Alumni Association to Offer Annual Grant for Crooms AoIT Athletics, Create Grant Committee to Oversee Process

This past Wednesday, the Crooms AoIT Alumni Association's Board of Directors unanimously approved a measure to offer an annual grant to a Crooms AoIT sports team. The grant comes after Crooms AoIT Class of 2006 graduate Frank C. Bracco signed a four-year gift agreement with the Alumni Association. As part of the agreement, the Alumni Association will offer a grant of at least $250 to Crooms' athletic teams for at least the next four years.

Crooms AoIT Receives 'A' Grade

The 2011 high school grades are finally out, and it's great news for Crooms Academy of Information Technology. Students at Crooms AoIT rose to the occasion and earned the school an 'A' grade for 2011. School grades are based on student performance and learning gains on the FCAT standardized test. Crooms AoIT is one of two high schools in Seminole County to have received an 'A' grade for four out of the past five years.

Holiday Cheer: Join the Alumni Association Before Christmas and Get...

Spread some holiday cheer this winter season. For the next three people that join the Alumni Association before Christmas at the Orange Croomie or above level ($30/year or more) we will send you a $35 gift card for Wal-Mart while receiving all the other benefits of membership in the alumni association. You seriously cannot beat this deal; you can actually walk away having received more holiday cheer than you gave while still supporting a good cause. Join now at http://www.croomsalumni.com/join.

The Founders Society Spotlight: Micheal Morgan, 2006

ID Number: 
2
Name: 
Micheal Morgan
Last Name: 
Morgan
Founders Class: 
Class 1 - FY2011-2012
Class 2 - FY2014-2015
Class 3 - FY2021-2022
Crooms Affiliation: 
Alumni
Crooms Graduating Year: 
2006
Photo of Micheal Morgan

As the President, Chief Technology Officer, and Director for publicly traded Vidaroo Corporation, Micheal Morgan leads a technology company that provides a best-in-breed online video platform and state of the art video production. He also serves as the President of his own SaaS, e-commerce, and software development company Stand Vertical, Inc.

Teaser: 

Why did you decide to become a member of The Founders Society?
I fell in love with Crooms as an 8th grader looking forward to high school. Crooms AoIT has given me more than any other educational setting I have been in. I believe in what Crooms AoIT is doing, and I would like to see our Alumni Association be able to be more actively involved with the school itself. My hope is we are eventually able to create a bridge between the alumni and the student body, and create some interesting synergies when it comes to hands-on learning for Crooms AoIT students.

Front Page Preview Text: 

As the President, Chief Technology Officer, and Director for publicly traded Vidaroo Corporation, Micheal Morgan leads a technology company that provides a best-in-breed online video platform and state of the art video production. Micheal oversees a growing on demand OVP and production company whose ever expanding roster of current and former clients include Microsoft, Coca-Cola Company, Tribune News Company, Toyota, Emmis Communications, Clear Channel, Black Eyed Peas, and Justin Timberlake. He also serves as the President of his own SaaS, e-commerce, and software development company Stand Vertical, Inc. Having graduated from Crooms Academy of Information Technology, Micheal is also one of the most prominent entrepreneurs from the class of 2006 and is now a member of The Founders Society.

Born in Houston, Micheal Morgan moved to Seminole County at the age of seven. Eighth grade at Milwee Middle School proved to be a pivotal point for him. "At the time, I was evaluating the benefits of attending Lyman's engineering program," Micheal explains, "but, Crooms AoIT offered so much more with its focus on IT and the Cisco Networking Academy. It was a presentation by Crooms' assistant principal during my tech resources class that cemented the deal." During his time at Crooms AoIT, Micheal pursued a regimen of networking courses and was also active in extracurricular activities. This included serving as Student Body President, Student Body Vice President, and head of Crooms' delegation to the Seminole County Association of Student Councils when it served as the Secretary/Treasurer school; being an active member of Business Professionals of America (BPA), BETA Club, and the National Honor Society; and, being a part of the BPA e-commerce team that would place first at national competition.

Continue reading the full interview with Micheal Morgan
Check out the Q&A with Micheal
See other members of The Founders Society
Join The Founders Society

Crooms AoIT Alumni Places in Nationally Recognized CyberSecuirty Competition

Crooms AoIT Class of 2006 graduate John Amirrezvani (pictured center with the tablet) competes in the 2011 CSAW Capture the Flag Competition
Crooms AoIT Class of 2006 graduate John Amirrezvani (pictured center with the tablet) competes in the 2011 CSAW Capture the Flag Competition

Crooms AoIT Class of 2006 graduate John Amirrezvani celebrated a major victory when he and his University of South Florida teammates traveled to the Polytechnic Institute of New York University's Cyber Security Awareness Week (CSAW) CyberSecurity Competition. Together, the USF team placed 4th in the nationally recognized CyberSecurity CSAW Capture the Flag competition.

The Capture the Flag competition is designed to evaluate application security skills. Competitors attack vulnerable applications and solve offensive challenges. Challenges are divided into technical categories and assigned point values based on how difficult they are. The CSAW CTF is loosely based on the DEFCON Capture the Flag competition.

As one of 12 finalists from around the global, the USF team had a lot prove: their team was the only Southern school and public university to compete in the finals, and they were also a defending finalist from last year. Students – from high school level to PhD candidates – competed in multiple stages of the event, and it all came down to these finalists, which would compete for 24 hours. When the dust settled, John and his USF colleagues were in a three-way tie for 3rd with teams from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. After the tiebreaker, USF's team ended the competition in 4th – ahead of the MIT team.

This year marked the eighth time NYU-Poly has hosted the CyberSecuirty Competition and the second time John has been a finalist. NYU-Poly is the perfect battleground for these emerging leaders in cybersecurity. NYU-Poly’s Information Systems and Security (ISIS) Laboratory is funded by the National Science Foundation, a designated Center of Excellence in Information Assurance Research and in Education by the National Security Agency, and is a renowned member of the cybersecurity community.

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