As the digital world continues to develop, so do cyberattacks which are the intentional efforts to steal or to destroy data through unauthorized access to a network, computer system or digital device. Thus, there is an importance for cybersecurity classes. With the rise of new cyberattacks, XCP is implementing a new cybersecurity class for students for the following school year.
Grace Thomas ‘25, Computer Science National Honors Society president says, “With technology playing a pivotal role in nearly every industry, equipping students with foundational programming knowledge ensures they are prepared for a digital world.”
The most recent phishing attempt within the Xavier community was Wednesday, February 5. An email was sent to XCP students, faculty, and staff regarding signing into GatorNet, Xavier’s attendance and resources application.
“Rising threats, such as AI-enhanced phishing attempts and ransomware attacks, make it essential for students to learn these skills,” Thomas says.
AP Cybersecurity is a course that will cover foundational cybersecurity principles, such as recognizing and mitigating cyber threats like phishing, ransomware and malware. Students will learn secure coding practices, ethical hacking, and gain insights into global cybersecurity policies and trends.
Within the course, girls learn how to code using the JAVA programming language. It is a fast, secure, reliable programming language for coding everything from mobile apps and enterprise software to big data applications and server-side technologies.
This new course is going to be a year-long class in alignment with a new and different AP Computer Science Principles class to meet the requirements for AP courses and provide students with time to prepare for the AP exam.
The AP Cybersecurity course will be offered as an elective in the computer science department. Typically, AP-level courses are open to upperclasswomen, juniors and seniors, but sophomores may also be eligible if they meet certain prerequisites, such as taking Computer Programming Essentials.
Xavier College Prep is one of the only high schools in Arizona to make a requirement for girls to take Computer Programming Essentials their sophomore year.
“Xavier should keep the mandatory Computer Programming Essentials class. Programming teaches essential skills, such as logical thinking, problem-solving and creativity, which are valuable in all career paths,” Thomas says.
Kiley Davis ‘25, advisory board committee leader, says, “Technology is seen as the future. Cybersecurity is such an important thing to every item and piece of technology in this world, and as the years go on it only becomes more important that people join along in that major.”
This new cybersecurity class focuses on a single topic that other AP courses do not. The other courses go over an abundance of areas of computer science, but cyber security allows girls who are interested in majoring or getting a future in that career to gain more knowledge on the topic prior to entering college.
Technology is playing a pivotal role in nearly every industry. Equipping students with foundational programming knowledge ensures they are prepared for a digital world. It also helps explain coding to students who might otherwise never explore it, potentially inspiring interest in STEM fields and fostering a more tech-literate student body.
