CyberPatriot Designates Fairfax County Public Schools as a "Center of Excellence"

ARLINGTON, Va., June 18, 2014 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Air Force Association's CyberPatriot program has announced Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS) of Northern Virginia as its fifth CyberPatriot Center of Excellence.

CyberPatriot, the nation's largest and fastest growing youth cyber education program, is AFA's flagship science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) program dedicated to strengthening cyber skills among American youth. Students in the program also gain valuable knowledge from the expertise of CyberPatriot's many supporters, including the Northrop Grumman Foundation, CyberPatriot's presenting sponsor. CyberPatriot's other sponsors include Cyber Diamond sponsors AT&T Federal and the AT&T Foundation, Cisco, Microsoft, USA Today, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, and the Office of the Secretary of Defense; Cyber Gold sponsors URS, Splunk, and Symantec; and Cyber Silver sponsors Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, Leidos, MIT Lincoln Laboratory, and University of Maryland University College.

The Center of Excellence designation is awarded to communities and institutions that provide leadership and support to further the educational experiences of their students through the CyberPatriot program. CyberPatriot established the Centers of Excellence program in 2011, and thus far, four other entities –Los Angeles Unified School District, the City of San Antonio, Spokane Public Schools, and Oklahoma's Rose State College – have been recognized.

Fairfax County Public Schools is the largest public school system in Virginia and 11^th largest in the United States. FCPS has approximately 185,000 students who attend the 200 elementary, middle, and high schools.  FCPS became involved with CyberPatriot in 2011, and since then have been very active, promoting the competition through FCPS e-clips, websites, videos, social media pages, and local community newspapers.

Fairfax County Public Schools also has successfully developed a large network of mentors and business partners who play a critical role in expanding the program throughout the school district. This summer, FCPS will host a cybersecurity summer camp to help grow the program in the region and prepare students to compete in CyberPatriot VII. 

"Fairfax County Public Schools have engaged many individuals in their community, and their unyielding support has not gone unnoticed as they have spurred great interest in their communities on tackling the challenges ahead in cyber," said Bernie Skoch, CyberPatriot Commissioner. "Both Fairfax County Public Schools and the Air Force Association understand the answer to the challenges our nation faces in cyberspace lies in 'people' – training today's youth to be the next generation of cyber experts, and FCPS has developed innovative ways to sustain an environment for continued learning in cyber and technology. We congratulate them on their designation as our fifth CyberPatriot Center of Excellence."

To learn more about CyberPatriot's Centers of Excellence, visit
http://www.uscyberpatriot.org/about/centers-of-excellence.

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 more than 100,000 members. Visit AFA at www.afa.org.

SOURCE Air Force Association