October 2026

October is Cybersecurity Awareness Month

October is Cybersecurity Awareness Month. First established in 2004, it has grown into an international effort bringing together public- and private-sector organizations to help everyone stay safer online.

With AI making sophisticated cyberattacks easier to create, cybersecurity awareness is more important than ever. But many of the most effective defenses are still surprisingly simple. This year’s message, “Don’t Make It Easy for Them,” emphasizes four basic habits that everyone—including our youngest students—can learn and practice:

Use strong passwords and a password manager
Turn on multifactor authentication (MFA)
Update your software
Recognize and report phishing

Cybersecurity Awareness Month is also a great opportunity to bring cybersecurity into your classroom. Here are four ways to participate this October:

Join the new CSTA Washington Cybersecurity Interest Group which launches this month.
Encourage your students to participate in the NCCE Cybersecurity Challenge, featured later in this newsletter.
Explore CSTA Washington’s cybersecurity education resources at CSTAWA.org.
Get a CompTIA Security+ Industry Recognized Credential. Access preparation materials and a voucher for a free exam ($439 value) with your Washington state library card.

2026 CSEd Analytics: How’s your district doing?

The CSEd and CTE dashboards and PDF reports for 2026 are available on CSTAWA.org: Washington CS Education and CTE Analytics 2026. How is your district or school doing?

2024-25 saw the second straight year of significant declines in the percentage of students in grades 6-12 taking computer science in Washington. This percentage has decreased from 9.3% in 2022-23 to 8.3% in 2024-25 - a 10.7% decrease in two years.

A look at CTE enrollment data will also show that of all the 14 career clusters, digital technology is the only career cluster to see declining enrollment from 2019-20 to 2024-25 - an overall decrease of 10.6% over this period

Dashboards and PDF reports in the 2026 series include the following:

Stay tuned for more posts on the interesting findings available in these datasets.

Classroom Norms for AI Use

Whether AI tools are permitted on your school devices or strictly blocked, one truth remains clear: Your students are already using generative AI.

View the lesson plan by CSTA Responsible AI Fellow and CSTA Washington VP Puget Sound Denise Thompson to establish proactive, co-constructed AI norms in your classrooms today and create a foundation for honest, productive conversations all year long.

Opportunities to Motivate Your Students

If you are looking for computer science-related opportunities to motivate your students, please visit the Opportunities for Students category on CSTAWA.org. We will be striving to greatly improve this category in the coming months.

The posts linked to the CSTAWA.org tag #awards-2026 provide a list of likely opportunities for students available in the 2026-27 school year, including many available through CTSOs.

Your local library offers students free preparation materials and exam vouchers for many popular CS credentials.

And if you have a student opportunity that you would like to share on CSTAWA.org, please e-mail us at washington@csteachers.org.

Open Board Meeting on Oct 7

Please join us for our next quarterly open board meeting (virtual) on Oct. 7 from 6:00 to 7:00 PM.

One meeting participant will be also randomly selected to receive a $20 Amazon gift card!

In addition to our regular business, we will discuss upcoming activities, including the following: Micro:bit Professional Development, CSTA and Washington CS Standards, Cybersecurity Interest Group, CS Education Week, and NCCE.

NCCE Student Cybersecurity Challenge

CSTA Washington is proudly supporting the NCCE Student Cybersecurity Challenge.

The NCCE Student Cybersecurity Challenge Invites K–12 students to design a creative poster and a social media post promoting smart cybersecurity habits. Open to all grade levels (separated into K–2, 3–5, 6–8, and 9–12 bands), submissions are open through November 30, 2026.

To learn more and register your students, visit Student Cybersecurity Challenge on the NCCE website.

Member Spotlight: Trish Henry

Meet Trish Henry, CSTA Washington’s Vice President of the Eastern North Region. With more than 30 years of experience in education, Trish continues to champion computer science, STEM, technology, and meaningful learning opportunities for students and educators—even in retirement. Read her member spotlight to learn more about her journey, her continued commitment to CSTA Washington, and the role schools and educators play in strengthening their communities.

CSTA Standards Blog Post Series

At the CSTA Conference in July, CSTA announced the new 2026 PK-12 Computer Science Standards. Starting with its Introducing the 2026 CSTA PK–12 Computer Science Standards: What Washington Educators Need to Know post in late July, CSTA Washington has completed its series of blog posts introducing the special features of these new standards. Other posts in this series include:

Stay tuned for the next series of blog posts on the Interdisciplinary Connections in the 2026 PK-12 Computer Science standards

Rubber Duck Spotlight: Tacoma Meetup on Sep 16

Thank you for being part of our community and for inspiring the next generation of technology creators. We’re grateful to be rebuilding this community together and appreciate your ongoing commitment to computer science education across Washington. Your passion and dedication are what make CSTA Washington strong!

With gratitude,

The CSTA Washington Team

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