On Saturday, the San Antonio Chamber hosted its sixth annual San Antonio Cyber Cup Awards Luncheon. The annual Cyber Cup Luncheon recognizes the youth who competed in the Air Force Association’s CyberPatriotprogram. The Cyber Cup luncheon brought more than 600 middle school and high school students, their parents, coaches, mentors and industry leaders together to celebrate the dedication and commitment of these students to growing high-level security talents and skills.
A team from the Alamo Academies Information Technology & Security Academy took home the Mayor's Cyber Cup as the best performing team in the local area. Teams from Medina Valley High School and Holmes High School (AFJROTC) were recognized as the top finalists in the Open and Service Division, respectively. Also recognized were the Top Middle School Team (McNair Middle School); the top rookie team (Memorial Early College High School); the top All-Female High School Team (Southwest High School); and the top All-Female Middle School Team (La Vernia Junior High School).
On hand to present the awards, which included trophies, scholarships, Air Force bomber jackets and iPads were San Antonio Mayor Ivy Taylor, Bexar County Judge Nelson Wolff and 24th Air Force Commander, Major General Ed Wilson. The awards event began with a college/career fair that engaged local students with possible avenues to continue their education and training to enter into cybersecurity jobs after graduation.
Both the Alamo Academies ITSA team and the Holmes High School AFJROTC team are moving on to compete in the National Championships of CyberPatriot VIII. These two teams will travel to Baltimore, MD and represent the nearly 200 teams from local San Antonio ISD's that competed this year in CyberPatriot - the most of any one city in the nation.
“[The students here today] let the world know that San Antonio is a great place to gain sophisticated technical skills and to help grow an innovative industry—an industry that is expanding rapidly and needs workers who thrive on hard work and high expectations,” said San Antonio Mayor Ivy Taylor. “If the students before me are any indication, San Antonio is where our next generation of leaders will emerge, where they will build, and where they grow the dreams we have today into the realities of tomorrow.”
A central part of the cybersecurity ecosystem in San Antonio is the robust talent pool that stems from local high schools, colleges and universities, and the federal missions in our community. Globally, the cybersecurity industry continues to face a shortage of qualified workers and programs such as CyberPatriot are helping to engage youth earlier to get them interested in, and committed to pursuing degrees and training in this quickly-growing sector.
The luncheon was hosted by the San Antonio Chamber through its CyberSecurity San Antonio program with our partner the CyberTexas Foundation, who is responsible for the coordination of training clinics and mentor networks that support teams competing from the San Antonio area. The CyberTexas Foundation was given a special recognition at the luncheon from Assistant Special Agent in Charge, James Smith, with the San Antonio FBI Field Office for their work over the past year in improving the environment for students to pursue cybersecurity careers.
To get involved with CyberSecurity San Antonio and/or the local CyberPatriot program please contact Will Garrett (wgarrett@sachamber.org / 210.229.2163).
