Celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month: Expanding K-12 Cybersecurity to Native Spanish Speakers

Laurie Salvail

Executive Director of CYBER.ORG

Laurie leads the CYBER.ORG team as they seek to bring cyber education to K-12 teachers. She has over 12 years classroom experience and is currently working on her PhD in curriculum and instruction at Louisiana State University. She is passionate about implementing innovative research-based strategies to impact education across the country.

Sep 28, 2023

With nearly 43 million Spanish speakers in the United States, Spanish is the second most popular language nationwide. At the same time, the cybersecurity industry is facing a shortfall of nearly 650,000 cybersecurity positions.

This Hispanic Heritage Month, we’re celebrating our resources and partnerships for native Spanish speakers and renewing our commitment to making cybersecurity education accessible to all.

As part of our work to introduce students to K-12 cybersecurity education and the possibility of cybersecurity careers, we’ve translated our career resources and curricula to Spanish and partnered with Spanish-serving organizations and institutions to help reach diverse communities across the country.

Making Cybersecurity Curriculum and Careers Accessible

CYBER.ORG has over 700 curricula for teachers to use at no cost. So far, we’ve translated 50% of these resources to Spanish and are working to bring more online every day. To help teachers and students get started, Cybersecurity Basics – an introductory course for students in grades K-12 that includes over 60 hours of learning across three units – is now available in Spanish which introduces students to cybersecurity topics that affect our everyday lives in plain, simple language and can be taught in any order by any educator.

Our career profile posters, which inspire students to visualize future careers in the cybersecurity industry have also been translated into Spanish. Students can use our career profile cards to learn all about cybersecurity careers and share the information with their families and friends.

Our Partnerships with Minority-Speaking Organizations and Institutions

CYBER.ORG is proud to partner with Spanish-speaking institutions and organizations to reach more teachers and students nationwide.

Bridges to Science: Bridges to Science is a nonprofit that provides innovative math, coding and robotics programs for Hispanics, homeschoolers and underserved youth. CYBER.ORG partnered with Bridges to Science to create a cybersecurity event for Hispanic Heritage Month this year.
Maricopa County: Located in Arizona where 32% of the population is Hispanic, Maricopa County is home to 58 school districts that serve 750,000 students. CYBER.ORG partnered with Maricopa County to host CYBER.ORG EdCon 2023 in Arizona, a national conference designed to inspire and empower novice and expert K-12 cybersecurity educators alike.
New Mexico Tech: The New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology in Socorro, New Mexico, is one of the top STEM schools dedicated to research, education and innovation. CYBER.ORG partners with New Mexico Tech to bring cybersecurity education to local schools as part of Project REACH.
Raíces Cyber: Raíces Cyber is a nonprofit encouraging and supporting the Hispanic and Latino cyber technology community to achieve greater representation in the world. CYBER.ORG Executive Director Laurie Salvail is a Raíces Cyber National Education Advisory Board member and will speak at this year’s national conference, RaícesCon 2023.
South Mountain Community College: Located in Phoenix, Arizona, South Mountain Community College serves 5,000 students. With 80% of students identifying as a minority, SMCC has been federally designated as a minority-serving and Hispanic-serving institution. CYBER.ORG partners with New Mexico Tech to bring cybersecurity education to local schools as part of Project REACH.
Tarrant County College: Tarrant County College is located in Fort Worth, Texas, and provides affordable and open access to quality teaching and learning. CYBER.ORG partners with New Mexico Tech to bring cybersecurity education to local schools as part of Project REACH.

Ensuring that all K-12 students have the skills and education needed to pursue careers in cybersecurity is essential to achieving cyber literacy across the U.S. By making K-12 cybersecurity education accessible to Spanish-speaking educators, students and their families, we’re proud to be part of the solution to solving the country’s cybersecurity workforce shortage. We look forward to expanding our Spanish-speaking offerings and partnerships with Hispanic-serving institutions and organizations this Hispanic Heritage Month and beyond.