Top Secret: Cuban Missile Crisis
Posted by Ariel WarshawTo cap off our study of Cuba in Humanities 7, we got to become CIA analysts on a Virtual Field Trip with the International Spy Museum! Prior to their mission, students received a memorandum from Base Ops and a description of their roles as all source analysts. On the day of our mission, the students were transported back to 10 October 1962. They received their dossier containing classified information on the movement of missiles on the island nation of Cuba. Their job? Counsel President Kennedy on whether there was enough evidence to send a U-2 spy plane to the island. They pored over memos and accounts from sources before determining that a reconnaissance flight was in order. Once the students had made the call, they then received the images the plane had collected. They needed to determine whether there was evidence that the missiles in Cuba were ready to be deployed – from the photographs, they found that this was not the case. Because of their smart thinking, their intelligence guided JFK to diffuse the crisis and come to a negotiation with the Soviets. This simulation was an engaging way to learn about those 13 days in October of 1962, when the entire world waited with bated breath on the brink of nuclear war. The students asked excellent questions and got into character as we brought the crisis to a peaceful resolution!
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