Missouri 9-year-old wins ‘Doodle 4 Google’ contest

Google announced the winner of their “Doodle 4 Google” contest yesterday, having received 33,000 entries for the K-12 competition that riffs on the Google logo for their homepage.

9-year-old Mackenzie Melton, who is in the third grade at El Dorado Springs R-2 Schools in El Dorado, Missouri, claimed the top prize. Animation and illustration biggies like Disney, The Sesame Street Workshop, Dr. Seuss Enterprises, Charles M. Schulz Creative Associates and Peanuts and Pixar Animation Studios judged the 40 finalists in the contest, but Mackenzie’s rainforest themed entry won out. She says:

I chose this doodle because the rainforest is in danger and it is not fair to the plants and animals. I love everything except spiders and snakes, but I would still save them.

Mackenzie bagged a $15,000 scholarship, a netbook and a $25,000 tech upgrade for her school. Her creation, rendered in colored pencils, is featured today on Google’s homepage as the Google Doodle. Students in three other categories- Raymundo Marquez of Eagle Pass, Texas, Vance Viggiano of Long Valley, New Jersey, and Bevan Schiffli of Highlands, North Carolina, received netbooks as runners-up in the contest.