Springfield Regional Arts Council

Remember how you meticulously stayed within the lines and your mother carefully tore out your best coloring page and hung it on the refrigerator? No? Were you one of those who scribbled and made up your own lines? Either way, coloring books are a part of some of our best memories. When coloring, you can think, assimilate and reflect on whatever it is you are creating. It is a project that becomes uniquely your own.
 
Character Ed caught the imagination of staffers at the Springfield Regional Arts Council, who work regularly with children and could see how important the words would become. A coloring book was talked about as a way to ingrain them in children’s minds. It was seen as a reinforcement, and as a “takeaway” piece that would remind the children of each lesson, and give them something to share with their families.
 
So, designer Robyn Rognstad began working with Education Director Addy McCord and her assistant, Mika Logan. They brainstormed Character Ed’s use of the character words, and began putting him in interesting locations all around Springfield. Great images began emerging from Robyn and Mika’s talented fingers. Games and interactive pieces are being added to the book, to make it even more fun and interactive. Publication is anticipated by the start of the 2006-2007 school year, and distribution will be provided to all Character Ed partners.
 
Funding for the development and printing has come from a federal appropriation from the Department of Education obtained with the assistance of Congressman Roy Blunt. The Arts Council is pleased to be a Character Ed partner and to be able to put his words into action. To pick up a free copy of the coloring book (while they last), you can contact the Arts Council at info@springfieldarts.org or call 862-2787 for details and distribution points.