Mountain View Elementary third-grader Jenna Whitfield listens to her teacher explain the importance of the 2010 census during a field trip to visit the 2010 Census Portrait of America Road Tour.

Ryan Eaton visited the Coeur d’Alene Public Library on Tuesday afternoon during a school field trip to learn more about the 2010 U.S. census. The kindergartener said his family’s census form arrived Monday in the mail.

“I filled it out with my dad,” said Ryan, who is 6. “We filled it out this morning.”

That’s just what census workers want to hear as the 2010 Census Portrait of America Road Tour hits the Inland Northwest this week. The traveling display is an attempt to educate the public about the importance of mailing back the questionnaires for the once-a-decade count of Americans. Read more.

Here's what Idaho Escapee has to say about the census:

By now, most of you have received Census Packets in the mail, saying that you're under penalty of law if you don't fill it out. I got so hopping mad, I wrote the Seattle Branch of the Census, and told 'em that they're coming across as very heavy-handed in demanding we fill out the Census forms!

They can come and get me if they want. I left my address with 'em so they can either send me more nasty notes, or God forbid, an apology to everyone nationwide, for the strong-arm tactics they're throwing at us citizens. It's just plain RUDE. So am I making a mountain out of a molehill here, or am I justified feeling the way I do, about this?

Well?

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