Google on Thursday announced the state and regional winners of its annual Doodle for Google contest, which invites schoolchildren from kindergarten through 12th grade to design a variation of their logo for the company. This year’s theme was “I care for myself by…”, asking students to share how they take care of themselves physically, mentally, and spiritually as they face the opportunities and challenges that each day brings.
Students were allowed to use any material or medium and were asked to write about how they created the doodle and how it represented their inner strengths.
Google said it was surprised by the responses it received about how students were developing self-care practices.
“The young artists shared a range of helpful strategies, including spending time in nature, being active, participating in creative hobbies and spending time with loved ones,” said Selly Sallah, product marketing manager for Google Doodles, in a statement.
“Given how challenging the past few years have been, it’s really inspiring to see the many ways students are nurturing their spirits and building resilience,” Sallah continued.
The contest’s winning entry will be displayed for a day on Google’s homepage, one of many Google Doodles entries that the company often uses to bring to life the bare company logo that typically dominates its search engine pages. In addition to the exposure, the winner will receive a $30,000 college scholarship and a $50,000 technology award for his or her school.
Google invites the public to view all 54 winners’ entries and vote for a favorite by July 12. The results of that vote will determine the five national finalists and ultimately the national winner.
