Artists wanted: OCDE asks local students to submit designs for directory cover

Calling all student-artists: We want you to design the cover of OCDE’s next public schools directory.

Every year, the Orange County Department of Education produces and distributes about 1,000 directories that provide contact information for all the schools and districts in Orange County. These books have become pretty popular, and although they’re usually designed in-house, we thought we’d mix things up this time around.

So, from now through June 15, we’re asking Orange County students in kindergarten through grade 12 to send us their original artistic designs based on the theme “Compassion, Kindness and Character.”

The top submission — as judged by our Communications and Media Services team — will be displayed on the cover of the 2017-18 Orange County Department of Education Directory, and the runners-up may be featured inside.

Drawings, paintings, graphic designs and photos are all welcome. (Sculptures might be problematic for obvious reasons.) The size of your submission should be a perfect square, measuring at least six inches across.

Each masterpiece should be sent to the Orange County Department of Education, care of Communications and Media Services, at 200 Kalmus Drive, Costa Mesa, Calif. 92626. On a separate sheet of paper, please indicate this is for the “OCDE Directory Art Contest,” and include the student’s name, grade, age and school, along with a phone number and an email address.

Once again, the deadline for submissions is June 15, and feel free to send any questions to communications@ocde.us. Good luck!