Talladega County Schools are taking significant strides to address the growing demand for cybersecurity professionals by enhancing their cybersecurity programs. Launched in 2023 in collaboration with Digital Promise which is an educational non-profit, this initiative right now spans four high schools within The Talladega County School District.
Recently, the program secured a huge amount of $2.5 million grant from the Walton Family Foundation which enables it to pair up with the Alabama governor’s workforce office to extend its reach into seven additional counties.
As remarked by Talladega County Schools Superintendent Suzanne Lacey, “Our district is part of a league of innovative schools, which occasionally opens doors for us to introduce new innovations and courses”. She further added that cyber security has turned out to be an excellent opportunity for the students.
The cyber security instructor at Lincoln High School, Brian Kelly has focused on the importance of engaging students in the cybersecurity field at an early stage to prepare them for the workforce. Kelly also stated that as soon as they are able to capture the interest of the students, more contributions to national security can be made.
As per data, CyberSeek has revealed that Alabama has approximately 8,000 unfilled cybersecurity positions while the national figure is somewhere over 400,000. The students who have also enrolled in the Talladega program are created to help bridge the gap.
Participants in the program gain skills in problem-solving, effective threat identification and data log analysis. Graduates can seamlessly transition into the workforce, taking up roles in IT or network setup or they may opt to further their education at a two or four-year college. To date, around 100 students have engaged with the program in Talladega, those who finish it can earn a CompTIA Security Plus Certification. There is a chance of additional certifications as the program grows.
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