Capitol Tech Kicks Off Summer With Cyber Camp

School’s out – and kids and teens across the country are looking ahead to their summer activities.

For a group of middle and high school students enrolled at Capitol’s Cyber Camp, summer is starting off with exciting cyber games and hacking contests – plus additional activities that are designed to give them a break from the computer screen.

Capitol’s camp, like the Cyber Saturday program held at the university during the school year, aims to introduce young people to the cybersecurity in a fun and exciting way, says Dr. Mary-Margaret Chantré, who is leading the week-long event.

When they’re not learning how to detect and defeat network intruders, camp participants are also getting a chance to stretch their limbs and enjoy some fresh air. Basketball, volleyball, and frisbee are part of the schedule, Chantré notes, and participants are also honing their communications and presentation skills.

“It’s not only about teaching the kids how to get into computers and defending networks. We want them to be well-rounded,” she said. “With many kids these days basically hooked on social media, they’re often not getting out much. I think it’s important to incorporate physical activity into the schedule.”

Meanwhile, Chantré says, the camp also aims to boost the “soft skills” that are needed for career success – even for those going into tech-heavy fields.

“We’re having them work together in groups on small projects, and then give presentations each day,” she said.

Communication skills are particularly important in the cybersecurity profession, according to Chantré. Professionals in the field have to be able to explain what they do. They have to make other employees in an organization, as well as management, aware of what the threats are and how to counter them. With companies always striving to minimize costs, they may have to communicate clearly and effectively about the need not to take shortcuts in protecting assets and data.

A successful cybersecurity professional can’t just hide behind the computer screen, Chantré insists.

“When a company hires a cybersecurity professional, it does so because it wants its data to be secure,” she says. “They don’t want to learn our jobs – that’s why they hire us to do it. But we have to be able to brief them and keep them updated on what’s going on. We have to be able to speak to them in a way that they understand.”

Participants in the June 18-22 camp range from seventh graders to high school graduates. Jamila Parker, a rising senior at Brooke Point High School, said she signed up for the camp after learning about Capitol Tech during a college fair.

“I just became very intrigued by Capitol. The representative explained that cybersecurity is a big focus at this school and told me about the camp. I’m really enjoying it and learning about a lot of new things – metadata, for instance. I was familiar with the term but didn’t know what it really was. Here at the camp, we just did a presentation on it. This is knowledge I’ll be able to take back with me to school.”

Seventh-grader Ned Brooks, the youngest participant, says he signed up because of his interest in computers. “I’m learning about encryption, different distributions of Linux – lots off stuff,” he said.

Capitol will be holding additional camps during the summer, including Advanced Student Cyber Camp from July 9-13, Coding Camp from July 30-August 3, and Gaming Camp from August 6-10. Call (240) 965-2510 for more information or  visit our summer camps page.

Pictured: Jamila Parker, Ned Brooks