WV Student Vies for Google Prize

A talented student in Morgantown could soon have her art on the Google homepage for hundreds of millions to see. Google has announced the 53 state and territory winners in its ninth annual Doodle 4 Google competition, a contest open to K-12 students across the United States to redesign the Google logo inspired by the theme “What I see for the future…”

Tarannom Rajaee with her Google Doodle

Tarannom Rajaee, a 2nd grader from North Elementary School in Morgantown, is one of the 53 winners with her doodle, “Living on Mars,” depicting a martian landscape with a curious astronaut. Her doodle was selected from around 100,000 entries received this year.

Sen. Shelley Moore Capito was on-hand at North Elementary School to help Rajaee celebrate during a surprise assembly.

“I am so proud of Tarannom Rajaee,” Sen. Capito said. “After seeing her talent firsthand, it is no surprise her doodle was selected out of 100,000 entries. By representing West Virginia in this competitive contest, Tarannom makes us very proud. I encourage all West Virginians to vote for her doodle online – I know I will!”

Everyone across the USA can vote for their favorite doodle from the 53 state winners. Voting will be open from Feb. 23 to March 6 here , and the public vote will determine the five national finalists (one in each grade group).

Google will announce these five national finalists and one of them as the national winner on March 31 — and the winner’s doodle will go live on Google.com that day.

The National Winner will take home a $30,000 college scholarship and his or her school will receive a $50,000 Google for Education grant towards the establishment and improvement of a computer lab or technology program.

To see a full list of state winners and to vote online, visit: http://www.google.com/doodle4google/vote.html