In the early 1980s when Shannon Henderson first started at a brand new Kentwood High she taught shorthand, typing and business machines.

Today Henderson teaches computer programming.

“It’s really changed a lot since I first worked there,” Henderson said. “Technology has really changed my career, but for the good, it’s been fun.”

In order to be on the cutting edge, Henderson applied for and earned a spot at the Cyber Security Boot Camp at James Madison University June 10-14, one of just 20 teachers selected from across the country.

The importance of ensuring students had the opportunity to learn the latest technology has led Henderson on many an educational adventure.

Henderson started at Kentwood in 1981 the year it opened then took 16 years off when she started a family. She returned to the school in 2000.

When she began teaching again, the school had a programming teacher who left and after the position was still open after a couple of school years, Henderson made a decision.

“I said, ‘It’s not fair for the kids to not have any computer programming (classes),’” Henderson said. “I thought, ‘It can’t be that difficult, I’ll just learn it during the summer.’ It’s been a such a great challenge. I’ve continually learned. It’s been a cool journey and one that I wouldn’t change for the world.”

In addition to computer programming, Henderson teaches business law and accounting, but her desire to teach kids about programming in a way which is engaging and relevant has led to that course growing considerably.

During the first semester of the school year she teaches a beginning programming courses using Java and the second semester she teaches about game programming.

“They learn all the critical skills they need to have when they graduate from high school,” Henderson said.

So when the opportunity arose to apply for the Cyber Security Boot Camp, Henderson applied, knowing it would be another tool in the toolbox for her as well as her students.

“I thought, ‘Gosh, this is something I know absolutely nothing about,’” Henderson said. “Kids need to know about this for their future job opportunities.”

Henderson spoke to the Reporter June 12, three days into the program, and by that point the 20 educators learned a significant amount about how people break into computer systems through lectures and hands-on work.

“At this point we’ve been dealing with, talking about and using some of the software hackers use to crack passwords, to determine what ports are available in different systems,” Henderson said. “We’ve been learning a lot of hacking but not for that purpose. You have to understand that to go at the defenders side. It’s been fascinating.”

When she spoke to the Reporter by phone, Henderson said, that day they had practiced cracking passwords so they understood how to defend against it in the activities planned for the next day.

“We’re using a virtual program, a virtual operating system on top of the operating system on the computers,” she said. “We’re using pretend stuff, but, even with the pretend stuff we were able to get into the systems. And that’s just with the free software you can find on the Internet.”

While it wouldn’t be prudent to teach students about hacking, Henderson said, there are many applications for the knowledge she’s gained in the classroom and not just with her programming students.

“This is something I can talk about in my business law class,” she said. “This kind of career path might interest them, so, I want to educate them on what’s involved here and the kind of opportunities they have and how much money they can make. There’s hardly a niche in our society that doesn’t have a need for cyber defense. There’s so much that isn’t even addressed that’s vulnerable.”

For Kentwood Principal Doug Hostetter, the kind of approach Henderson is taking to her own professional development and teaching is vital for students.

“The workforce and the technology skills required are changing faster than schools can update their curriculum,” Hostetter wrote in an email interview. “Teachers such as Shannon want to stay close to the ‘cutting edge’ of technology as required in our workforce. Attending this Cyber Security Boot Camp is a great example of teachers wanting the most current and relevant information possible to share with their students. Our students therefore, will learn information that will give them a competitive edge over other students who are not privy to such up-to-date information and skills.”

Henderson described the professors at James Madison who ran the program as “brilliant.”

The Cyber Security Boot Camp was funded by the United States Department of Defense.

Henderson looks forward to sharing with her students and pursuing this area of technology further on her own.

“It’s been fascinating, I’ve learned a lot. My brain is full,” Henderson said. “This has just opened up my eyes to a whole other area I need to do some more exploration in and incorporate into my classes so that kids can benefit. Anything I can do to help kids and open up their eyes to options is worthwhile I believe.”