Find it Fast
- Centennial High School
- Homepage
Centennial CyberDogs Continue to Shine on National Stage
Created by the Air Force Association, CyberPatriot is designed to inspire students to pursue careers in cybersecurity or STEM disciplines deemed critical to our nation's future.
A foundation of the program is the National Youth Cyber Defense Competition, which puts high school students in the position of newly hired IT professionals tasked with managing the network of a small company.
Through a series of online competition rounds, teams are given a set of virtual operating systems and are tasked with finding and fixing cybersecurity vulnerabilities while maintaining critical services.
In layman’s terms, keeping intrusive, illegal computer hackers at bay.
Championed by retired Army Major John Freeburg and the Centennial JROTC program he oversees, the Centennial Cyberdogs have, in just two short years, established themselves as “cyber stars.”
On January 23, over the course of six taxing hours, three teams of Cyberdogs virtually matched wits and skills with 5,000 competitor teams in the third and final round of the 2020-21 CyberPatriot competition.
The competition required students to work in Ubuntu, an open-source operating system on Linux, as well as Windows 10. The tasks included removing a selected user from the network, upgrading firewalls, disabling FTP servers and updating various facets of the system.
The Cyberdogs finished this year’s CyberPatriot season in the top 25% nationwide. Three teams competed in the Platinum, Gold and Silver tiers, and the top-finishing unit was the Girls Team, captained by senior Rachel Appenzeller and featuring sophomores Andrea Barredo and Ciara Reyes, and senior Kira Davis.
The team was sponsored by Northrup Grumman and the Air Force Association.
Centennial JROTC Team 1 members are Patrick Scott Barredo, senior; Santana Reyes, junior; and Carolanne Larson, sophomore; with the JROTC Team 2 comprised of Sean DeHeart, senior; and Michael Lamb, junior.
The Cyberdogs will not be resting on their laurels. Next week, the National Cyber League kicks off its spring season and the Centennial computer whizzes will compete individually and on teams against both high school and college units.
“There are no separate divisions, so our students are competing with schools like Michigan State, Cal State, and even our own Colorado State University Pueblo and Pueblo Community College,” Major Freeburg said. “The students’ entry fees have been covered by a grant through PCC.”
The National Cyber Scholarship Competition (CyberStart), a new competition launched by the SANS Corporation and sponsored by the U.S. Army, will take place April 5 and 6.
In 2020, four Cyberdogs – Ciara Reyes, Patrick Barredo, Santana Reyes and Rachel Appenzeller – completed a six-month certification called Fundamentals of the Internet, with a $2,000 National Cyber Center grant fully underwriting the certification process.
“This is the first of many certifications they'll need to work in the field, but at their age, they are really a step ahead of the others working to earn these same certifications,” said Major Freeburg.
“Any industry certifications that the students can garner while still in school not only help them with top-paying job opportunities and access to colleges, it shows that they have achieved a level of maturity and adaptability that an ever-changing job market will be looking for."
Additionally, seven Cyberdogs received sponsored training for the SecurityPro certification. The classes and the final certification test are free, thanks to the National Cyber Center.
Being a Cyberdog provides Centennial students with the real-world experience that can serve as a springboard to a rewarding and well-paying career in the ever-growing world of cybersecurity, cyberforensics and network administration.
“For the field I’m going into, which is forensics, CyberPatriot offers a hint of what I’ll be doing,” said Kira Davis.
With a long-held interest in computers, Sean DeHeart knows very well how in-demand cybersecurity specialists are.
“With technology always changing, I thought CyberPatriot would be a good and interesting path that would definitely help me out in my future,” he said. “I really hope to go into cybersecurity or some sort of computer field in college.”