Local Illustrator Returns to Elementary Alma Mater

A Burlington High graduate who has been finding success in the publishing world returned home recently to pay a visit to her old elemtary school.

On Thursday, Jan. 12, returned to her own elementary school at to read her recently published childrens' book to the students. Rachel is a graduate of , class of 2008, and has illustrated . Rachel read the Danny Woodhead book to the students, talked about how she came to illustrate children's books, and answered the children's questions. 

Gregorio previously told Burlington Patch she has been drawing since she was old enough to put crayon to paper and has stuck with it ever since. She began taking lessons when she was seven years old, starting off drawing her favorite cartoon characters. Her mother, Donna, noticed her daughter’s passion for drawing and began giving her illustration books and supplies as gifts. When she was 11 years old, Gregorio started her own business, going to birthday parties and doing caricatures.

“I was having trouble finding things to draw,” she said. “I got good a drawing faces and that’s how the caricature business started.”

Gregorio is now a student at Boston College, class of 2012, where she is majoring in communications and studio art. Since entering BC she has already been part of a variety of projects that allowed her to use her artistic talents, including doing designing the promotional material for the Edgar Allen Poe exhibit at the Boston Public Library.