St. Joseph the Protector School Wins National FBI-SOS Internet Challenge Award
| FBI Philadelphia June 14, 2013 |
St. Joseph the Protector (StJP) School has been presented with the FBI-Safe Online Surfing Internet Challenge’s National Award for April 2013. Under the guidance of Lisa Ortolani, StJP students posted the best cumulative score in the country in the “Stingray” category (schools with 51-100 participants).
FBI Supervisory Senior Resident Agent Joseph Bushner visited St. Joseph the Protector today to congratulate the students and give them their trophy. The school is located at 2336 Fairhill Avenue in Glenside, Pennsylvania.
FBI-SOS is a free initiative designed to educate third through eighth grade students about cyber safety. All public, private, and home schools are eligible to participate in this entertaining and educational web-based program, which can be accessed year-round—in the classroom or at home.
The website features six grade-specific “islands.” Each island includes seven or eight learning portals for students to visit. Using games, videos, and interactive features, these areas address the protection of personal information, password strength, cell phone safety, social networking, and online gaming safety, among other topics. The videos include real-life stories of kids who have faced cyber-bullies and online predators.
After students have completed all activities on their island, they are given an exam. Each month of the academic year, schools compete for the national award in one of three categories, determined by the number of students participating from each school: “Starfish” (5-50 participants), “Stingray” (51-100), and “Shark” (100+).
Kids of all ages—and even adults—can explore the site, play the games, watch the videos, and learn about cyber safety. However, the exam used for competing can only be taken by third to eighth grade students whose classes have been registered by their teachers.
The FBI-SOS Internet Challenge was developed with the assistance of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, with input from teachers and schools. FBI-SOS is available at sos.fbi.gov; log on for more information or contact the FBI-Philadelphia Division’s Community Outreach Unit at 215-418-4000.