Okemos High School wins Governor’s High School Cyber Challenge

By: Associated Press

LANSING, Mich. — Highlighting the skills needed to fill the growing demand for cybersecurity talent in Michigan and beyond, students from Okemos High School (Okemos, MI) were crowned champions of the 2019 Governor’s High School Cyber Challenge [lnks.gd]. The top ten teams competed in the final round of the competition today at the North American International Cyber Summit.

In the fourth year of the competition, 218 teams consisting of 654 students from all corners of Michigan participated in the challenge. The event kicked off with the first round of competition taking place Sept. 30 through Oct. 3, 2019.

“There will be millions of unfilled jobs in the cybersecurity field in the next year alone,” said Gov. Gretchen Whitmer. “It is critical that we get students interested and engaged in this ever-growing field at an early age. Through the participation we’ve seen in the High School Cyber Challenge, it is clear that Michigan students are picking up the torch.”

The members of the winning team from Okemos consisted of Arham Jain (coach), Tristan Lusardi, Eric Andrechek, and Jainil Shah. The team from Canton High School (Canton, MI) took home the second-place trophy and Newaygo High School (Newaygo, MI) finished in third.

Gov. Whitmer also recognized two teams from Michigan that participated in the national Girls Go CyberStart [lnks.gd] competition in the spring. The teams from Huron High School and Hillsdale Area Career Center both made the national finals of the competition.

Huron High School - Veda Srinivas, Mariam Mahmoud, Vidya Srinivas, and Victoria Liu

Hillsdale Area Career Center - Grace Emens, Kyra Lewis, Merete Lockwood, and Phoebe Shroats

The eighth North American International Cyber Summit, hosted by Gov. Whitmer, brought together more than 700 participants today to discuss solutions for the cybersecurity dangers that threaten the security of citizens and business throughout the world.

More information about Michigan’s cybersecurity efforts and helpful links on ways to protect yourself from cyber threats can be found at Michigan.gov/cybersecurity [lnks.gd].

The Governor’s High School Cyber Challenge is run and facilitated by Merit Network [lnks.gd] and the Michigan Cyber Range [lnks.gd], in partnership with the state of Michigan.

GOVERNOR'S HIGH SCHOOL CYBER CHALLENGE

1st Place: Okemos High School

2nd Place: Canton High School