Reversing roles: Students teach their school staff about the importance of cybersecurity
Renton, Wash. (May 9, 2025) - Cybersecurity is incredibly vital today as cybercrime costs are estimated to hit $10.5 trillion annually this year, according to Statista. Not only does cybercrime negatively impact businesses and institutions, but it often targets individuals’ sensitive information.
To combat these common threats, learning vital cybersecurity skills helps protect groups of people who are especially prone to attacks, including teachers and other school faculty.
Seven teens from Renton, Wash., did exactly that. Renton High School’s DECA (Distributive Education Clubs of America) club partnered with Connected Nation’s Teens Teach Tech (TTT), powered by AT&T, program to teach the school’s staff about internet safety.
Their TTT team, Renton High DECA Teach, recently taught cybersecurity practices to 57 adults. The teens came into school on a Saturday to facilitate the training during a Renton High staff meeting.
The teens recognized how important it is to make sure the staff are equipped with internet safety skills, since they work with so much of the school’s and students’ data.
“As the world quickly progresses to a more technology-based society, the issues of safety and security online need to be discussed,” said Chloe Alejo, one of the team’s student leaders. “Our team finds it important to teach staff, who constantly use technology for work and personal business, about the dangers online. By teaching staff about cybersecurity, they can better understand how to protect their valuable information from online threats.”
The students covered many tips and tricks to stay safe online, including how to utilize secure browsers and identify different types of scams and fraud. They shared that people can become less susceptible to cybercrime by practicing even just one of these skills.
Even though the Renton High Deca Teach team only recently started presenting TTT classes, they excelled in their teaching. The staff were engaged throughout the entire presentation, making comments about how they learned new information from the lesson.
“We recently partnered with Connected Nation's Teens Teach Tech program this school year,” Alejo said. “Although this is new for our DECA chapter, we are super excited to continue these valuable training workshops for a long time!”
The team doesn’t plan on limiting their training to school staff. After successfully training 57 adults, the teens are already planning to bring future classes to their community, making them inclusive and entertaining.
“We plan to hold workshops in public libraries and in senior homes to be able to reach a wider audience,” Alejo said. “This will allow our workshops to be more accessible to an older demographic, who will find our training workshops to be valuable and helpful! We also plan to create more engaging workshops that include activities and games, which will create a more fun and memorable learning environment.”
To start making an impact on your community like these teens, you can set up your own TTT team! The process is simple — fill out this form and our team at Connected Nation will reach out to you with next steps.