About five years ago, when Beth Cerrone was a computer science teacher at Silver Creek High School in Longmont, a student in her leadership program wanted to study cybersecurity.
The students created an outline with approval from the cybersecurity course, and Mr. Cerrone filled it out. Her work in this class led her to develop a complete cybersecurity program at St. Vrain Valley’s Innovation Center.
“I want to give my kids as many opportunities as possible,” she said. “It was really great. A lot of people supported and helped me and I got to work with some great students.”
Cerrone recently received the National Presidential Cybersecurity Award sponsored by the U.S. Department of Education. The annual award is given to one elementary school teacher and one secondary school teacher in the country.
“Beth has channeled her passion for education and cybersecurity into building one of the best pathways forward,” Axel Reitzig, executive director of the Innovation Center, said in a written statement. “She not only puts her energy into her own program and her students, but she also focuses on helping many people in Colorado and beyond.”
For the Innovation Center’s cybersecurity program, Cerrone worked with industry leaders to develop six cybersecurity classes. This class includes the opportunity for him to earn four industry certifications and nine dual credit hours through Aims Community College.
Cerrone leads the student cyber tech project team at the Innovation Center, giving students the opportunity to apply their skills through real-world projects. Recent initiatives include the Seniors Project, where students work with the Longmont Senior Center to educate seniors about online safety.
“This idea came from the students,” Cerrone said. “They saw their grandparents struggling with spam and phishing emails, and they were worried about their grandparents online. It’s great to see young people teaching older people. It’s great. It’s very impressive to me to see what they can do at such a young age.”
In addition to working on project teams, students can participate in various cybersecurity competitions, including the national Cyber Patriot competition and competitions held at local universities.
Cerrone, who attended a graduate program in cybersecurity at the University of Colorado and enrolled in another graduate program through the University of Arkansas, said she is constantly learning about the rapidly changing field of cybersecurity.
She is also part of a group of 30 people working to build a two-year cybersecurity “kickstart” pilot through the College Board with the goal of expanding the AP class model into career and technical education.
“I just want to take a step forward,” she said. “There’s a lot to know. It was really fun. Cybersecurity is such a need. I want to help build this pipeline.”