People standing at a table handing out name badges.
Virginia Cyber Range team members at the 2022 Virginia Cybersecurity Education Conference.

The Virginia Cyber Range hosted the fifth annual Virginia Cybersecurity Education Conference, July 20-22, 2022 at Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Virginia. Educators, administrators, and industry partners joined together to share resources and best practices for Virginia’s cybersecurity education ecosystem.

The conference included a lineup of speakers and workshops that offered attendees ample opportunity to discover new cybersecurity instruction tools, tackle hands-on cybersecurity activities, learn about innovative cybersecurity case studies, and explore cyber workforce development and credentialing efforts. Fitting with this year’s theme, “it takes a village to raise a cybersecurity workforce,” hands-on “villages” introduced learning opportunities in physical penetration testing, wireless device security, and Cyber Range features, all aimed at elevating the teaching experience.

In the spirit of Career and Technical Education signing days held at schools across the country, the Virginia Cyber Range recognized several graduating high school students who are taking on careers or additional educational opportunities in cybersecurity. These students were nominated by teachers who provided details on their achievements, including cybersecurity-related industry certifications, educational outreach activities, and even entrepreneurship.

The 2022 Virginia Cybersecurity Educator Awards honored two cybersecurity educators for demonstrating excellence in cybersecurity teaching: Jennifer Marden, business education teacher at Loudoun County Public Schools, was recognized at the secondary education level, and Marouane Balmakhtar, adjunct professor at Northern Virginia Community College, was recognized at the higher education level.

The Cyber Range hosted the inaugural conference in August 2018 at James Madison University.