Press Release
In January, Google asked students across the U.S. to submit their ideas for the 14th annual Doodle for Google contest. This year, they invited K-12 students to answer the prompt “I care for myself by…” through their art, encouraging them to share how they take care of their minds, bodies and spirits as they face the opportunities and challenges every new day brings.
Google on Thursday announced that South Carolina's Carolyn Zheng of Gold Hill Middle School in Tega Cay is one of our 54 state and territory winners. Carolyn was entered in the 6-7 Grade group. To celebrate their achievements, each of the 54 students received Google hardware and swag, and we held celebrations in their hometowns to showcase their artwork.
Attached is Carolyn's artwork, and below is her response to the prompt:
“My Doodle represents the theme, ‘I care for myself by…', because the images show how I would care for myself. For example reading my dog, biking, gardening, and painting are some of the many ways I care for myself.”
This year's submissions were reviewed by Google Doodlers and three guest judges: Grammy-nominated artist Selena Gomez, mental health activist Elyse Fox, and 2021 National Teacher of the Year Juliana Urtubey. The Doodles are judged based on artistic merit, creativity, and theme communication.
The public can now vote for their favorite Doodles at doodle4google.com until July 12. Voters can help determine who will go on to become one of our five national finalists. A panel of Google employees will then select one national winner from that group.
The winning artist will see their work on the Google homepage for a day, receive a $30,000 college scholarship, and the winner's school will receive a $50,000 technology grant.
We were amazed by the submissions we received. Across ages, students showcased how they cultivate self-care practices in thoughtful and intentional ways. Young artists shared a range of helpful strategies including spending time in nature, being active, taking part in creative hobbies, and spending time with loved ones. Given the challenging nature of the past few years, we were really inspired to see the many ways students have been nurturing their spirits and building resilience.
Doodles are meant to surprise and delight people when they visit Google.com. Past Doodles have celebrated some of the most brilliant, talented, and passionate people throughout history. The Doodle for Google contest offers students K-12 an opportunity to display their own Doodle creativity on Google.com and win some awesome prizes while doing it!
