Rockport Girl Wins Indiana Doodle for Google Contest, Will Compete Nationally

I have to thank Google for educating me with its home page doodles. More often than not, it's someone I've never heard of, leading me to do a little research. You learn something new every day, and the planet's top website helps that along.

'DOODLE FOR GOOGLE'

If I was a kid right now, I'd love wondering what the Google doodle was going to be from day to day. Maybe that appeal is part of what drove Google to come up with the "Doodle for Google" competition.

The annual contest yields a winner from each state, after which a national champion is chosen from among the state finalists. And there's a different theme each year. In 2022, Google has chosen "self-care" as the topic.

MEET INDIANA 'DOODLE FOR GOOGLE' REPRESENTATIVE MADALYN MORGAN

Madalyn Morgan of Rockport--the winner from Indiana--was in 7th grade at St. Bernard when she submitted her picture of flowers blossoming from her hair to illustrate how she is growing as a person and doesn't need to lean on anyone but herself. That's brilliant.

A straight-A student, Madalyn likes to play basketball and loves all things artistic.

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HOW THE 'DOODLES FOR GOOGLE' CONTEST WORKS

Entries for Doodles for Google were submitted through March 4th with a variety of media--like crayons, for example, clay, or found objects--acceptable for usage in the kids' artwork. Here's a collection of 2022 entries.

Judges' criteria include artistic ability, of course; grasp and effective representation of the theme; and how WELL that theme is communicated via the picture and the artist's description. Check out the 2022 Missouri winner Grace Dai's submission.

Once all the winners are announced from each of the 50 states, Washington DC, Puerto Rico, Guam, and the Virgin Islands, then five finalists will be chosen. That's where you come in. You can help Madalyn win by voting now at doodles.google.com. Madalyn's division is Grades 6-7.

THE ORIGINS OF GOOGLE DOODLES AND 'DOODLES FOR GOOGLE'

The concept for Google's doodles came to be way back in 1998--the Internet Dark Ages--when Google founders played around with the Google logo and came up with a "doodle" to represent their recent visit to the Burning Man Festival. The rest, as they say, is history.

The Doodles for Google competition, for grades K-12, began in 2008, and it simply exists to give young people a forum to display their talent and to win prizes. You can't beat that.

Congratulations, Madalyn, and good luck.