Melissa Dark: Hello, my name is Melissa Dark, and I'm one of the co-founders of the National Cybersecurity Teaching Academy. NCTA is an 18 credit hour graduate certificate for high school teachers.
Melissa Dark: We started NCTA, Based on some research that we had done in 2021,
Melissa Dark: Where we learned that about 4,000 high schools in the United States have cybersecurity courses and pathways.
Melissa Dark: And we realized that there are no formal programs to prepare high school teachers to teach cybersecurity.
Melissa Dark: Hence, NCTA.
Melissa Dark: So, NCTA is currently at 7 universities, and to date, we have had 325 teachers who have participated.
Melissa Dark: At the bottom of this page, you would find an interactive map. If you're interested in learning more about the impact, go to the map.
Melissa Dark: You can hover over a yellow star. That's an NCTA teacher who is or has completed the graduate certificate. It'll tell you the school that they're at.
Melissa Dark: It'll tell you the enrollment, it'll tell you whether that's an urban school, a suburban school, a town, or a rural school. And in fact, you would find teachers from all of those, and from nearly all of the 50 states.
Melissa Dark: On the map, if you see a blue diamond, that represents a teacher who is in our brand new NCTA initiative, which is a self-paced online Foundations of Cybersecurity course.
Melissa Dark: So these 325 teachers Teach at schools that serve together, collectively, over 500,000 students.
Melissa Dark: NCTA is building pipelines.
Melissa Dark: Teachers who participate in NCTA tell us that as a result of participating, they are able to make their classes more meaningful, more relevant, deeper content, more hands-on, and that as a result of that.
Melissa Dark: They're getting more students who are enrolling in their cybersecurity courses in high school.
Melissa Dark: And the really good news is not only are those students enrolling in cybersecurity courses in high school.
Melissa Dark: They are then
Melissa Dark: Some of them going on to enroll in cybersecurity courses in college, or going directly into cybersecurity jobs, or perhaps going into
Melissa Dark: the armed services pursuing cybersecurity.
Melissa Dark: So we're really building pipelines.
Melissa Dark: And it's not just about the numbers, it's also about excellence. We're very proud of the fact that four
Melissa Dark: of the teachers who have graduated from NCTA,
Melissa Dark: have been Presidential Cybersecurity Educator of the Year.
Melissa Dark: Recipients.
Melissa Dark: And two of our teachers have been hired by the College Board to build their AP Cybersecurity initiative.
Melissa Dark: So it's clear to us… That excellence in teaching helps build quality cybersecurity pipelines.
Melissa Dark: So here's the bad news. With all of the cuts to federal funding, NCTA currently doesn't have any additional funding, which is why I'm here to ask for your help.
Melissa Dark: With just $9,000,
Melissa Dark: You could provide a scholarship for one teacher to complete NCTA. $18,000 would support two. $180,000 would support 20. That would be an entire cohort.
Melissa Dark: So please consider supporting NCTA.
Melissa Dark: If you're interested in this, contact me directly. My email is on the website.
Melissa Dark: And if you're interested in supporting more just than just teacher scholarships, let me know, because there are other ideas for growth and operational needs that we have.
Melissa Dark: When we, together, Invest in teachers.
Melissa Dark: We together invest in students, and when we together invest in students, we help secure America's future.
Melissa Dark: please consider supporting NCTA.