Hacking is a constant problem in our world, whether it’s playing a role in politics or forcing you to get a new credit card.  

  • Lake Howell High School holds cyber security class
  • Teaching students how to fight hackers
  • In response to calls from companies to prepare students for cyber security careers

Some Seminole County students are learning how to turn hacking into a promising career.

Just a high school freshman, Charles Wilder knows enough about hacking to probably do some serious damage.  But he wants to do just the opposite.

“We need this class so we can fix that, so instead of being bad, we have this class so we can turn that bad image of hackers to a good image – of stopping the bad hackers,” said Wilder, a freshman at Lake Howell High School.

Florida companies reached out to administrators at Seminole County Public Schools and urged them to do more to educate students and prepare them for potential careers in cyber security. 

The companies are looking for more qualified graduates ready to help them guard their companies against cyberattacks.

“Just about any and everything can be exposed or broken into,” said Theresa James, the program instructor for Lake Howell High School’s cyber security class. 

James is teaching her students how to put their knowledge to work for companies who need a technological line of defense.

“They want to go to war, they want to go to war,” said James. “They call themselves cyber-soldiers, and it will be their turn to do this.”

Other schools have after-school clubs, but Lake Howell is the first school in Seminole County to incorporate cyber security into its curriculum.

“We’re able to take the skills we’ve learned in this class and do so much with it already. And to know that, it’s a wonderful feeling,” said student Mandy Barclay-Pollard.

And with the dangers of hacking only increasing by the day, students like Wilder realize they are taking an important step in building a lucrative career.

“We will be the first person to go to for the job, the first person to go to when something (happens), the youngest with the most experience,” said Wilder.

James says she expects the program at Lake Howell to grow into a cybersecurity academy in the future.