DSU's cyber camp includes students from Willow Lake
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MADISON — “The world needs smart, brave people in cyber security fields who want to protect others, and enrich the lives of people around them,” said Dakota State University President Dr. José-Marie Griffiths.
Griffiths shared this comment with 112 middle school girls from 15 states who attended the 2017 GenCyber: CybHER Girls Camp June 25-29. This is one of four camps held on the DSU campus this summer: a teachers’ camp was held earlier in June, and two high school co-ed camps, hosting 400 students in total, will be held in July.
The purpose of these camps is to foster interest in cyber careers and increase diversity in the cyber security workforce. The U.S. Dept. of Labor estimates there will be 11 million computing-related job openings in the U.S. by 2024, but predictions are that two-thirds will go unfilled. Women are employed in only 26 percent of professional occupations in these fields.
DSU was a national pilot site in 2014 for the GenCyber programs, and in the last four years have introduced more than 1,600 students and teachers to technology tools and techniques through hands-on sessions and guest presentations. The camps are free to participants through grant funding from the National Science Foundation and National Security Agency.
Two of the 2017 camp participants came from the same family, Cheryl Hovde and her daughter Maggie, from Willow Lake. Maggie is attending her second GenCyber girls camp this year, and her mom attended the GenCyber teacher camp last week.
Like mother, like daughter, Cheryl Hovde (right) and her daughter, Maggie, pose for a photo at the DSU GenCyber girls camp. Cheryl attended the 2017 teacher camp; Maggie has attended the 2016 and 2017 girls camp with her friend Gwen Warkenthien (left). Also pictured is Gwen’s mother Loretta.
PHOTOS PROVIDED BY DAKOTA STATE UNIVERSITY