As middle school students gathered to test their skills in the challenging world of cybersecurity, the team from Barnes County North delivered a unique dynamic to the arena: a coach who had been in their shoes.
Tobias Thompson, a Barnes County North High School student, became a student coach for the school’s first middle school Cyber Madness team. Having competed in last year’s Cyber Madness, Thompson used his experience to guide the next class of cyber defenders.
I was able to prepare the students for what it was going to be like with firsthand experience,
Thompson said. I was able to tell them what the competition would be like and how each challenge would be centered.
EduTech, part of North Dakota Information Technology (NDIT), connects schools to hands-on cybersecurity learning and hosts statewide events like Cyber Madness to help grow North Dakota’s future tech workforce. Cyber Madness features hands-on cyber challenges, capture the flag-style competitions, and gives students opportunities to win scholarships.
Leading from the Front
Thompson’s coaching is matched by his active participation. While mentoring middle schoolers, he and the high school team have also earned a spot in the Cyber Madness high school finals.
The team competed in the championship event on February 9-10. This concurrent participation lets Thompson share real-time strategies and fresh insights from the high school circuit with his middle school trainees, closing the gap between competition standards and foundational learning.
Mentorship in Motion
For Thompson, the transition from competitor to coach was a natural evolution. He used his knowledge of the event to create custom practice problems that matched the competition's format.
When we were practicing, we were able to make the practice problems more like the actual competition,
Thompson explained.
This peer-to-peer mentorship model proved highly effective for the district. Melissa Bitz, the school’s IT Director, noted that the middle school students were highly receptive to learning complex concepts from a high school peer.
The kids really admire him and look up to him and learn from him,
Bitz said. He's a great role model and advocate in this area for these middle school students.
Empowering Education Statewide
While the student-coach dynamic fueled the team's spirit, the program’s foundation relied on resources from EduTech. Bitz credited the state’s initiative for opening doors that schools might not otherwise have.
The push came from EduTech,
Bitz explained. They are very supportive of this... very much giving you the resources you need to implement this into your schools. It's a support that we're so lucky to have here in North Dakota.
By combining free Cyber.org curriculum and computer science resources from the EduTech, the district was able to provide a strong training ground for students without having to build a curriculum from scratch.
Small Schools, Big Impact
Barnes County North, a district of about 240 students, demonstrates how targeted support enables smaller schools to match larger school districts in technology and talent development.
Just because you're small and you don't have as many kids, doesn't mean that your kids aren't going to have interests, and it doesn't mean that they can't compete with the big schools,
Bitz said.
Finding New Talent
Apart from the technical skills, the competition provides a vital outlet for students who may not gravitate toward traditional activities like athletics. Bitz described the program as an extracurricular activity that allows students of different types to shine.
Could we place our finger on those kids who would thrive in this area? Not necessarily. This is an extracurricular activity, and it gives those kids a chance to demonstrate their abilities.
According to Thompson, the goal is to prepare younger students for future high school competitions and, potentially, careers in the field. If they enjoy it enough, if it could turn into their career, that’d be great!