Kalo Jo, a seventh-grade boy at Freedom Preparatory Academy in Provo, was chosen as one of 53 winners from the U.S. and U.S. territories in Google’s eighth annual Doodle 4 Google competition.
Jo’s doodle was chosen from among 100,000 other submissions. The competition this year encouraged the use of non-traditional media, and a quarter of submissions included unique elements like paper mache or leaves.
The contest was open to students in grades K–12. It challenged them to redesign the Google logo to reflect a theme. This year’s theme was “What makes me … me.”
Jo’s doodle, “Inside of Me,” depicts how people often judge solely on appearance without seeing a person’s talents or abilities.
Five final winners will be chosen, one from each grade group, through online voting. The polls are now open; they close Feb. 22.
The five finalists and the national winner will be announced on March 21, and the winner’s doodle will go up on the Google homepage the same day.
The national winner and finalists will travel to California to meet and work with Google’s team of professional doodlers. There they will learn the process of launching a Google doodle. The national winner will also receive a $30,000 college scholarship and a $50,000 Google for Education grant for his or her school to establish or improve a computer lab or technology program.
