Students and teachers at Palm Valley Academy in St. Johns County are being awarded for practicing online safety with a special visit from agents at FBI Jacksonville.
The honor is a result of the FBI’s Safe Online Surfing Internet Challenge, which is a free, interactive web game developed to increase awareness of online dangers among youth.
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“It really teaches you a lot about all the different access of media that’s on the internet,” Bert Reynolds, the assistant special agent in charge of FBI Jacksonville, said.
Lessons range from password security and safeguarding personal information, to identifying online predators and good virtual citizenship.
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Internet safety is a big topic Jayme Stofko teaches her 6th, 7th, and 8th graders.
“It’s really important that we talk to our kids about how to be smart and safe,” Stofko said.
Over the last several years, she has implemented the FBI’s program in her classes.
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“We love to introduce them to these concepts,” Stofko said.
In this program, schools are eligible to win national awards.
Before the end of every month, students have to take a test and whoever has the highest score in the nation during that month wins.
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“I typically wait until the end of a month and have them test at the end, so they know what they are competing against and what scores they have to get,” Stofko said.
Since Stofko has been a teacher at Palm Valley Academy, they’ve won four years in a row, earning top national scores five times. While she strives to continue this winning streak, she hopes this program continues to help her students make smarter and safer choices when using the internet.
Anyone can complete FBI-SOS activities at home. Click here to learn more: https://sos.fbi.gov
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