Girls from Sacred Hearts Academy have discovered their hidden talent for cybersecurity this year with an exciting Governor backed program, Girls Go CyberStart, designed to bridge the cybersecurity skills gap in the US. During the program, girls across the country competed in a series of digital games and challenges to see if they have what it takes to make it in the cybersecurity industry.
Over ten thousand girls across 27 states took part in the first stage of the program, CyberStart Assess. At the end of that round, 6,600 girls performed so highly that they received invitations to take part in the second round, CyberStart Game.
Running until June 28, CyberStart Game pits teams against a series of increasingly difficult cybersecurity challenges to win points for their school.
For the first month of CyberStart Game, girls applied their cyber skills to accumulate points, vying to be one the schools invited to the third and final stage. Last week Sacred Hearts Academy girls found out their score qualified them for The National Championship for Girls Go CyberStart 2019. Here 120 school teams, each comprised of 4 girls, are set to compete in a national online ‘Capture the Flag’ competition, which runs June 5 – June 7.
The top-scoring teams in this final round, both nationally and per state, will win cash prizes for students and their schools. An additional ten high school juniors and /or seniors from Hawaii with high scoring CyberStart Game scores will also be awarded $500 each in college scholarships.
“We’re so proud of the 50 girls who have worked so hard to get through to this stage. We always knew Sacred Hearts Academy had the talent to shine and these girls are proving that to the whole country.” -Deborah Kula, Sacred Hearts Academy
“I think GirlsGoCyberStart is a really great opportunity for girls to be exposed to aspects of cybersecurity with challenges that can be applied in the real world.” -Ayana Arnobit, '19, Team Captain
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