Los Angeles Unified School District’s Beyond the Bell after-school programs have been at the forefront of CyberPatriot competitions for the last seven years.

Each year the Air Force Association, supported by tech industry firms Northrop Grumman, Cisco, Microsoft, Facebook, AT&T, and also by the Department of Defense and the Department of Homeland Security, sponsors the CyberPatriot competition. Teams manage virtual networks and defend computer systems in an effort to make them secure. The competition rounds are six hours long, and at the end of four rounds only 28 teams are invited to participate in the national finals on the East Coast. This year 5,400 teams have registered to compete.

BTB was the first program in the nation to be awarded the status of Center of Excellence in 2012, and the program received the Vandenberg Award for excellence in science education two years later. BTB teams swept the 2017 California State Championship and have won three national medals. At least one BTB team has been invited to the national finals every year for seven years.

Two rounds of competition have been played and currently 33 BTB teams have advanced to the top-ranked platinum tier. Only platinum tier teams can qualify for the nationals. Though the teams from BTB represent only two percent of the total of teams from around the U.S., they currently hold 8 percent of the platinum tier slots.

Among the 33 BTB teams hoping for a seat to the finals is Team “Togo” from North Hollywood High School, who recently set the highest score in the nation. They are the defending national champions, and their goal is to return to the nationals and score an unprecedented back-to-back championship. The third round will be held on Jan. 20.

Beyond the Bell’s mission is to ensure that all children and youth in LAUSD have access to high quality, safe, and supervised academic, enrichment, and recreation programs that inspire learning and achievement beyond the regular school day.

For information, visit btb.lausd.net.