The Rockford Public Schools Technology department takes great pleasure in providing opportunities for RPS 205 scholars who have a passion for information technology to learn and grow.
In January, Matt Johnson, RPS 205 Director of IT Security, and the network security team, interviewed five candidates to intern with the IT Security team. Every student that interviewed did a fantastic job, but only two were selected – East High School juniors Fariha Islam and Jearmiah Jackson.
In February, Fariha and Jearmiah began their weekly internship. Every Thursday for five and a half hours they joined our Network Security Administrators, Clay Hargrove and Greg Clark. Clay and Greg taught them about cybersecurity strategy, the MITRE framework, the NIST standard, and day-to-day operations of the IT Security roles which included many hands-on opportunities.
At the end of May, Fariha and Jearmiah successfully completed their 60-hour internship requirement! The students and the IT Security team celebrated their accomplishments with lunch and cookies. We sent them off with advice, business cards, and cards to wish them well in their future endeavors. Fariha and Jearmiah were also gifted an Amazon gift card to purchase something techy.
We congratulate and wish Fariha and Jearmiah a great summer. We hope to see them next year!
Jason Barthel
Jason Barthel is the Chief Information Officer for Rockford Public Schools. He brings more than 20 years of experience in management, strategic technology planning, cybersecurity implementation and infrastructure design. He served honorably in the U.S. Army. He worked closely with law enforcement for more than nine years including participating in emergency operations, incident command, and radio communications planning. He holds degrees in Business Administration, IT Project Management, and Computer Forensics.