ateway GATEWAY SCHOOL DISTRICT
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In one classroom at Gateway High School, cybersecurity professionals watched as students showed off their adeptness in the district’ s new cybersecurity course. Meanwhile, in the room next door, elementary to high school students gained perspective from a variety of STEM( Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) professionals, before showing off their skills by building small robots. An ever-growing district focus on STEM learning was on display on March 10, as the district hosted Paradigm Cyber Ventures for a peek into their cybersecurity programming, while also simultaneously organizing a STEM + C( Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics, and Careers) community day, exposing students to a variety of STEM careers.
Paradigm Cyber Adventures partners with Gateway to provide the district’ s Cybersecurity course, taught by Tyler Perhac. STEM + C, a several months-long grant program implemented by The Math & Science Collaborative at the Allegheny Intermediate Unit( AIU), provides funds, resources, and programming
28 MONROEVILLE
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to ensure that the district remains on the forefront of STEM learning. Keith Koehne, the Co-CEO / Co-Founder of Paradigm Cyber Adventures, met with some of the district’ s students to gain perspective on the first-year course, and map out its future. Next year, the district plans on offering AP Cybersecurity, a reflection of the course’ s success thus far, as well as the district’ s proactiveness to add courses in a quickly-developing career field. Koehne noted that Gateway provides a landmark example for its implementation of its Cybersecurity course, giving it high marks for student engagement and performance.
“ We really see it is a partnership more so than a product. Tyler( Perhac) has done a great job leading the class,( Gateway High School Principal) Justin( Stephans)
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has done a great job leading the school, and( Gateway Superintendent Dr.) Guy( Rossi) has done a great job leading the whole district. The most successful programs we have, it’ s an all-in effort from everybody,” said Koehne.
“ I come from a background in education, so I really like to lean on the kids for their perspective. Being able to talk to them in a smaller and larger group setting was great. My key takeaway is that the kids really appreciate it and they like the hands-on nature and newness of the course. They gave us some really great suggestions on tweaks to make, and that’ s a really big part of it.”
Koehne, along with Christopher Fry, the Cybersecurity
Program Manager at
Compunetix Inc., led an engaging presentation at the
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