Before we can bridge the gap, we have to understand why the car isn't moving. To do this, we gathered 4 major factors:

• Not Enough Hardware Resources:

  1. High schools do not have the equipment to perform cyber-security activities. These resources include: laptops, servers, rootkits, or the software needed. If a high school does have these resources, then they do not have the permission to download the software needed to maintain the cyber framework of the school's network.

  2. Virginia Cyber Range solves this problem, but some teachers do not know how to incorporate this into their curriculum successfully

• Lack of Knowledgeable Cyber Teachers: There are two different generations of teachers:

  1. There are the teachers who promote cyber-security but are limited by:

     • The lack of Professional Development opportunities

     • Those who do not fully understand cyber or do not have a cyber background

  2. There are the teachers who do not promote cyber-security

     • They do not want to learn a new subject themselves

     • They are not going pay out of pocket for professional development

• Students' Lack of Experiences with Cyber in Real Life: A student who is not encouraged by the community around them to learn about cyber-security may never even choose to learn about cyber-security on their own.

• No Set Cyber-security Curriculum: Each cyber class in one high school may be taught by teachers with different backgrounds, like gym, mathematics, history, etc. This leads to each teacher developing an individual curriculum for the same course ,and students are learning an array of things.