship Foundation recognizes high school students who have demonstrated exceptional cybersecurity prowess and who wish to pursue a career in a growing field in critical need of their talent, National Cyber Scholarship Foundation Executive Director David Brown said.

“The NCSF mission is to identify and develop the next generation of cyber professionals,” Brown said. “Each and every student who participated in this competition has the potential to develop their skills and build a successful career in cybersecurity.”

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