By Jason Wesseldyk
Sports Editor
A coloring book depicting various buildings and places associated with Otsego is now available for purchase on Amazon.
The book, titled “Coloring Otsego: Where Will You Go?” was a collaborative effort between Otsego High School graphic arts teacher Matt Grile and some of his students.
Creating the book began at the end of the first trimester last November, continued throughout the second trimester and wrapped up at the start of the third trimester.
According to Grile, the book—which costs $4.73—was a personal one for him and the students.
“One thing about me as a teacher is that I’m not afraid to go big with projects,” Grile said. “But this one was different. It wasn’t just a project to conquer. It was the idea that our community is a special place to take pride in and ownership of.
“There is an undeniable connection between our youth and their heritage. This connection creates an unbreakable bond that I wanted my students to recognize was in them. Maybe more importantly, I wanted the community to see that as well.”
Cassie Holland and Alexia Wine were the students who invested the most time in creating the book.
“Lexi and Cassie were in between projects and looking for ideas,” Grile said. “I showed them a coloring book I had created and published. Lexi was leafing through it, commenting on which pages she would or wouldn’t color and why.
“So I suggested that we create a coloring book about Otsego. We brainstormed all the places that make Otsego a great place to live and decided on using public spaces that the community would recognize and be able to connect with.”
The five Otsego Public Schools buildings—Otsego High School, Otsego Middle School, Alamo Elementary, Dix Street Elementary and Washington Street Elementary—are among the public spaces featured in the book. Also included are Otsego District Public Library, the Otsego Fire Department and the Otsego TOP Pavilion and River Walk.
Holland and Wine were encouraged to take as much ownership of the project as possible.
“Their main jobs were to make decisions on what angles we would use and how much of the space needed to be included on each page,” Grile said. “Not only were they creative directors and editors, they also illustrated their fair share of drawings.
“They were involved throughout the entire process and had the final say on what was finished and what needed work.”
The process wasn’t always a smooth one, as Holland and Wine had to deal with issues that cropped up along the way.
“Quite honestly, it was a very messy process that we had to work through,” Grile said. “We also had help from a handful of other students that showed interest. They illustrated or helped make decisions on composition.”
Other students who helped Grile, Wine and Holland were Jay Herbert and Mason Miller.
“The students learned about detail and revision, as well as accountability to a group,” Grile said. “Overall, I really wanted them to be able to work on a large project and see it through to the end. They accomplished that.”
The fact that Grile had created and published other books on Amazon—including the children’s book “All My Balloon Friends”—helped when it came to getting “Coloring Otsego” published.
“This wasn’t my first time publishing through Amazon, so I knew that we could do it,” Grile said. “However, once I started typing my students’ names as contributing authors, I realized that this was most likely the first time they had created something that would become an actual product in the real world. That’s pretty special.”
