Tri-County Students’ Win Gold and Silver in CyberPatriot Competition

Back Row: (L to R)William Godfrey (Seekonk) Corey Ball (Medway) Conor Cadorette (Franklin)Seated: (L to R)Cayden Bourassa (Seekonk) John Raymond (Franklin)

Tri-County Regional Vocational Technical High School CIS sophomores and juniors competed in the state round of the CyberPatriot competition in December. CyberPatriot is an educational program created by the Air & Space Force Association to inspire K-12 students toward careers in cybersecurity or other science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) disciplines that are critical to our nation’s future.

At the core of the program is the National Youth Cyber Defense Competition, the nation’s largest cyber defense competition that tasks middle and high school students nationwide to secure virtual networks. The statewide competition was held on December 9, 2022 and two teams from Tri-County RVTHS placed in the Silver and Gold Level of the State Competition. The Competition iscomprised of several rounds and teams are slotted into Silver, Gold, or Platinum tiers after the first two rounds. 

Sophomores: Conor Cadorette from Franklin, Corey Ball from Medway, William Godfrey from Seekonk, John Raymond from Franklin, and Cayden Bourassa from Seekonk placed 1 st in the Silver Level and will move onto semi-final regionals to be held January 20th and 21st. Juniors: Tristan Poirier from North Attleboro, James O’Brien from North Attleboro, Noah Renner from Norfolk, Troy Casto of Seekonk, Sean Vengren of Walpole, and Cameron Jones of Plainville placed 8 th in the Gold Level.

The CyberPatriot competition allows students to gain hands-on experience of securing a virtual network. Students are asked to find and fix cybersecurity vulnerabilities in virtual operating systems then using a proprietary competition system, teams are scored on how secure they make the system. “The CyberPatriot Competition is an opportunity for students to apply the knowledge they have gained in the classroom to a simulated real-world situation. Studentsgain experience and confidence through the program which is invaluable,” stated Kimberly Zogalis, CIS Instructor.