American International School of Johannesburg Turns Digital Citizenship Week into a Phishing-Reporting Competition

About the American International School of Johannesburg

The American International School of Johannesburg (AISJ) is a Pre-K to Grade 12 international school founded in 1982, with campuses in Johannesburg and Pretoria and students from more than 80 nationalities.

Andre van Wyk is AISJ's Technology Director. His team supports staff and students across both campuses on Google Workspace.

Challenge: Getting Security Training Off the Ground

Andre had been trying to launch cybersecurity training at AISJ for some time. The school had used KnowBe4, but the price became too high, and Proofpoint was also out of reach for the school's budget.

The need was real. Middle and high school students can receive email from outside the school, and AISJ had seen students click phishing links, have their credentials harvested, and then have their accounts used to send more phishing emails. Andre needed something affordable that would reach staff first and then students.

Solution: Start with Staff, Then Bring in Students

Andre found Tartan through the K12 Tech Pro community. AISJ started in August 2026 by syncing staff from Google Workspace, rolling out the Tartan Shield report button in Gmail, and sending a short welcome video before turning on phishing simulations.

• Phishing simulations spread out over 10 days, so each person gets a realistic test at a different time
• A short training video sent automatically to anyone who clicks a simulation
• Threat Manager to review reported emails and remove real threats from every inbox
• A points leaderboard that rewards reporting phishing and completing training

With staff up and running, Andre turned to students.

Digital Citizenship Week: A Competition with Prizes

Andre used AISJ's Digital Citizenship Week, October 19 to 23, to launch Tartan for high school students in Grades 9 to 12. His plan was simple: teach students how to spot phishing, send them practice phishing emails, and reward the students who reported them.

AISJ framed the competition as part of its broader Digital Citizenship Week. High school students and all staff were enrolled in a Tartan Shield video training campaign, with simulated phishing emails turned on to test awareness.

Here is how the week came together:

• Students Synced by Grade: High school students were pulled in from their Google Workspace organizational units, so each grade could be tracked separately.
• Report Button Before Launch: Tartan Shield was rolled out to students the Friday before, alongside the school's announcement, so every student could report from Gmail on day one.
• Student Training Videos: Students watched short digital citizenship videos with quizzes, chosen from Tartan's student library. A second set of videos was added midweek.
• Three Rounds of Phishing in One Week: Tartan normally spaces phishing simulations out over months. For the competition, the Tartan team sent three rounds of student simulations during the week to give students more chances to earn points.
• Points and Prizes: Students earned points for reporting simulations and completing training. Andre used the leaderboard, filtered by grade, to award prizes.
• An In-Person Speaker Session: AISJ brought in The Digital Law Co. to speak to Grades 8 to 12 about the permanent "Tattoo Effect" of digital footprints, the legal and disciplinary risks of negative online behavior, and essential online safety practices.

By the second day, about half of high school students were already taking part. Andre had a limited number of prizes and asked for a third round of simulations to help narrow down the winners.

"The prizes are really pushing the adoption."

Students responded well. AISJ's High School Counselor said the video length and visual elements really resonated with students. The week also sparked new conversations, and based on the feedback, AISJ's counselors are organizing a parent coffee morning on how teens are using AI chatbots and Discord.

Results: Reporting Took Off

The competition changed how often AISJ's staff and students report suspicious email.

• 219 Simulations Reported in October: Up from 50 in August and September combined.
• Catch Rate Up from 5% to 18%: The share of simulations reported with the Tartan Shield button more than tripled since AISJ's first month.
• Phish Risk Score Down from 19% to 13%: AISJ's risk score has dropped steadily since launch.
• 44% of Users on the Leaderboard: 44% of AISJ's staff and students earned points in the past month.
• 485 Training Videos Completed: Students completed 485 Digital Citizenship Week videos, with more than half of students finishing their training.

Staff are reporting more suspicious emails too. Just recently, AISJ's Principal flagged an unexpected corporate travel registration email to check whether it was legitimate before interacting with it.

What It's Been Like Working with Tartan

When Andre ran into issues while setting up the week, the Tartan team worked through them with him, shipped fixes, and handled the extra simulation rounds behind the scenes.

"Thanks for the feedback and for the responsiveness of you and the support team! It's highly appreciated."

Looking back on the week, Andre credited that support with keeping the campaign easy to run.

"Your fantastic responsiveness and willingness to help us customize the experience for our specific needs made the entire campaign seamless to execute."

Andre has also been sharing Tartan with other technology directors.

Advice for Other Schools

For schools planning a similar week, Andre recommends pairing the technology with something in person.