Animated Site Provides Interactive Tools for Enhancing Reading Skills While Teaching Children about the U.S. Olympic Team and U.S. Olympic Ideals and Values     2002 U.S. Olympic Athletes and Four-Time Gold Medal Olympian Janet Evans Introduces Audio Lessons in Teamwork, Persistence, Discipline, Vision & Goal Setting    Salt Lake City, Utah - Three days before Opening Ceremonies of the Winter Olympic Games, the United States Olympic Committee (USOC) has launched a new U.S. Olympic web site designed specifically for kids.  "U.S. Olympic Team Base Camp," found at www.usolympicteam.com/kids, is the official source for "kid friendly" information about U.S. Olympic Team Athletes, U.S. Olympic ideals and values, and the Olympic Movement.  Designed to enhance reading skills at the grade school level, the site provides entertaining content that encourages kids to pursue their individual goals.    "Reading is an essential part of a child's early developmental years, which is why we've created the "U.S. Olympic Team Base Camp" web site, so that kids will find reading interesting while also learning about lifelong important values embodied by U.S. Olympic athletes," said Lloyd Ward, CEO of the United States Olympic Committee. "Olympic dreams begin with kids who are inspired by today's role models, like our athletes competing in the 2002 Olympic Winter Games who aspire to win medals and win the hearts and minds of Americans in everyday life. The "U.S. Olympic Team Base Camp" web site captures kids' imaginations so that they can read about Olympic sports, U.S. Olympic athletes and learn first-hand about Olympic values from the athletes," added Ward.    Web Site Features:   "U.S. Olympic Team Base Camp" can be found at the official web site of the U.S. Olympic Team at www.usolympicteam.com, and includes: interactive Olympic value-oriented cartoons, called Boomtoons, with audio introductions by U.S. Olympic athletes Cammi Granato of the 2002 U.S. Olympic Women's Ice Hockey Team, Caroline Lalive, member of the 2002 U.S. Olympic Ski Team and Lincoln DeWitt of the 2002 U.S. Olympic Skeleton Team; interactive Olympic-themed games and trivia, word searches, as well as printable drawings, coloring and assignment sheet pages for kids to share with friends and parents are also included.    Interactive Book with Janet Evans:  Vision & Goal Setting  Janet Evans, a four-time gold medal winner and the 1989 United States Olympic Committee Sportswoman of the Year, narrates the introduction of an interactive book on vision and goal setting.  Janet discusses her early vision to become a U.S Olympian in swimming and teaches kids about how to set goals and achieve them, even if it requires waking at 4:00 in the morning to practice.  The book emphasizes vocabulary and reading skills.    Web Site Characters:  Meet the Team  U.S. Team Olympic Base Camp team members include animated cartoon characters that introduce visitors to special features throughout the site. In addition to acting as U.S. Olympic "Base Camp" introductory hosts, the characters star in different Olympic-themed Boomtoons and other site features.    The five main U.S. Olympic Team Base Camp characters include:  Joe Bob Bear, Slug, Sissy Skunk, Rusty Raccoon and Morty Moose.    Animated Boomtoons  The Boomtoons' cartoons feature three-to-four minute animated characters that communicate key values and characteristics of an Olympic athlete: teamwork, discipline and persistence.   Three Boomtoon cartoons featured on the site are:  "What about Bobsled," "If First You Don't Succeed," and "You Snooze You Loose."    For Parents & Educators  In addition to appealing to kids, the site also offers parents and teachers the opportunity to make the most of the current Olympic spirit that is sweeping the nation.  The site provides parents and educators with learning tools geared toward the Olympic Movement that make reading and learning fun for their kids.  Parents can share the excitement around the 2002 Winter Olympic Games and the U.S. Olympic Team with their children by playing and learning on the site together.    The U.S. Olympic Team Base Camp web site was developed in association with Flying Rhinoceros.  Flying Rhinoceros is one of the leading web animation companies in the nation.   The company creates and distributes entertaining educational multi-media materials to educators throughout the U.S.  Flying Rhino has worked on projects with the federal government, school districts across the United States, leading non-profits and corporations across America.    About The United States Olympic Committee  The USOC is the custodian of the U.S. Olympic Movement and is the moving force for the support of sports in the United States that are on the program of the Olympic, Paralympic and Pan American Games. The USOC isrecognized by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) as the sole agency in the United States whose mission involves training, entering and underwriting the full expenses for the United States teams in the Olympic, Paralympic and Pan American Games.    About Flying Rhinoceros  Flying Rhinoceros, based in Portland, Oregon, is a curriculum enhancement company that augments traditional textbook learning with engaging and interactive lessons and activities. A leader in bringing "new media" to the classroom, Flying Rhinoceros is applying the latest technologies and interactive tools to education and entertainment. Flying Rhinoceros engages kids and teachers with traditional and electronic learning tools and assemblies on cartooning and creativity in schools across the country.  For more information, visit www.flyingrhino.com.