Sometimes Showing Up is Half the Battle

Each year I try to encourage students to enter the annual Doodle for Google Contest. This is a national contest where Google encourages kids in grades K-12 (including homeschoolers) to submit a drawing using the Google letters centered around Google's selected theme for the year. It is a fun contest and prizes (scholarships and technology grants) are awarded along with a trip to Google headquarters. The winner's drawing is also featured on the Google Search page for a day.

How many of you knew about this annual event? Better yet, how many of you encouraged someone to participate in this event?

I love exposing students to new opportunities that they may not have know about and participated in before. That's a part of helping others "see" the opportunities that are right in front of them, a lot of which are free. As in the case of the Doodle for Google contest, it's great if you win. However there are other ways of winning, just by being in involved in these spaces where there are often lesser underrepresented faces and voices. Just showing up is a win in my book.

Congratulations to all past participants and to the parents who helped with your child's entry. Let's do it again and invite more to join us next year!