EAST GREENWICH HIGH SCHOOL SELECTED FOR THE NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP ROUND OF GIRLS GO CYBERSTART

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Girls from East Greenwich High School 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 East Greenwich High School 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 Rhode Island with high scoring CyberStart Game scores will also be awarded $500 each in college scholarships.

Alan Paller, Research Director at SANS Institute said:

“Congratulations to all the schools through to the National Championship round of Girls Go CyberStart! It’s fantastic to be able to celebrate and bring to light the hidden-talents of high school girls across the US.

“Alongside Governors, the support from schools and teachers has been instrumental in helping us empower a generation of incredible young women to become the next leaders in an industry where they can make a huge difference. We can’t wait to see what this talented groups of students from East Greenwich High School will go on to achieve.”

Holly Eaves, team mentor and Computer Science teacher said:

“We are so proud of these girls who were are to try something new.  Anna Durfey, Kinjal Gupta, Aiza Shaikh and Julia Xu worked so hard to get through to this stage.  They have amazing potential and the Girls GO Cyber Start Competition is giving them the opportunity to shine.”

 Aiza Shaikh said: “Taking part in Girls Go CyberStart has taught me so many new skills and I’ve really enjoyed the challenges.”