Kempsey School Students Shine in Cybersecurity Program
Kempsey school students achieved outstanding results in the select final Leadership and Entrepreneurship phase of the Charles Sturt University Girls in Cybersecurity Advancing (GiCSA) program. The final phase was conducted recently online over three days – with participating students asked to develop a business idea that would address a key area of cyber vulnerability in Australia.
The students were mentored by leading women from the Australian cybersecurity industry, including Technical Director in Emerging Technology and Engineering with the Australian Cyber Security Centre Ms Kylie McDevitt, information security expert Ms Shanna Daly, and security architect with Microsoft Ms Sarah Young.
Katherine Honess and Ella Ruthven from Kempsey High School picked up awards in Best Marketing Strategy and Best Business Launch video. St Paul’s College Kempsey students Kim Collins and Sonisha Nagra collected awards including Best Business Solution and Best Business Launch video.
Kempsey High School STEM teacher Kristy Hinchcliffe said that her students were thrilled to have performed so well. “Both Katherine and Ella were stoked to make it to the final program phase. They learned so much and may now consider a career in cybersecurity,” said Kristy.
RDA Mid North Coast was proud to enable and support Kempsey High School students to participate in GiCSA as part of its role in the STEM Industry School Partnerships (SISP) program, along with the NSW Cybersecurity Innovation Node who supported the initial workshop phase in Port Macquarie in August 2019.
“Congratulations to all Kempsey students on achieving these outstanding results”, commented RDA Mid North Coast CEO, Kerry Grace. “It is fantastic to support initiatives that are so relevant to our changing workforce needs”.
Further details: Steve Montgomery, pathways@rdamnc.org.au