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As the first school in Broward County Public School district to have such a program, Cypress Bay has objectively the best, most dedicated cybersecurity program. We have an excellent class led by Dr. Jamez Williams, and an incredible student-run extracurricular club that competes in nationwide competitions including the AFA Cyberpatriot and SkillsUSA. Our classes aim to get students industry certified through examinations curated by CompTIA, Microsoft, and other parties.
The cybersecurity program is stationed in room 435, where Dr Jamez Williams oversees student-led discussion and positions the students in a position so that they may learn for themselves, as opposed to being primarialy taught via a whiteboard. Students are able to review a comprehensive textbook and gain some experience with real hardware and software like the kind described on the end-of-year certification the CompTIA A+. This is an extremerly advanced examination, so many students might not feel comfortable enough to take it - those students will take lower skill industry certifications with the options to gain the A+ in the following years. Additionally, as we are part of the Career and Technical Education program, all students have three exam attempts for Pearson's Certiport platform to take available certifications, as well as training for Certiport's Microsoft Office User through GMetrix.
We operate a club after school on most Tuesdays to host interactive "capture-the-flag" events, providing students with real ethical hacking experience, training events to teach club members how to use certain tools, cram sessions before the final certifications to prepare students, and other activites. Students may also gain a place at either CyberPatriot or at SkillsUSA. Both CyberPatriot and SkillsUSA are national contests, and there are a limited number of slots. We offer those slots to anybody willing to learn, both in class and in our club. *Club membership of $35 is highly encouraged, if not required, by all students in the classes. Those students may choose whether or not to attend club events."
Students ask, "what's the point of this class?" - many do not think of Cybersecurity as a field they'd like to go into. However, the CompTIA A+ is an examination on knowledge of computer hardware and software. Students with this certification are more likely to recieve jobs in fields with prominent computer usage, and in their personal lives they never will need to visit the GeekSquad to diagnose problems or upgrade their technology: the course teaches all about computer hardware, software, and interfaces (such as internet, bluetooth, USB, etc). A lot of the students at Cypress Bay have built or want to build their own custom computer, and taking these courses can help you understand not only what the different components are but how they work in tandem to show you cat videos from 10,000 miles across the ocean.
Note: sign in with your 06....@my.browardschools.com, otherwise you cannot fill the form out. You can sign up for the 2020-2021 school year club by visiting this page. You should fill out your course card with cybersecurity 1 if you want to join the classes. You can also fill out this form (the same one), but it is not required as registration will be done in class also.