Colorado's "Doodle for Google" winner is young artist from Highlands Ranch
This year marks Google's 25th anniversary, and their "Doodle for Google" contest prompt was "My Wish for the Next 25 Years." Tens of thousands of young artists submitted their work, and a Rock Canyon High School freshman's doodle was selected as Colorado's winner.
"I have a lot of sketches on homework assignments as well as some on my computer," said 15-year-old Angela Kalata.
Kalata has two passions: art and the environment.
"Since I was a little kid, I would pick up trash outside," she said.
This year, the Rock Canyon freshman found a way to combine them in her "Doodle for Google" submission.
"The prompt was 'What's your wish for the next 25 years?' I think that we can, within the next 25 years, start phasing out our normal one-use plastics and look for more affordable biodegradable plastic alternatives," said Kalata.
Angela picked up trash near her school and arranged it into the word "Google" on her lawn.
"We have, like, a water bottle filled with trash here, some pencils, a tennis ball, a lot of bottle caps, some restaurant cups, and cans," said Kalata.
She then added some plants and final touches digitally.
"To show the transition from our current state of very polluted to more biodegradable plastics that Earth can then reclaim," said Kalata.
Angela has entered the contest almost every year since first grade, but this year her doodle was chosen to be Colorado's winner.
"It was really exciting. They came to my school and did an announcement with all my friends," said Kalata.
Now her doodle will compete with other state winners to be the search engine's logo for 24 hours.
"If my little kid self could be here to see this, she would be so happy," said Kalata.
In addition to having their doodle appear online, the national winner will receive a $55,000 college scholarship, and their school will get a $50,000 tech package. Five national finalists will receive $5,000 scholarships. You can vote for your favorite doodle at this link before June 4.