Roxbury, the Morrow County Emergency Management spokeswoman, timed the students as they used yellow and green duct tape and plastic to seal simulated vents, doors and outlets in a mobile shelter in place trailer.

The trailer, called Wally's Clubhouse, is one of the ways emergency management in Morrow and Umatilla counties works to educate the public.

"The idea is it shows, especially kids, what a typical shelter in place looks like with the plastic and duct tape up," she said.

The trailer is the only one of its kind in the country, and it has been around for about a year, she said.

Sending outreach efforts like this to schools also is a useful way to pass information on to adults, she said. Many times, parents might be too busy to see a presentation, or in the migrant community, there might be a language barrier.

Stephanie Williams, a sixth-grade teacher with the migrant summer school, agreed with Roxbury's assessment.

"For some families, they (students) are the translators, so it is important for them to know how to shelter in place," she said.

Putting up the plastic and hearing a presentation earlier in the week helped enforce the lessons, Williams said.

As the incineration start-up nears, the groups connected with the Umatilla Chemical Depot are working to make sure people in the area are informed about what is happening.

Not everyone can tour the incineration facility, said Mary Binder, depot spokeswoman. To give people the opportunity to see what happens in the plant, the depot has designed posters illustrating the different steps in the process, she said.

"People like to see what is going on," Binder said.

Community outreach also includes radio shows and workers talking about what they do.

"It is not just the Army and not just the contractor," she said.

The depot also is in the process of developing a video showing how the munitions are destroyed. Initially, the information will focus on the M-55 rockets, which will be the first to be destroyed.

Binder said they also are looking at having updated information available on a toll-free number when the incineration starts.

Kathy Eldridge, outreach specialist with the Outreach Office in Hermiston, said her office is considering new ways to get information to people who often are missed by traditional outreach efforts, like the Hispanic community.

Eldridge said her office has started going door to door with information and using neighborhood watch groups to disseminate information.

Cheryl Seigal, spokeswoman for Umatilla County Chemical Stockpile Emergency Preparedness Plan, said the outreach efforts seem to be working.

"It used to be that people didn't have information and were frightened and scared," she said.

The people the outreach office spoke with now were more informed.

"We see the public asking much more knowledgeable questions," Eldridge said.