In late August, Haywood County Schools was hit with a ransomware attack on the first day that elementary students were set to begin online instruction. The hackers gained access to the district’s computer systems and demanded money for the return of sensitive data, shutting down remote instruction in the district for a full week.

Haywood County is not alone — the attack was one of five ransomware attacks on North Carolina school districts in 2020. For comparison, only one district, Columbus County Schools, was attacked from 2016 to 2019. These attacks also impact community colleges, county governments, and other entities. In July 2019, a cyber attack shut down Richmond Community College.

As many students across the state engage in some form of remote learning due to COVID-19, cybersecurity is more important than ever. What is a ransomware attack, and what can schools do to guard themselves against one? We turned to Forsyth Technical Community College for answers.

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In 2015, Harvard economists Raj Chetty and Nathaniel Hendren published a paper examining the impacts of neighborhoods on intergenerational mobility. They found that Forsyth County was the hardest place to escape childhood poverty in the country, with the exception of a few Native American reservations.

While North Carolina’s public universities have released information about the spread of COVID-19 on their campuses since the start of the fall semester, only a few of the state’s 58 community colleges have shared similar details so far.

With varying enrollment, active cases on campus and a commitment to continuing to provide high-quality education, Triad universities and colleges reopened this month with both online and in-person class offerings. So far, none have been shut down.

Winston-Salem, N.C. – As this school year begins, all Winston-Salem Forsyth County high School students will be taking classes online for at least the first nine weeks of the semester. Through the Career and College Promise if they choose, they can also gain free college credit by enrolling in courses at Forsyth Tech.

One student who recently completed the dual enrollment program, Onolunosen (Ono) Abhulimen graduated this spring from Mount Tabor High School and Forsyth Technical Community College with her associate in science degree. She was among approximately 59,000 high school students across N.C last year, who took these courses, saving both time and money toward a college degree.

Abhulimen decided to enter the dual enrollment program as she said, “because of my zeal to broaden my intellectual curiosity in more advanced subjects while experiencing a higher education environment. While extremely challenging, the dual enrollment program has given me the template that will become valuable in navigating my next stage on a full journey in higher education. I certainly felt it was the best way for me to prepare myself for the next level.”

To say she was busy is an understatement. Abhulimen said “During that time period I learned a lot about time management, prioritization, commitment and determination. There was no luxury for procrastination as deadlines were stacked on many deliverables. While the work was challenging, I absolutely looked forward to the varied experiences in the two school environments on a daily basis.”

Weighted the same as Advanced Placement courses, college transfer courses are equivalent for grade point averages on high school transcripts. By the time students graduate from high school, some students earn enough credits for a community college degree or credential.

Special events are being organized around the country to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the certification of the 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which gave women the right to vote. These events will all take place on Wednesday, Aug. 26. Winston-Salem is planning its own event for that day which, appropriately, will be a voter registration event.