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Cyber Success: NEISD graduate mentors next generation of CyberPatriots

Francisco mentors the Cisco cyberpatriot team

Francisco Rodriguez knows what it takes to pursue a career in the cybersecurity field. He learned everything he knows at North East ISD. 

Rodriguez graduated from Roosevelt High School in 2022 as a part of the Design and Technology Academy (DATA). He was also part of our Institute of CyberSecurity & Innovation (iCSI) and the nationally recognized CyberPatriots team at Roosevelt. 

Years of preparation from expert teachers and a whole lot of hard work helped set him up for success. 

“I went to the Citadel Military College in South Carolina my freshman year in college and I felt more prepared than I ever thought I would be. By the end of my freshman year, I was taking junior level classes. I decided it wasn’t challenging enough so I came back to UTSA. I think what we have here at NEISD has set the bar really high.” 

Now, Francisco is helping raise that bar for aspiring cyber experts in the DATA program at Ed White Middle School, where he used to be a student. He recently spent some time mentoring one of the school’s five CyberPatriot teams. 

Students learned all about IP addresses, binary functions, subnetting, encryptions and troubleshooting Cisco programs. 

“I just finished a networking course at UTSA, and one of the things that people struggled with the most was understanding IP addresses and subnetting,” said Rodriguez. “These kids picked it up in a day. That was impressive to know they’re already understanding college-level materials.”

It’s also a happy coincidence that his mother, Dafne Vara Borell, is a CyberPatriot sponsor and teacher at Ed White. He has his sights set on serving as a Cyber Operations Officer in the U.S. Air Force. 

CyberPatriots is a national program that teaches cybersecurity skills through team-based competitions. It’s so popular that Ed White and Design and Technology Academy (DATA) students have enough kids interested to fill up five teams! 

Want to learn more about our Design and Technology Academy? Check out the DATA Magnet School Program to discover more.

Data and Ed White CyberPatriot team group photos

Posted by Lila Stanley
lstanl@neisd.net
Posted on 1/29/25