In December of 2022, two chapters from AFCEA, Belvoir and Rockbridge Shenandoah, hosted a virtual hackathon in six Virginia elementary schools. This was the second occurrence of a hackathon for fifth-grade elementary students held in what is envisioned as an ongoing annual event. The event is designed to promote cyber education and awareness, introduce the participating students and teachers to coding and spark interest in future hackathons, coding and Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Math (STEAM) activities.
The first year of the hackathon was held with only Belvoir Elementary School, a Department of Defense Education Activity (DoDEA) grant school and reached 150 students and a handful of teachers. In 2022, participation in the hackathon included 400 students and over 30 faculty and educators. The hackathon included not only Belvoir Elementary School but also Quantico's Crossroads Elementary School-a Department of Defense (DoD) school-and four public schools in Rockbridge County, Virginia: Central, Fairfield, Natural Bridge and Mountain View Elementary Schools.
This is a truly unique event since it is the only known hackathon for fifth graders that has participants from public schools, DoDEA grant schools and DoD schools all working simultaneously on virtual challenges.
With increasing cyber attacks targeting the country every day and ever-growing needs for cybersecurity professionals, this outreach introduces early educational experience with hands-on coding and engineered systems to fifth graders. On a broader scale, it increases integrative STEM (I-STEM) awareness among students, teachers, industry and other professionals, as it "seeds interest" in coding for all.
The hackathon is based on a fictional, space-based mission scenario, 'Engineer the Planet,' in which the students and their teachers are invited to join the Belvoir AFCEA Space Alliance coders and become part of an ongoing mission to Planet X. As the action unfolds, several challenges emerge and require the students to develop solutions using coding and engineering concepts to build an off-world basecamp. Along the way, the students receive assistance and encouragement from several VIP speakers and are asked STEAM-related trivia questions.
On a technical level, participants use handheld 'micro:bit' microcomputers to solve basic coding challenges. The students receive virtual guidance from AFCEA's experts in the field, along with AFCEA's Emerging Leaders, military academy cadets and academia-all playing roles in the 'ground support team.'
The VIP speakers are all nationally recognized leaders in their field, including: Heidi Shyu, undersecretary of the Department of Defense for Research and Engineering; Morgan Irons, an astro-ecologist and soil scientist; Stu Pettis, retired U.S. Air Force colonel and director of STEM and Education programs for the Air and Space Forces Association; and Bob Osmond, chief information officer for the Commonwealth of Virginia.
Future missions are already being planned. For those who may be interested in participating, several opportunities exist for local AFCEA chapters and their sponsored elementary schools on future missions. Please contact Jeff Thompson, president, Rockbridge Shenandoah Chapter, jeff.thompson@att.com, or Angela Mastellone, vice president, Belvoir Chapter Publicity, angela.mastellone@insightglobal.com. Details and photos of this year's event are available on the Rockbridge Shenandoah and Belvoir websites.
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