On March 2, 2013, SURVICE sponsored a workshop at the Expanding Your Horizons Southern Maryland (EYH SoMD) organization’s first event, held at the Southern Maryland Higher Education Center in California, MD. EYH SoMD is a local organization dedicated to heightening the awareness of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) in 6th– to 8th-grade girls and encouraging them to pursue STEM careers. The SURVICE-sponsored workshop, called “Shh! I’ve Got a Secret,” discussed the history of cryptography and its role in the world today. The workshop also gave students a chance to reinforce their knowledge by encoding and decoding sample secret messages with hand-made cipher wheels.
EYH SoMD organizers declared the event a huge success, with registration reaching capacity in 9 days and more than 100 volunteers participating. In addition, 40% of the students expressed an interest in learning more about STEM careers, and 46% felt encouraged to take more math and science courses.
To find out more about EYH SoMD, click here.
