Fueled by an interest in technology, Baylee Blanton taught herself to code in middle school. She’d later join the robotics team, but that outside of that, couldn’t find other outlets to pursue her passion. It wasn’t until high school that she was able to get practical experience, landing a cybersecurity internship with the University of Pittsburgh. “There was nowhere in Monroeville to get started if you’re interested in this,” said Blanton, 17 and a student at Gateway High School. “I took it upon myself because I was so interested.” But this year — Blanton’s senior year — Gateway offered a new cybersecurity class for students. “It pushed me to know, this is what I want to do,” Blanton said. “I’m glad it’s part of this curriculum. I wish it started sooner.” Nationwide, under 4% of public high school students have access to even a single cybersecurity course, according to CyberSupply.org, a research website on cybersecurity classes in U.S. public high schools. Only 1.2% have access to a full pathway. Meanwhile, the United States has more than 572,000 unfilled cybersecurity jobs. And the field is not slowing down: Employment of information security analysts is projected to grow 29% through 2034, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics report. “It’s a lucrative and hot field right now,” said Tyler Perhac, technology education teacher at Gateway. “There are way more job opportunities than candidates.” In the field, cybersecurity experts need to go beyond the binary ones and zeros. “So much of cybersecurity is a human element,” he said. “AI is going to help malicious attackers find what it needs quicker — but it’s not going to eliminate the human need.” ‘Certification in their hands’ Jeff Bland teaches cybersecurity at South Allegheny in the Mon Valley. On the first day of each class, he displays