From Picking Locks to Winning Competitions: Inside Cybersecurity at Trinity Prep

From Picking Locks to Winning Competitions: Inside Cybersecurity at Trinity Prep

At Trinity Prep, the STEM program has an established culture of student-driven innovation and discovery, where students take ownership of their education. This year, the program has expanded into cybersecurity, led by Kasen Raines, Applied Science Instructor, Cybersecurity Coach, and Robotics Coach. 

New to Trinity Prep this year, Raines joined the team with a mission to help create a cohesive STEM curriculum that builds from course to course while opening doors for students with a wide range of strengths. The cybersecurity addition formed as a direct result of student input. 

“We didn’t have a cybersecurity class before, but we had a group of students who were passionate about competing in cybersecurity, so we built the class,” Raines explained.

Making Cybersecurity Tangible

For many students, cybersecurity sounds intimidating. It can feel overly technical and full of unfamiliar language. Raines is intentional about changing that perception from the very beginning. Her approach starts with a tangible example of what students will be doing with technology, a lesson on lockpicking. She says that this is because “that’s how cybersecurity starts, with locking the door.” By beginning with the simple idea of who has the key to which room, students learn about the foundation of cybersecurity. From there, they build toward more complex concepts, gaining confidence as they realize the field is not reserved for one particular type of student.

Accessibility is central to the program. Raines points out that cybersecurity professionals come from many backgrounds, including psychology, music, art, and traditional STEM fields. At Trinity Prep, students see the same variety reflected in the adults who lead them. The applied science and engineering team includes engineers, educators, artists, and professionals with nontraditional STEM backgrounds, creating an environment where students do not have to fit into a single mold to belong.

A Student-Led STEM Culture

Raines describes Trinity Prep’s STEM culture as one of “innovative excellence,” a place where excellence is not the finish line, but the starting point for what comes next. The department’s leadership encourages big ideas and gives both teachers and students room to bring those ideas to life.

“We get excellence, then we try to figure out how to make the excellence more excellent,” Raines said.

That mindset is visible across robotics, computer science, engineering, and cybersecurity. Students lead projects, test ideas, troubleshoot problems, and collaborate with coaches and teachers. Whether they are programming, building robots, studying digital systems, or preparing for competitions, students learn how to think deeply and adapt quickly. The ones who already identify as STEM-focused find opportunities to grow, while those who may feel uncertain are encouraged to try, fail, learn, and try again. 

Competition Success with Real-World Value

Trinity Prep’s cybersecurity teams have had an exceptional year in competition, with students achieving success across multiple national and international contests. These are some of the highlights:

• In CyberPatriot, a national cybersecurity competition, Trinity Prep students advanced to the semifinals, including an all-girls team that moved up two categories after excelling in its division.
• Students also competed in picoCTF, an international online cybersecurity competition created by Carnegie Mellon University.,One high school team earned a perfect score, and all five middle school teams placed in the top 10 in their division. 
• At Lockheed Martin’s CyberQuest competition, Trinity Prep won first place and had two teams tie for third. 
• Trinity Prep students also excelled in related STEM competitions, including Code Quest and AI Quest, earning top placements.

While most schools send only one elite team, Trinity Prep supports broad participation so that students who want to compete can do so. That approach helps students build experience year after year and develops a deeper, more sustainable culture of excellence.

Learning by Trying, Failing, and Building Again

Preparation for the cybersecurity competition at Trinity Prep mirrors how professionals solve problems in the real world. Students practice with previous competitions, reverse-engineer challenges, analyze how solutions work, and learn to think beyond memorized answers. Competitions are embedded into the classroom experience, giving students regular opportunities to apply what they are learning.

In one class, students wrote a cybersecurity proposal for a company, discovering that the field also involved business thinking, communication, and strategy. For students who may feel overwhelmed by the technical side of STEM, this broader view makes cybersecurity more approachable and shows them that their strengths can be valuable assets.

Preparing Students for the Future

Trinity Prep’s STEM programs help students build the kind of real-world readiness that colleges and employers recognize. For some students, this opens doors early on. Raines shared that one student has received internship offers from Lockheed Martin for two consecutive summers. That kind of opportunity reflects the strength of a program that gives students real industry readiness.

Looking ahead, Raines hopes every Trinity Prep student will have the chance to experience a cyber competition at least once. She is especially excited about building the middle school pipeline. By capturing that passion early, Trinity Prep can help students grow into confident problem-solvers long before graduation.

Cybersecurity may begin with the question of who has the key, but at Trinity Prep, it also opens doors for the next generation of innovators who will help shape a safer, smarter, more connected world. To learn more about the STEM opportunities Trinity Prep offers and why the school is considered the #1 STEM school in the Orlando area, visit our website.