The Cybersecurity and Computer Club is the perfect place for cybersecurity students to meet those with similar interests, learn computer skills, how to make networks more secure, and get hands-on experience with technology.
The club meets every Thursday after school in room 327, allowing for students to share skills and socialize.
Lloyd Mann, the computer science teacher, is the overseer of the club. He shares that, “The Cybersecurity and Computer Club is a social club for Computer Science and Cybersecurity students. It gives them a place to hang out and meet students with similar interests. It also allows advanced students to tutor students just starting out in the field.”
Students in the club get the chance to learn how to fix vulnerabilities in networks and computers, making them more secure. The club also offers many chances for students to learn real life skills they could possibly use in the workforce someday.
Zachary Finger, a sophomore at Shadow, and a member of the school’s Cyber Club shared some of the skills and experiences he feel’s he’s gained from participating. “Some assignments [that we do in the club] require us to use the specific computers in the school. Another thing we get to do is to fix computers when problems occur. For instance, we had a competition a couple days ago, but there were problems with the computers themselves that required all of them to be restarted. Everyone in the club got the experience of what it would be like to work for a cyber company. It was amazing!”
Shadow’s Cyber Club is a great place for students to gain real life experience in computers and software.
Two of the skill sets especially focused on when the club is meeting are offensive (red team) skills, and defensive (blue team) skills. This training helps get the club ready to compete in competitions, with each person using their specialized skills to help lead their team to victory.
The Cyber Club has won many victories, competing on local and national levels, showing off their computer and software skills to a variety of audiences.
Mann remarked, “[our] Cyber Club students are usually at the forefront of all cyber students. They have participated in the US Cyber Games, attended UNLV’s summer Gen Cyber Camp, been featured at National Cybersecurity conferences, and are regulars in cyber competitions both nationally and locally including CyberPatriot, National Cyber Cup, Cyber Seed, National Cyber League and many others, and yes, several students were selected for a UNLV’s Computer Science Tech Rebels pilot program both last year and this year.”
To any students who might be interested in joining this club of amazing people with many accomplishments under their belts, Finger says, “ I would most definitely recommend Cyber Club to students who may be interested in getting into technology. If I were them, which I am, I would access every opportunity to learn more. If you truly like to fix and create computer programs, or computers themselves, then this would be the place for you.”
