WESTCHESTER COMMUNITY COLLEGE STUDENTS WIN CISCO HONORS IN COMPETITION

Westchester Community College students Elzbieta Garela and JP Eric Valensoy have won the state-level Cisco Networking Academy NetRiders Skills Challenge, an interactive contest designed by the Cisco Networking Academy to give technical education students the opportunity to showcase their IT and networking skills. This contest recognizes excellence among Networking Academy students. In the state competition, the team of Jason Krautle and Long Le from Westchester Community College took second place as well. Garela and Valensoy went on to compete in the virtual national competition against teams from 34 states and four Canadian Providences for a grand-prize trip to Cisco headquarters in San Jose, California. In the national competition Garela and Valensoy took fourteenth place.

NetRiders utilizes Cisco’s Web 2.0 technologies to create an interactive experience, enhance classroom learning, and motivate young people to further pursue technology education and training. The NetRiders state-level competition involved nearly 400 Networking Academy students from across the United States and Canada competing in a variety of activities, including a timed theoretical exam, a Packet Tracer network simulation activity and a Packet Tracer exam.

The Cisco Networking Academy is a global technology education program that provides students with networking and technical skills to prepare them for careers. Committed to delivering the highest standard of information technology education to students of all nationalities, genders and economic brackets, the program is designed to offer students real-world skills that will position them for employment and career growth.

“We are extremely pleased to provide this opportunity for Networking Academy students to showcase their skills and compete with their peers in a challenging hands-on contest,” says Amy Christen, vice president of Corporate Affairs and general manager of the Cisco Networking Academy. “Congratulations to all of the students who competed in the event. We look forward to seeing these talented young people continue to pursue education in the rapidly growing networking field,” she added.

Steve Leone, the college’s program administrator for the Cisco Networking Academy, says “We are extremely proud of both teams for doing so well in the state-level competition. Taking first and second place in a very competitive field was amazing. And to place fourteenth in a field composed of students who had already completed their certification requirements and had moved on to the next level was a testament not only to Eric and Elzbieta ,who are only a third of the way through the entire curriculum, but to Professor Widulski for all his hard work in preparing his students for both a very rigorous competition and a very rigorous field. We are extremely proud of our students.”

“Cisco NetRiders was an experience I will never forget,” says Valensoy. “I am proud of what Elzbieta and I have accomplished. This whole experience would not have been possible without the support of Westchester Community College. Winning the competition validates the quality of education Westchester Community college has to offer. I am thankful for being given this opportunity.”

“The NetRiders competition was a great experience,” says Garela. “It inspired me to study even harder to succeed in the computer networking industry. I am happy to be a part of the competition and proud to represent Westchester Community College’s Cisco Networking Academy.”

For more information about the Cisco Networking Academy, visit http://www.cisco.com/go/netacad..

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