Sedalia, Missouri – March 12, 2021 – High school seniors enrolled in the Graphic Design program at the State Fair Career and Technology Center (SFCTC) on the State Fair Community College (SFCC) Sedalia campus used their imaginations and graphic design skills to create children’s books for area elementary school libraries.
“The seniors were asked to create a children’s book to showcase their skills using professional Adobe design software,” said Linda Harris, SFCTC Graphic Design instructor. “They have been working hard to develop their skills in Illustrator, Photoshop and InDesign. This project also allowed them to apply their knowledge of preparing files for printing and bindery.
The Graphic Design program is one of nine free technical training programs available to juniors and seniors from twelve area high schools in ten school districts. The other programs are Automotive Service Technology, Building Trades, Criminal Justice, Early Childhood Careers, Health Occupations, Industrial Equipment Maintenance, Precision Machining Technology and Welding Technology. Students enrolled in these programs receive hands-on training from experienced industry professionals that help prepare them to enter the workforce or to continue their education in two- and four-year college programs.
Fifteen seniors wrote and illustrated the stories during class and then sent their work to the SFCC Copy Center to be produced. Each student had two books produced, one for an elementary school in the student’s school district and one for themselves. Students from the following school districts are:
Otterville R-VI: Kaleb Brand, Lucas Dillon
La Monte R-IV: Dylan Braxton
Cole Camp R-I: Hope Burroughs, Isaac Dynys (home school student)
Sedalia School District #200, Smith-Cotton: Jace Cook (Skyline Elementary), Garrett Cooper (Horace Mann Elementary), Steven Edgar (Heber Hunt), Anamaria Magaña (Parkview Elementary), Naidelin Ochoa (Washington Elementary)
Warsaw R-IX: Sierra Keyte
Smithton R-VI: Leah Landon
Green Ridge R-XIII: Evan Magnuson
Pettis County R-V: Svetlana Orlov (Northwest)
Lincoln R-II: Elizabeth Rose
The students’ books can be viewed page-by-page on www.sfccmo.edu/CTCbooks.
“It is a privilege to teach these students a profession I’ve enjoyed for 29 years,” Harris said. They never cease to amaze me with their creativity and work ethic. I’m thrilled with how their books turned out and am excited to share them with their sending schools.”
Several of Harris’ students shared their thoughts and feelings about the project.
“My favorite thing about creating my book was the illustration process,” said Issac Dynys. “Since the character Tommy is somewhat based on how I was as a child, I wanted the artwork to look like my drawings did at that time. I also added a drop shadow to everything so that the artwork looked like it was coming off the page–like paper cut outs almost. I learned a lot about writing, printing, and illustrating during this project, and I had a lot of fun!”
“When I first started the book, it seemed that I would be completely out of my comfort zone, but I quickly fell in love with the process, from doing the illustrations to formatting the layout of the book,” said Anamaria Magaña. “I am very grateful to have had the opportunity to try something that I never thought I would ever do.”
“I thought the making of the book was quite a fun experience,” said Garrett Cooper. The moral of my book’s story is, no matter how weird or different you are, there is always someone like you to be your friend.”
“I really enjoyed making the children’s books!” said Leah Landon. “It was a great and fun experience to learn, and it was awesome to make an idea come to fruition. I’m glad that the younger kids at my school can enjoy it as well.”
“Being given the opportunity to see my work printed as a book made me so excited, said Elizabeth Rose. “Only seeing the digital version does not have the same effect as holding a physical copy in my hands.”
For more information about the State Fair Career and Technology Center, visit www.sfccmo.edu/ctc.
