The Carrollton High School Air Force JROTC CyberPatriot team concluded the state-level competition as the highest-scoring Air Force program. Team members pictured, from left, are Kenia Galves-Hernandez, Alexa Gibbs, Austin Ennis, Landon Peace, Venkata Koppireddy, and Esteysy Cruz. Not pictured: Ashley Perez-Garcia.
Carrollton High School’s CyberPatriot team celebrates another successful year, advancing two teams to national competition: the Air Force JROTC team, which finished the year as the top-scoring Air Force team in the state, and the all-girls team, which will compete in the civilian sector. Both groups will compete in the national semifinals on Friday, Jan. 23.
CyberPatriot, an educational program created by the Air and Space Forces Association, was established to inspire K-12 students to pursue careers in cybersecurity or other science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) disciplines critical to the nation’s future. At the core of the program is the National Youth Cyber Defense Competition, the nation’s largest cyber defense competition that puts high school students in charge of securing virtual networks.
Coached by CHS teacher Robby Blakemore, the JROTC team members include Kenia Galves-Hernandez, Austin Ennis, Landon Peace, Alexa Gibbs, Esteysy Cruz, Ashley Perez-Garcia, Christian Perez, and Venkata Koppireddy. These participants are members of the school’s Air Force JROTC program.
Computer science students competing on the all-girls team are Lucy Slappey, Alaina Dhople, Tanya Aggarwal, Megan Ou, and Juliet Browning.
“The CyberPatriots team works incredibly hard to apply the skills they’ve learned to this competition, and they have proven themselves to be strong contenders at the state level,” said CHS Principal Ian Lyle. “We look forward to celebrating their continued success.”
In anticipation of the national competition, Coach Blakemore reflected on the program’s growth.
“This year’s team continued to reach new heights for our program,” Blakemore said. “We are led by six seniors, and we are hoping to finish their last season on a high note.”
Should the Trojans win their semifinal match on Friday, they will advance to the national championship on March 20-24 in Bethesda, Maryland.
