Cyber Patriots is a global group that work on programming. McKinley offers it as an after school program for students. There are seven members in Cyber Patriots and they are divided into two teams. One with all of the members who are also in JROTC and members who aren’t.

“In Cyber Patriots we learn how to script and find address and terminal. For those that don’t know these terms, think of it like programming,” member Christian Troung said.

The organization meets in room J4 after school, every Friday.

“The program entails protection for computers against hacking and learning how to be safe while on the net,” Troung said.

Cyber Patriots also have competitions against other schools to test knowledge and skills they have learned. Unlike most competitions, it is not tournament based but on a point system. The team with higher points would win.

“We get points for how well we do in completing a certain mission or assignment we are given and depending on how well or fast we complete the assignment or if we do,” member Aaron Park said.

The Cyber Patriots program is not only a way for students with similar interests to interact with each other, but a way for students to prepare for the future.

“My goal is to allow students to gain experience that they can use later in their life,” said Cyber Patriot’s advisor, Mark Munar.