Educator Award
What is the Virginia Cybersecurity Educator Award?
The Virginia Cybersecurity Educator Award is bestowed annually by organizers of the Virginia Cybersecurity Education Conference to recognize excellence in cybersecurity education.
The Virginia Cyber Range works with cybersecurity educators across the Commonwealth of Virginia to increase the number of students entering the cybersecurity workforce. Through this work, we have observed an outstanding level of effort and commitment by high school and college faculty across the state.
We were motivated to provide a venue through which fellow educators and administrators could recognize this incredible work through a nomination process, as well as to select an awardee who represents excellence in cybersecurity education in the Commonwealth.
Nominee Criteria
Be a cybersecurity educator in a Virginia high school or college
Teaching cybersecurity or related topics. Related topics include, but are not limited to, cyber operations, cryptography, data loss prevention, encryption, digital forensics, malware detection, system administration, and web security.
Nomination Format
Contact Information
Each nomination should include a cover page with the below information:
Nominator Name, phone number, and email address
Nominee's Name, phone number, email address, district and school name
References
Please provide up to two (2) references, one of which should be a direct colleague such as the nominee's superintendent, department head, principal, or other supervisory role who can speak to the qualifications of the nominee.
Should the nominee be a finalist, a committee member may contact the reference(s) to verify the following with respect to the nominated educator:
(1) superior educator accomplishment,
(2) academic achievement by the educator’s students, and
(3) that the educator is in good standing (e.g., not on probation; has received positive yearly reviews; etc.).
Narrative
The narrative section should include two sections, educator achievement and student achievement, each section should not exceed more than 500 words.
Educator Achievement
Please describe how the educator has achieved outstanding performance outcomes as a cybersecurity educator.
Evidence of achievement may include:
Cybersecurity educator training or workshops
Cybersecurity certifications
Educator awards
Integration of knowledge, skills, and abilities (KSAs) of the National Initiative for Cybersecurity Education (NICE) Cybersecurity Workforce Framework
Increased cybersecurity career awareness
Integrated innovative cybersecurity educational approaches or
Started a successful cyber program, club, competition team, or mentoring program.
Student Achievement
Please describe achievements in cybersecurity of the educator’s students.
Evidence of achievement may include:
High grades
Student enrollment in cybersecurity courses
Student enrolled in a Career and Technical Education cybersecurity pathway
Number of students receiving industry based certifications or other credentials
Involvement in clubs and competitions
Student continuation of cybersecurity education.
Nominations will be accepted online through 11:00 pm EST on Thursday, March 31, 2023.
How Will The Awardee be Selected?
A selection committee will be formed from members of the Virginia Cybersecurity Education Conference Planning Committee.
Once the nomination period has ended, Virginia Cyber Range leadership will collect all nominations and review for eligibility.
All eligible nominations will be forwarded to members of the selection committee for review. All nominations will be kept confidential.
The committee will meet and select an awardee from eligible nominees.
The awardee will be recognized at the annual Virginia Cybersecurity Education Conference.
The awardee will also receive a complimentary conference registration and 1-night hotel accommodation for the Virginia Cybersecurity Education Conference.