MVCSD seeks to expand ties with WCC to advance cybersecurity pathways

Administrators from the Mount Vernon City School District recently visited Westchester Community College to learn more about its renowned cybersecurity program – in an effort to make the District its preeminent feeder of students.

 “The CTE Department is very proud to intentionally build a robust pipeline partnership with the WCC cybersecurity program, providing Mount Vernon students with regionally unmatched education, credentials, real-world experience and access to in-demand, high-wage career pathways,” said Brian Simmons, the MVCSD’s director of Career and Technical Education (CTE).

Mr. Simmons and Dr. Jamal Doggett, assistant superintendent for curriculum, instruction and administration, met January 16 with Professor John Watkins, director of the Robert R. Wiener Center for Academic Excellence in Cybersecurity Defense Education at WCC. 

The WCC program initially attracted about 15 students, but Mr. Watkins grew it into a 400-student powerhouse, said Mr. Simmons, who noted that WCC is also eager for the MVCSD to be a feeder hub for its program.

Juliano DeSouza, a former student of Mr. Watkins, spearheads teaching cybersecurity courses at MVHS. He recently published a book on artificial intelligence and cybersecurity, and donated servers to the District program.

“My goal was to recruit someone from within (Watkins’) program to teach and take over our program at Mount Vernon High School — to build a feeder program,” Mr. Simmons said at the meeting. “It’s enormously difficult to find someone to teach cybersecurity because they can make $150,000 as a cybersecurity specialist.”

Among the goals Mr. Simmons outlined for the District are:

• Creating career opportunities with high earnings
• Hiring graduates of the cyber program back to MVCSD for roles in IT.
• Expanding the “articulation agreement” with WCC in which high school students earn credits (currently nine) that can be applied toward enrollment at the community college. 
• Using teaching assistants from WCC for the District’s program.
• Exchanging resources with WCC and borrowing state-of-the-art equipment from the college.

The college runs a cutting-edge tech lab, which Mr. Simmons and Dr. Doggett visited during their discussion at WCC.

In Mount Vernon, students participate in a comprehensive program that blends IT technician training with cybersecurity skills. 

As a certified Cisco Academy, the District provides hands-on training in network routing, switching and infrastructure management using Cisco systems. The classes offered are IT Essentials, Network Routing and Switching and CCNA Cybersecurity.

Mr. Watkins provided an overview of the college’s cybersecurity major and discussed how the program aligns with Mount Vernon’s IT and cybersecurity initiatives.

The cybersecurity major at WCC offers students a strong foundation in information technology, covering the functions of hardware, operating systems, databases and networks. The program prepares them for entry-level positions in Information Technology, information assurance, security and digital forensics.

“We have an exciting program where our primary focus is to prepare students with a skillset in the field of Information Technology and Security,” Mr. Watkins says in promotional materials for the WCC Center for Cybersecurity.

He also spoke about the growing demand for cybersecurity professionals and the reality of ongoing cyber threats.

“We are in a constant state of cybersecurity attacks,” the professor said. “Somebody, somewhere has your Social Security number.”

According to WCC literature, the median salary for a security management specialist is about $83,000, with a range from $51,000 to approximately $136,000. Information security analysts earn even more, with a median salary of about $115,000 and a range from $63,600 to $188,000.