Twin Cities-based member-owned cooperative TopLine Federal Credit Union partnered with a group of students from Wayzata High School to research cybersecurity and create tools to help improve it.
The students are part of Wayzata High School’s Compass Program, an experiential professional career studies program for highly motivated juniors and seniors. Courses are designed and taught in collaboration with business leaders in our community and faculty from North Hennepin and Normandale Community colleges. During the spring, a team of four students interested in technical careers partnered with TopLine and designed a project surrounding cybersecurity, employee security awareness and specifically ransomware. They created two tools; an in-person presentation with the intended audience of senior leaders and a recorded presentation for employee training.
“We are passionate about helping young adults learn about life after high school by providing an internship opportunity to work on a project that directly ties to their career field interest and future education goals,” says Vicki Erickson, Senior Vice President of Marketing and Communications at TopLine Federal Credit Union. “We are honored to have the opportunity to partner with Wayzata Compass Technology and Cybersecurity group for the first-time, as we have partnered with their Business and Economic group for the past three years. This highly-engaged group of students worked hard over a 7-week period to research and present ideas on how to educate others on the importance cybersecurity.”
“Part of the Compass Program at Wayzata High School is rooted within partnerships formed with local businesses to create authentic projects and to add relevance to learning that takes place within the classroom,” says Wayzata Schools Compass Coordinator Scott Tordeur. “Our partnership with TopLine Federal Credit Union has provided students with an opportunity to gain real-world experience with those that directly work in the field of technology. We value this opportunity to partner with TopLine and look forward to working with them again in the future.”
Compass students practice employability skills such as workplace communication and emotional intelligence while exploring career paths and working side-by-side with professionals in the workplace. Through partnerships with North Hennepin and Normandale Community Colleges, students who successfully complete Compass courses earn college credits. The Compass program derives its inspiration from the Center for Advanced Professional Studies (CAPS), a proven business-community-public education partnership model. Students are fully immersed in a professional culture, solving real world problems, using industry standard tools and are mentored by actual employers, all while receiving both high school and college credit. Today dozens of school districts across the U.S., including Wayzata, are members of The CAPS Network. To learn more about the Wayzata High School’s Compass Program, visit https://www.wayzataschools.org/whs/academics/compass.
