UNO Receives Two Federal Grants to Support In-person Summer Camps for Teachers and Students
National and economic security is highly dependent upon a strong cybersecurity workforce. More than 522,000 cybersecurity positions remain unfilled in the US in 2021. This shortfall of cybersecurity professionals increases every year and has left national agencies and corporations scrambling to meet their security needs. Careers in cybersecurity are high tech, lucrative, and positively impactful on society – by helping keep us all safe.
UNO has received two federal grants to offer immersive, all-expenses paid, summer camp experiences to educators and students from the greater Nebraska area to help address this need. The first grant will support 20 area teachers to learn about cybersecurity, build lessons, and receive one-on-one consultation about how they can introduce cyber concepts into their classrooms. Teachers will receive a stipend, lunch, and a cluster of technology items related to camp instructional materials. The camp will run from June 21-30.
The second grant will support two all-girls camps, one for 3rd-5th graders (June 7-8) and another for 6th-8th graders (July 5-9). Gender diversity in technology, especially cybersecurity, is absolutely essential. The Nebraska GenCyber Camp (NGC) for students aims to empower and engage young women by building their confidence in design and technology, breaking down role-based stereotypes, and showing them that they can have careers in computing and cybersecurity. NGC will use a variety of hands-on plugged and unplugged activities designed to raise interest in STEM and cybersecurity and improve the cybersecurity readiness and diversity of our future workforce.
Interested in participating? Want to learn more? Apply now on the Nebraska GenCyber website at www.nebraskagencyber.com or contact Dr. Matt Hale (NGC Program Director) at mlhale@unomaha.edu.