Google said today it is holding its third annual Doodle 4 Google contest that allows K-12 students in the U.S. to create their own logo for the Google homepage.

The theme this year is "If I Could Do Anything, I Would." Google says along with the winners Doodle appearing on the homepage on May 27, 2010, they will also receive a $15,000 college scholarship, a laptop computer and a $25,000 technology grant for their school.

Google has also put together a panel of expert judges. The Google Blog offers more details. "We’re happy to let you know that this year, we’ve also assembled a panel of well-known ‘Expert Jurors,’ including creative directors, cartoonists and famous animators ranging from Sesame Workshop to Pixar Animation Studios. Our Expert Jurors will help us narrow down the cream of the crop to 40 regional finalists, who will come to the Google office in New York City on May 26, 2010."

"For the second year, we’ll also be partnering with the Smithsonian’s Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum, where the top 40 regional finalists will get to have their artwork displayed in a national exhibit. And for the first time this year, we’ll give out eight Technology Booster awards to schools that submit maximum number of doodles per school by March 10th and have students in our 400 State Finalists."

Only schoolteachers or administrators can register their schools to participate.  Registration for the Doodle 4 Google contest closes at 11:59 Pacific Time on March 17, 2010, and entries must be submitted by March 31, 2010.

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Tomorrow, Google’s homepage will feature a special doodle, and said doodle will come to you courtesy of Christin Engelberth.  Engelberth, a sixth grader who attends Bernard Harris Middle School in Antonio, Texas, won this year’s Doodle 4 Google competition.

Engelberth’s doodle can be seen below.  In accordance with the official theme "What I Wish for the World," she titled it "A New Beginning" and expressed hope that, "out of the current crisis, discoveries will be found to help the Earth prosper once more."

 

This optimism will net Engelberth a $15,000 college scholarship, a laptop, and a $25,000 technology grant for her school.  And that’s in addition to the trip to a New York museum she’s already gotten to take.

Other national finalists – Miriam Elizabeth Lowery, Blakely Linz, and Emerald Lu – were able to visit the Smithsonian’s Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum, as well.  All of their work will be on display from tomorrow through July 5th.

One last little feel-good note: although none of the national finalists hailed from it, Clark County School District in Las Vegas, Nevada, will receive a $10,000 technology grant "for having the greatest quality participation."

As for the other side of things, over six million votes were cast online as part of this year’s Doodle 4 Google contest.

Courtesy of Google, quite a few artistically inclined young people are going to have a great summer.  The search giant has announced a new phase in its annual Doodle 4 Google competition, and it’s also started a Google Photography Prize contest.

The Doodle 4 Google challenge has reached a point at which there are only 40 regional winners left.  All of their designs will be shown in the Smithsonian’s Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum between May 21st and July 5th, which is neat.

 

In the meantime, a public vote ending May 18th will finish off process of picking a winner, and said winner will get a $15,000 scholarship along with a few other prizes.

As for the photography contest, entrants are supposed to supply five photos that will make up an iGoogle theme, and a post on the Google Photos Blog explained, "Winning submissions will be available for millions of Google users . . . and will also be part of a special exhibition at the Saatchi Gallery in London.  The overall winner will also receive 5,000 ($7,500) and an invitation to spend a day with renowned photographer Martin Parr."

The Google Photography Prize is open to college students and will run until May 31st.