SPYSCAPE, one of the hottest new attractions in New York City, welcomes students to Spy School! This program, free with the purchase of a regular ticket, will train students in the fine art of espionage using interactive experiences and authentic artifacts from historical spies. Participants at this spy museum in Midtown West will build skills in critical thinking, leadership, creativity, and agility (during the laser-dodging portion, that is!).
Photos: Scott Frances for SPYSCAPE
During Spy School, students will become spies-in-training, learning to deceive, to hide in plain sight, crack codes, and evade capture. They’ll engage with SPYSCAPE’s state-of-the-art technology, which tracks participants’ performance throughout a range of challenges and gives them a unique spy identity at the end of their journey. Kiosks throughout the main part of SPYSCAPE will test participants’ IQ, psychology, and risk tolerance. It’s like the coolest personality test ever built!
The interiors of SPYSCAPE have been artfully designed like the set of a spy movie set, with sleek, dark tunnels and mysterious sound effects. Throughout the experience, students will put their spy skills to the test with code-making (and code-breaking) in the style of real-life cryptanalysts Alan Turing and Joan Clarke. These two British operatives cracked the German Enigma code during World War II, an event explained in a SPYSCAPE exhibit.
Other challenges include passing a polygraph test—i.e. testing your lying capabilities—as well as administering one to a potential double agent. Students will also evade surveillance and dodge their way to safety in the Special Ops laser tunnels.
Students will be given a spy profile like Hacker, Intelligence Operative, or Cryptologist in a final Debrief. Later, their spy profile will be emailed to them, offering a full personality breakdown and links to other intelligence-related content.
In addition to these exhilarating challenges, real spy stories are told throughout SPYSCAPE’s Spy School, whether through artifacts or video content. The entire experience interrogates students’ assumptions about security, deception, and technology. Spy School will inspire timely questions about issues like online hacking, fake news, and drone surveillance.
The museum experience was designed with the help of a former Head of Training at British Intelligence, as well as investigative journalists, hackers, architects, and filmmakers. Former CIA Director General David Petraeus calls SPYSCAPE “a wonderfully creative, interactive, and stimulating experience that imparts tremendous insights into the conduct of spycraft and intelligence operations.”
Admission to Spy School is absolutely free! Present a valid ID from your middle school, high school, or college to receive a ticket to Spy School from Mondays to Thursdays from 4pm to closing (last admission at 7pm). Each student must come with one paying participant for admission.
SPYSCAPE is located at 928 Eighth Avenue. For more information, visit spyscape.com.
