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A new committee in Johnston County is urging Oklahomans to stand up and be counted.
The Census Awareness Committee, appointed by the Johnston County Commissioners in April 2009, is working with Murray State College, the City of Tishomingo and the chamber of commerce to raise awareness of the 2010 Census, which officially begins next month as census forms arrive in the mail.
Lanette Coppedge, a member of the committee, said members raised $15,000 from grants and other sources to pay for material to promote the census.
“We’ve got hats, T-shirts, big posters to put up all over downtown,” she said.
The materials were created by the Graphic Arts department of Murray State College. Ronnie Coppedge, Lanette’s husband, is an instructor at the college and said getting to design the promotional materials gave his students a valuable lesson in real-world design work.
“A lot of these students are straight out of high school,” he said. “They don’t even know what a deadline is.”
The instructor said the students had to follow restrictions on color, size and font choices set down by the federal government.
“I printed the guidelines out for my students and turned them loose,” he said.
The final designs for the materials came from the work of students Billy Limpy, Charity Crockett, Katy Prather and Sierra Canler.
Coppedge said the committee is promoting Friday as “Census Day,” where people throughout Tishomingo will wear T-shirts and hats emblazoned with census logos.
“No matter where they go on Friday, they’re going to see the shirts,” she said.
Coppedge emphasized the importance of filling out and returning the census forms, saying the census affects how much funding Oklahoma will receive for programs including road repair, education services, genealogical research and adult-care programs.
“In 2000, Oklahoma lost a congressional seat, possibly due to people not filling out the census and returning it,” Coppedge said. “It’s very important. We receive funding for how many people that live in our county, and how much money we receive for programs that help elderly or the children.”
Phil Banker
221-6542
A new committee in Johnston County is urging Oklahomans to stand up and be counted.
The Census Awareness Committee, appointed by the Johnston County Commissioners in April 2009, is working with Murray State College, the City of Tishomingo and the chamber of commerce to raise awareness of the 2010 Census, which officially begins next month as census forms arrive in the mail.
Lanette Coppedge, a member of the committee, said members raised $15,000 from grants and other sources to pay for material to promote the census.
“We’ve got hats, T-shirts, big posters to put up all over downtown,” she said.
The materials were created by the Graphic Arts department of Murray State College. Ronnie Coppedge, Lanette’s husband, is an instructor at the college and said getting to design the promotional materials gave his students a valuable lesson in real-world design work.
“A lot of these students are straight out of high school,” he said. “They don’t even know what a deadline is.”
The instructor said the students had to follow restrictions on color, size and font choices set down by the federal government.
“I printed the guidelines out for my students and turned them loose,” he said.
The final designs for the materials came from the work of students Billy Limpy, Charity Crockett, Katy Prather and Sierra Canler.
Coppedge said the committee is promoting Friday as “Census Day,” where people throughout Tishomingo will wear T-shirts and hats emblazoned with census logos.
“No matter where they go on Friday, they’re going to see the shirts,” she said.
Coppedge emphasized the importance of filling out and returning the census forms, saying the census affects how much funding Oklahoma will receive for programs including road repair, education services, genealogical research and adult-care programs.
“In 2000, Oklahoma lost a congressional seat, possibly due to people not filling out the census and returning it,” Coppedge said. “It’s very important. We receive funding for how many people that live in our county, and how much money we receive for programs that help elderly or the children.”
Phil Banker
221-6542
