
Cyber School’s in Session
Alabama High School Students Chart Paths in Cybersecurity
As a young girl, De’Asia Carson wanted to be an inventor. She was always fascinated by how things worked.
Now a high school junior at the Alabama School of Cyber Technology and Engineering, Carson is on an accelerated path to turn her innate curiosity and creativity into a rewarding career.
“It’s been a great learning experience,” she said. “Not only have I been growing in my studies, but it’s also helped me grow as a person because of the amazing instructors we have here alongside the opportunities.”
And with a state-of-the-art cyber range and new internships offered by the Tennessee Valley Authority, ASCTE students like Carson will encounter more opportunities to enter in-demand fields after graduation.
Alabama School of Cyber Technology and Engineering professor Daniel Robbins, right, instructs De'Asia Carson through a cyber security exercise as a colleague looks on.
'Think Like a Programmer’
In many ways, ASCTE offers a typical high school experience.
On a sunlit afternoon, the ASCTE campus comes alive with students from all across Alabama.
As they walk the common areas, they tote colorful backpacks that add a cheery swirl to the bustle. Outside, the swish of a basketball net merges with sounds of teens chatting about their day.
Carson spends first period reading the classics in AP literature. Second period is history, and then third is a dive into derivatives for a calculus course.
But unlike a traditional high school, ASCTE’s curriculum stands apart for integrating cyber technology and engineering into all academic disciplines.
Here, core classes like algebra and language arts blend seamlessly with advanced studies in engineering, fabrication workshops and STEM labs.
The goal? Ensure every student achieves high levels of learning in their journey to success.
“There’s a dedication or a push that’s on students to achieve well,” Carson said. “That’s our whole thing, that students are going to achieve in what they learn.”
This culture of higher learning resonates throughout the ASCTE campus.
The three-story academic building, clad in glass and terra cotta, features high-tech classrooms, an accelerator space, a 400-seat lecture hall and TVA-sponsored cyber range where students learn to detect and mitigate cyber attacks in a controlled environment.
At the cyber range, students can design, integrate and test their own resilient systems.
Hardware components used in real-world industries like energy, manufacturing and transportation are virtualized, offering students the chance to stress test components in a controlled setting.
Ultimately, they learn by doing.
Chase Golden, the school’s chief technology officer, said the goal is to bridge the gap between theory and application through simulations and hands-on training.
“The cyber range is the perfect platform to demonstrate a comprehensive understanding of how to apply and execute cybersecurity principles,” Golden said. “TVA, as a partner in education with our school, has been instrumental in helping us facilitate that.”
For students like Carson, this teaching method ensures classroom lessons radiate into everyday life.
“The engineering and cyber course has really inspired me to be more creative when it comes to the way I think about things – to think like an engineer or think like a programmer,” Carson said.
ASCTE students engage in schoolwork that blends traditional subjects with advanced studies in engineering, fabrication workshops and STEM labs.
Creating a Better World
Advancing TVA’s foundational mission of improving lives and supporting communities in the Valley region, business units from across the enterprise came together with the TVA South Region Customer and Community Relations team with a financial gift for the naming rights, in perpetuity, of the ASCTE Cyber Range.
In January, TVA announced an education partnership to expand the school’s cyber range through the funding of equipment, software licenses and training for ASCTE students and staff.
TVA Cybersecurity members will also work with ASCTE in developing a curriculum to train students on techniques that TVA uses to protect itself from cyber threats.
“We’re looking forward to working with subject matter experts from TVA in building out training scenarios and environments inside of our range, that reflect real-world critical infrastructure,” Golden said.
Additionally, TVA will give ASCTE interns an inside look at the daily roles of a cybersecurity professional. Mentors from TVA Cybersecurity will help the interns learn how offensive and defensive positions in cybersecurity are used to detect and analyze threats.
These types of skills are highly sought after in the marketplace, and they’ll position interns as valuable candidates for future jobs, Greg Jackson, TVA Cybersecurity manager, said.
And the opportunities look promising.
Across the nation, there are about 500,000 cyber jobs available. That number is likely to continue growing as artificial intelligence and other technologies continue to take shape.
Jackson said the internship is designed to take students through a three-phase approach to cybersecurity: detecting weaknesses in a system, reporting those weaknesses and then analyzing the results.
A key trait for successful candidates? An understanding of computer networks.
But most importantly, they need to have a passion for the work.
“A cyber person is kind of an engineer because they have to understand how things work,” Jackson said. “Growing up, my dad threatened never to get me and my brother another toy because we would have it apart within an hour trying to figure it out. ... I bet you that’s a common thread that ties every one of those students together.”
While the engineering and cybersecurity fields offer plenty of career opportunities, the hope is that interns can continue their careers at TVA, creating additional talent pipelines for the enterprise.
“Cybersecurity technology and engineering are the baselines of our industry and our ability to provide reliable power,” Mark Brown, community relations manager for TVA’s South Region, said.
“Young people with a mindset toward engineering and cyber technology have the skill sets that we need to continue our mission of building the power grid of the future.”
Students like Carson are already excited about the possibility of interning at TVA or another ASCTE partner.
Once she graduates, she wants to double major in mechanical and electrical engineering, with minors in business and cybersecurity.
With support from TVA and ASCTE, she hopes to use the skills learned in her formative years to create a better world.
“I want to make a difference on somebody, on something, whether it be super big or super small,” Carson said. “To leave my mark.”
Photo Gallery
The TVA-sponsored Cyber Range at ASCTE in Huntsville, Alabama.
A sign welcomes visitors to the ASCTE campus.
ASCTE students bring lessons to life by designing, integrating and testing their own resilient systems.
PHOTO AT TOP OF PAGE: Students walk to their classes inside the Huntsville campus.