Bellevue sixth-grader doodles her way to Google champion

Bellevue sixth-grader Rebecca Wu has won the Doodle for Google contest and $30,000.

Google asked K-12 students to create artwork for the prompt, “I am grateful for…” and tens of thousands responded.

Rebecca’s doodle, “My Sweetest Memories,” is on the Google homepage Tuesday. It reflects her gratitude for her sisters and the memories they’ve made together.

“I entered the Doodle for Google contest for the first time when I was eight or nine after my art teacher introduced it to me,” Rebecca said in her interview with Google. “It was fun for me to interpret the prompt and put ‘Google’ in my drawing. I’ve entered it almost every year since so it’s sort of a yearly thing for me to do now.”

Garfield HS the focus of school safety precautions following nearby violence

Rebecca wins a $30,000 college scholarship and her school, the International School in Bellevue, wins a $50,000 technology grant. The school is a highly-rated public alternative school with 600 students.

Doodles were judged by an expert panel and the public. They used the following parameters:

1. Artistic merit: Based on artistic skill
2. Creativity: Representation of the contest theme, use of the letters in the Google logo, and the unique approach to the Doodle
3. Theme communication: How well the contest theme is expressed in both the artwork and the written statement

“I’m really proud of myself! I’m also grateful to my whole school for supporting me so much,” Rebecca said. “It feels wonderful and also a bit unbelievable since this is such a big accomplishment!”

This was the 15th annual contest.

“When I’m grateful for something, I can look beyond the negatives and focus on the positives,” Rebecca said. “This is important to me because I’m happier and more optimistic.”