Key to educating the general public and providing the most outreach materials available within the reach of key stakeholders of the Dolly Sods Project, is the development of a Web site that contains all the educational tools developed to educate the public about how to enjoy Dolly Sods safely while learning about the dangers of UXO . Making these materials available on the Internet will increase the campaign’s reach far beyond the West Virginia state borders. All stakeholders will be encouraged to use the Web site to download the information to teach their audiences about the wonders of Dolly Sods as well as the safety information.
The purpose of the West Virginia Maneuver Area (WVMA) Web site is to inform the public of USACE project activities, provide the public with outreach materials and information, and to facilitate information exchange between team members. It contains all of the other important project documents and information for a comprehensive understanding of the project.
Several important educational tools intended for all ages were developed for this campaign and are available to view and download on the WVMA Web site. A new Dolly Sods area map was created by USACE in conjunction with the U.S. Forest Service that includes current terrain, safe trails and camping grounds. Adult and children’s brochures were designed to convey the UXO safety message easily and effectively. The children’s brochure includes several educational exercises featuring the character “Wally the Woodchuck” to reinforce the safety message, whereas the adult version conveys the message in a straight forward manner.
The Dolly Sods educational video was another important tool created. The video provides site history, describes the important role Dolly Sods played in WWII, and features USACE team members providing an explanation of the clean-up efforts. The video is an extremely important and effective tool for educators, first responders and visitor centers, to name a few.
Several presentations were developed to aid in educating different segments of the stakeholders on UXO safety. The children’s Flash presentation features “Wally the Woodchuck” explaining the “3 Important Rules of UXO Safety” which are “Spot, Walk Away and Call” in a fun and exciting way. These rules are intended to be simple allowing even children to remember them easily. The adult PowerPoint presentation employs the same simple message and also features beautiful photos of the Dolly Sods area, real pictures of UXO, and an explanation of FUDS and USACE activities. A “Train the Trainer” PowerPoint presentation was developed specifically to educate teachers, firefighters, law enforcement and other community leaders on UXO safety at Dolly Sods. The presentation explains useful methods to present the difficult subject matter to the general public in a fun and interesting way. The presentation also outlines steps of good presentation preparation and execution to help the trainer be as informative as possible.
