By JESSICA HARDING
Staff Writer
LITTLE SILVER — Red Bank Regional High School (RBR) recently claimed the title of champions during a CyberPatriot contest on Feb. 1.
The CyberPatriot competitions were inspired by the recent hacking of the U.S. government.
For the past eight years, RBR has offered a special program in cyber security for its students. The program is for those in the well-known Academy of Information Technology (AOIT).
The cyber security curriculum was developed in 2008 by RBR AOIT teacher Mandy Galante. It includes four-year instruction in computer hardware, networking and digital forensics.
On Jan. 14, RBR students displayed a strong performance in the state round. Six teams from RBR worked diligently from the school media center. The competition lasted six hours and ended with three first-, second- and third-place victories in the state.
This is the second year in a row that three RBR AOIT teams won all three places. It is the third year in a row that RBR took both first and second place.
Galante and Jeremy Milonas are the team coaches. Galante cannot believe how much the competition has advanced at RBR.
“Red Bank Regional’s participation in CyberPatriot has been growing exponentially,” she said. “We started with one team of six students in 2010 and now are running six teams with a diverse group of 36 students. We have found that classroom learning, plus fun practices plus a chance to win shiny trophies equals success.”
These three teams are now eligible for the elite level of the competition. RBR’s goal is for these teams to be one of the top 12 scoring teams and earn a spot in the National competition being held in Baltimore, Maryland, this April.
The first-place team, Maroon, consists of Young Chen of Belmar, Woody Quinn of Little Silver and Andrew Costa, Bobby Villaluz, Jack Ferrone and Kyle Neary, all of Shrewsbury. Team Maroon’s scores were ninth in the nation.
The second-place team, Gray, is made up of Dylan McRae of Union Beach, Max Mason of Belmar, Makoto Brown of Tinton Falls, Matt Cindrario of Shrewsbury, Nahjeek Mitter of Red Bank and Jared Prezwodek of Little Silver.
The third-place team, White, is made up of Josh Goldsmith and Charlotte Janksy of Little Silver, Akin Gaddis and Harry Jain of Red Bank, Chloe Sharpe of Bradley Beach and Brycen Greco of Neptune City.
For more information, visit uscyberpatriot.org.