Codes and secret writing

Codes and secret writing date back thousands of years. People have always tried to hide their messages from prying eyes. What makes a good code? How would you use one? How have they been used in the past?
St. Louis School is fortunate to have Mr. Mike Blasi, former SLS parent, STEM resource, and National Cryptologic Museum staff member as part of our continuing STEM Speaker Series. He spent the afternoon with the Class of 2022, explaining a variety of cryptographic methods and providing the students with challenges to solve. He spoke about Caesar and pigpen ciphers, frequency analysis, as well as the history of the Enigma machine and how it works. As an added bonus, the students had the opportunity to experience typing on an actual Enigma machine on loan from the National Cryptologic Museum. We want to thank Mr. Blasi and his daughter Laura, SLS alumn, for sharing their time and talent with our students. #STEMatSLS