CyberPatriot Announces Award Winners of 2014 Coach of the Year, Mentor of the Year

ARLINGTON, Va., Aug. 11, 2014 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Air Force Association's CyberPatriot National Youth Cyber Education Program announced today its coach and mentor of the year.  Kenneth Steffey of Winter Park, Florida was named Coach of the Year, and Ron Woerner of Bellevue, Nebraska was named Mentor of the Year.  They were recognized for their work during CyberPatriot VI National Youth Cyber Defense Competition season.

Kenneth Steffey spearheaded recruiting, funding, and teaching efforts for Centurion Battalion, the top CyberPatriot VI Florida team and the top U.S. Naval Sea Cadet Corps team in the nation.  Mr. Steffey was lauded for providing his students realistic, mock competitions routinely and allowing every cadet to gain hands-on experience in fending off cyber attacks.  Additionally, Steffey vigorously advocated for CyberPatriot by organizing training for new Sea Cadet CyberPatriot coaches and constantly promoting the program throughout the nation. 

Mr. Ron Woerner, a professor at Bellevue University in Bellevue, Nebraska, was cited for being deeply involved in his local community and striving to promote STEM educational opportunities. Mr. Woerner prepared his students for the CyberPatriot competition by organizing trips and conferences for his team to attend, such as the AIM Youth seminar at INFOTECH and visiting Omaha's FBI Cyber Crime laboratory.  Woerner also planned and executed the first "Cyber PlusPlus" competition, which hosted nine teams and proved to be popular within the CyberPatriot community.

CyberPatriot National Commissioner Bernie Skoch said, "CyberPatriot would not be possible without the support and dedication from coaches and mentors like Kenneth and Ron.  They are the reason CyberPatriot has become a top-tier STEM competition in the nation and we appreciate all of their hard work.  We are always amazed by the passion that drives individuals to offer their time and resources to promote STEM education to today's youth.  We thank them and all of the volunteers in their efforts to educate and train American students in their journey to become our cyber leaders of the future."

To be considered for Coach of the Year, individuals must have been nominated by a registered mentor, Team Assistant, or Competitor.  For Mentor of the Year, the individual could only be nominated by the team's Coach of Record.  The nominees must have displayed creativity, integrity, and dedication while promoting CyberPatriot outside the team environment and exposing their competitors to STEM career and educational opportunities. 

The Coach and Mentor of the Year winners will be recognized at the Air Force Association Convention Awards dinner in September at the Gaylord Hotel at National Harbor, Maryland.

The Air Force Association is a non-profit, independent, professional military and aerospace education association. Our mission is to promote a dominant United States Air Force and a strong national defense, and to honor Airmen and our Air Force Heritage. To accomplish this, we:

• EDUCATE the public on the critical need for unmatched aerospace power and a technically superior workforce to ensure U.S. national security.
• ADVOCATE for aerospace power and STEM education.
• SUPPORT the Total Air Force family and promote aerospace education.

AFA has 200 chapters nationally and internationally representing 100,000 members. Visit AFA at www.afa.org.

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SOURCE Air Force Association