A talented student at Northwest High School could soon have her art on the Google homepage for hundreds of millions to see. Google announced the 53 State and Territory winners in its 11th annual Doodle for Google competition, a contest open to K-12 students across the United States to redesign the Google logo inspired by the theme “When I grow up, I hope...”

   Maggie Slaughter, a 9th grader from Northwest High School in Germantown, is one of the 53 State and Territory Winners with her doodle, “A New Reality.” Maggie’s doodle was selected from thousands of entries received this year. Students at Northwest and two representatives of Google helped Maggie celebrate during a surprise assembly last Thursday. Google staff members Jake Chalkley and Alexis Artis joined the Jaguars and the Slaughter family in revealing that Maggie’s artwork was selected as the Maryland entry in the nationwide competition.

   To help their favorites succeed, everyone across the USA can vote for their favorite doodle from the 53 State and Territory Winners. Voting will be open until Friday, June 7 at the Google Doodle voting site, and the public vote will determine the Five National Finalists (one in each grade group). Google will announce these five National Finalists in June, one of which will have their Doodle featured on the Google homepage for a day.

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

    To help Maggie win, take a few seconds to vote for the “Maryland” entry by visiting the Google Doodle Voting Site select the Grades 8-9 tab and click on Maggie’s creation.

Photos courtesy Northwest High School.