Warren County Career Center IT students Devin Stover, Drew Morgan, Liam Smaroff, and Jordan Cameron will compete at the FBLA National Leadership Conference from June 27 through 30 in Atlanta.

The team of Stover, a senior, and juniors Morgan and Smaroff, took first place in the Pennsylvania finals at Hershey in April in the Network Design category.

As a group, they were given a prompt — a business using three unprotected servers was looking for options on security plans.

“They had us build a plan — how much it would cost, how easy it would be to implement,” Morgan said.

Times Observer photo by Brian Ferry Warren County Career Center Information Technology student Jordan Cameron took fourth place in the Future Business Leaders of America Introduction to IT competition at the Pennsylvania championships in April. He will compete at the national finals June 27 through 30 in Atlanta.

They had 20 minutes to design their solutions and seven to present those solutions to a panel of six judges, Smaroff said. “The time was very strict.”

He said the challenge would end on schedule even if that meant cutting off what one of the judges was saying mid-sentence.

Appearance was also strict. Morgan said he did his best to hide his shoes throughout the event, concerned that he, like two female competitors he saw, would not be allowed to continue due to out-of-compliance footwear.

“We came up with three different solutions — host-based firewalls, a dedicated network firewall, or a DMZ — two firewalls with one or more of the servers between them,” Stover said.

“We explained which was most cost-efficient, which was most effective, and which we would recommend,” Smaroff said.

They were well-prepared for the event.

“It was this class,” Stover said. “We have completed certifications that related to this.”

He will finish a sixth before graduation. Both Morgan and Smaroff have completed three and expect to finish a fourth by the end of the year.

There were 15 Network Design teams at states.

“Going up on stage was a surprise,” Smaroff said. “I was even more surprised when they called fifth place.”

They had not heard their names yet and the top four teams advance to nationals.

“We were even more shocked when they called second,” he said.

The victory has given them confidence, but, with as many as four teams from each state competing at the next stage, they don’t know quite what to expect.

“It’s going to be interesting,” Morgan said.

The students all plan to take on careers in information technology and they have an impressive achievement to put on their resumes.

“I’m very proud of these boys,” IT Teacher Scott Burroughs said. “I figured they’d be in the top 10. I wasn’t expecting first.”

Cameron, a sophomore, is in his first year of the IT program and he is already on his way to nationals.

Cameron entered the Introduction to IT competition of FBLA.

He didn’t have as much in-person work to do.

“My experience was a lot less intricate than theirs,” Cameron said. “I just had to take two tests.”

The introduction tests involved many different categories — “basic operating systems, shortcuts, come command line… then they’d throw in some obscure Google Slides,” Cameron said.

In the first hour-long, 100 question test, his score was the highest in the region, qualifying him for states.

He went to Hershey with the other team members, but he didn’t have to compete. “I took the test beforehand,” he said. “I went to Hershey Lodge for the big event.”

There was a lot of waiting.

“I was the last event called out of our group,” Cameron said.

His placement in the region had given him some confidence at the state level.

“I felt I had a shot,” Cameron said. “But, it was state level — I wouldn’t be mad if I didn’t make it.”

As with all the events, the top 10 competitors were called to the stage.

“I was surprised,” he said. “I didn’t quite believe I was going.”

“There was a dramatic countdown,” he said. “Once they got to fifth place… ‘Oh wow. I’m going to nationals.'”

In Atlanta, he will have to take his test in-person.

“I’m excited,” Cameron said. “Hopefully, I do well. But, just getting to this point is farther than I expected.”

“I expect good things from Mr. Cameron,” Burroughs said. “Not just in Atlanta, but here next year.”

“I’m going to aim high, but not be disappointed,” Cameron said.