CybHER expands to K-8 studetns

For over 10 years, CybHER® at Dakota State University has offered outreach programs for all ages, with a focus on middle and high school students. Now, CybHER is increasing its efforts to reach K-8 students.

This summer, CybHER worked with the Sioux Falls Community Learning Center, which is made up of about 26 schools and all the Sioux Falls school districts, to provide cyber activities to K-5 students.

After a pilot program with 4th grade girls and 2nd grade boys last year, they are expanding to include a free afterschool STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) program for all K-8 students in Madison.

Dr. Ashley Podhradsky, CybHER Co-Founder and Vice President of Research and Economic Development, Dakota State University, says early exposure to cybersecurity in the K-8 years is critical because it helps students develop foundational skills and sparks curiosity. By engaging students at a young age, she says they can develop a generation that is not only fluent in technology but also prepared to defend and innovate in an increasingly digital world.

Mikaila Fluth, a sophomore computer science and cyber operations major and student employee with CybHER, helped start an afterschool program last year with two groups from Madison: fourth-grade girls and second-grade boys. The boys’ group started out with Lego robots, and the girls learned soldering and coding.

This year, every grade level will get to come to DSU twice a month for a variety of educational STEM activities, such as crypto puzzles, programming, and more.