Alamo Colleges' ITSA Wins Best in City for Third Year in a Row
By: Kay Hendricks
Friday, February 15, 2013
Tags: Academics, Students
The Alamo Colleges’ Alamo Academies Information Technology and Security Academy (ITSA) team was recognized by Mayor Julian Castro for the third year in a row as the winners of the Mayor’s Cyber Cup at a luncheon hosted by the Greater San Antonio Chamber of Commerce. The Cyber Cup is awarded to the best team in the city in the CyberPatriot V competition, and the ITSA team won over 55 other teams.
The ITSA team consisted of students Cory Nichols (Seguin High School junior), Paul Hopson (Canyon High School senior), Kenny Graves (New Braunfels High School senior), Maggie Schmeltekopf (New Braunfels High School senior), Jason Mirch (Seguin High School junior), and Stephen La Rosa (Canyon High School junior).
"Our ITSA team's continuing success in the CyberPatriot competition demonstrates that this unique program is producing world class IT graduates and a pipeline of future IT professionals for San Antonio," said Alamo Colleges Chancellor Dr. Bruce Leslie.
Mayor Castro presented each of the members of the winning team with a $1000 scholarship to be used at the educational institution of their choosing, a leather bomber jacket and a mini iPad. In addition to winning the Mayor's Cyber Cup, the ITSA students will also be competing at the national championship at the Gaylord National Resort in Washington, D.C . on March 14-15, 2013. An ITSA team won the national championship last year.
CyberPatriot V (CP V) is the premier national high school cyber defense competition, created to inspire
high school students toward careers in cybersecurity or other science, technology, engineering, and
mathematics (STEM) disciplines critical to our nation’s future. CP V is conducted by the Air Force Association
and UTSA's Center for Infrastructure Assurance and Security.
The Alamo Academies provide education, experience and job opportunities for high school students seeking to jump-start their futures and make a seamless transition from high school to college and/or to the workplace. Qualified students receive training in high-wage demand occupations during their junior and senior years of high school, earn one year of college credits free and participate in a paid internship introducing them to careers in key local industries.