Shawnee Mission Cybersecurity Teams Compete in National Semifinals

Shawnee Mission Cybersecurity Teams Compete in National Semifinals
Shawnee Mission School District

The Shawnee Mission School District’s “Hack-CAA” cybersecurity team wrapped up their CyberPatriot season last month as Kansas State Champions and National Semifinalists in the National Youth Cyber Defense Competition. ​

This year’s competition began the season with nearly 3000 teams. After three rounds of competition, Hack-CAA received the program’s first invite to the semifinals where they are expected to finish in the top 100. (Current scores are pending final review)

This is just the second year SMSD has fielded a team for CyberPatriot and their success is a testament to the dedication of the students and the cybersecurity program teacher, Jessica Tickle. 

“We are state champions and now national competitors, and we are proud to represent our district and show what a team that learns by doing can accomplish,” said Tickle. 

During CyberPatriot competitions, students play the role of IT professionals who are responsible for a company’s network. They are asked to find and fix cybersecurity vulnerabilities while keeping the network running smoothly, according to the CyberPatriot website. 

In addition to the high school team’s success, the SMSD also fielded their first middle school team in this year’s competition. “Hill’s Hackers,” a group of Indian Hills students,  was the only middle school team in the state and was also invited to compete in the middle school national semifinals. While the younger  field had fewer teams than the high school division, Hills Hackers are still expected to post an impressive finish in the top 30 of the original 754 teams. 

The teams have a few more competitive events scheduled before they wrap their season in April. Earlier this school year, Tickle was named a recipient of the Presidential Cybersecurity Education Award. This is given to educators who demonstrate exceptional achievement in cybersecurity education. Click here to learn more. 

​CyberPatriot is the National Youth Cyber Education Program created by the Air & Space Forces Association to inspire K-12 students toward careers in cybersecurity or other science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) disciplines critical to our nation's future.