Ginger, the mischievous blue teddy bear who sneaks around Langley, is gone. But the CIA's revamped website still has a big section for kids. Children from K through 12 are sure to be entertained by the code-breaking games, the word finds ("SIGINT," "shoe phone lady," "George Bush"), and, of course, the heart-warming messages from the Agency's K-9 Corps. Here's a sample:
- My name, Zoltan, is not the only thing that makes me unique. I’m the only Belgian Malinois__ __on the CIA K-9 Corps, but that’s cool with all the other members. They don’t tease me about my breed; they kid me because I’m a rookie. I’ve only been in the corps for six months.*
My family comes from a long line of Belgian shepherding dogs, but
I’ve never seen a sheep in my life. I don’t even count them when I go to sleep. I’ve always been a city dog. The fast pace of life in the CIA
suits me perfectly.
I’ve made lots of new friends here. On days that I don’t have to work, Officer Matt takes me swimming. He’s a great partner. I know we’ll have a lot of great adventures. And we’ll have fun competing in the K-9 “Olympics.” The United States Police Canine Association holds competitions each year. A lot of the CIA K-9s have won awards already.
Competitions are held at regional and national levels, and I’m ready.
I’m going to make everyone remember my name when I get my chance.
This is all enormously popular fare, an agency spokesman says. The CIA site gets 3.7 million unique visitors a month, he claims. And, every year, it receives 135,000 job applications online. Presumably, only a small sliver of those are from the toddler set.
