Doodle 4 Google

Judging and Prizes

Grade Groups

The Doodle 4 Google competition is open to all U.S. residents between the ages of 5 and 18 who attend elementary and secondary schools (i.e. grades K-12) in the U.S. Doodles will be judged in the following brackets:

• Kindergarten - Grade 3
• Grade 4 - Grade 6
• Grade 7 - Grade 9
• Grade 10 - Grade 12

All students attending private schools and homeschools are also eligible to participate. The 4 finalists from last year's competition are ineligible to win, but they are allowed to submit doodles and participate in this year's competition.

Judging Regions

The competition will run across 10 regions:

Region 1:

Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Vermont

Region 2:

New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania

Region 3:

Delaware, District of Columbia, Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia

Region 4:

Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina

Region 5:

Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio, Wisconsin

Region 6:

Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota

Region 7:

Alabama, Arkansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Tennessee

Region 8:

Arizona, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Texas

Region 9:

Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Utah, Wyoming

Region 10:

Alaska, California, Hawaii, Oregon, Washington

Judging Process

400 State Finalists

Up to 400 doodles from across the country will be chosen by a panel of independent judges and Google employees based on which doodles they feel best represent the "What I Wish for the World" theme. In each state, 2 doodles will be selected in each grade group, meaning that each grade group and each state will be equally represented. Entries from the District of Columbia will be judged along with entries from Maryland.

40 Regional Winners

Our judging panel will choose 40 top doodles as Regional Winners. In each of the ten Regions, each grade group will have one winner. These Regional Winners will be displayed in a gallery on the Google.com website. The U.S. public will then vote for the doodles they believe best capture the theme "What I Wish for the World."

4 National Finalists

An awards ceremony for the 40 Regional Winners will be held at the Google New York Office on May 20, 2009. We'll also announce the four National Finalists chosen by the U.S. public (1 per grade group).

1 National Winner

Finally, one of the four National Finalists will be awarded "National Winner of Doodle 4 Google." The National Winner's doodle will 'go live' on the Google homepage for 24 hours.

Prizes

The National Winner will win a $15,000 college scholarship to be used at the school of their choice, a trip to the Google New York Office, a laptop computer, and a t-shirt printed with their doodle. We'll also award the winner's school a $25,000 technology grant towards the establishment/improvement of a computer lab.

• Each of the other 3 National Finalists will win a trip to the Google New York Office, a laptop computer, and a t-shirt printed with their doodle.
• Each of the other 36 Regional Winners will win a trip to the Google New York Office and a t-shirt printed with their doodle.
• Each of the other 360 State Finalists will receive a "Doodle 4 Google" official winner's certificate.

This year we've added a new District Quality Participation Prize in the amount of $10,000 to the school district that most encourages high-quality participation from its schools. The District Quality Participation Prize will also be a grant that goes towards the establishment/improvement of a computer lab.

As part of our judging process, every doodle submitted by each school (maximum six per school) will be given an overall quality score. Doodles that make it on to the semi-finalist, finalist or national winner rounds will be given additional points. We'll then add up the total points accumulated for each school district. The district that has the highest point total at the end of the contest will receive the technology grant.