Cyber camps assist workforce development

Four UNG cadets served as mentors for the students during the week. Alyssa Marszalek, a junior from Cumming, Georgia, pursuing a degree in computer science with a minor in cybersecurity, was one of those cadet mentors. She enjoyed fielding questions from the students.

"I'm really proud of these kids putting in time to be curious about cybersecurity," Marszalek said. "They asked a lot of questions to guest speakers and wanted to learn more about the UNG campus from the cadet mentors."

Dr. Lindsay Linsky, a UNG professor of middle, secondary and P12 education, served as lead teacher for the teacher camp and program director for the student camp. She said the prevalence of artificial intelligence in engineering attacks only added to the urgency of the camps UNG hosted.

"We need a workforce ready to defend our systems," Linsky said.

The teachers and students were together for the camps' industry guest speakers, and Lakecia Gray, a teacher at Dacula High School, enjoyed that dynamic.

"It's been awesome to network and interact with the students and hear their thoughts about the information they're receiving, how interested they are in the career," Gray said. "We all have takeaways we can use to get our students more engaged in the field."

Pitts, a North Paulding High law and public safety teacher, was attending the AGENT camp for the second time. During the 2025-26 academic year, he invited guest speakers from AGENT into his classroom.

"For the students to see some of the different career backgrounds or someone who looks like them, that's a complete game-changer," Pitts said.