LIMERICK children are been called upon to get creative by internte giant Google who are seeking entries for their Doodle 4 Google competition. Doodle 4 Google is a creative art and design competition which is open to all students in primary and secondary schools throughout the Republic of Ireland. This year, students are being asked to create a doodle around the Google logo based on the theme of “To me, happiness is…”.
The winning doodle will be seen by millions of Internet users when it is placed on the Google Ireland home page for 24 hours in March 2011. The winning student and their teacher will each receive a personal laptop, and the winning school will receive a €10,000 technology grant. The four regional finalists and their teachers will also receive a laptop each.
Last year’s winner, Ruth Deeney from Loreto Community School in Milford, Co. Donegal said; “Winning the Doodle 4 Google competition was an amazing experience, not only did everyone see my doodle on the Google homepage, but the technology grant has also made a huge difference to our school.”
A distinguished panel of ‘Expert Judges’ will help narrow down the cream of the crop to 60 regional winners. This year the judging panel includes Ian Brunswick, Events and Community Manager at the Science Gallery, Sinead Connelly, Dublin City Arts Officer, Sean Kissane, Curator of the Irish Museum of Modern Art and Gary Granville, Professor of Education at the National College of Art and Design.
There are four categories in the competition.
· Category 1 – Junior Infants, Senior Infants, 1st Class, 2nd Class
· Category 2 – 3rd Class, 4th Class, 5th Class, 6th Class
· Category 3 – 1st Year, 2nd Year, 3rd Year
· Category 4 – Transition Year, 5th Year, 6th Year and Youthreach
The expert panel of judges will select 15 winners from across the four regions in Ireland. The 60 regional winners will then be displayed on the Doodle 4 Google website and the general public will vote for their favorite doodle. The top four doodles, as voted by the public, will then be judged by the official Google doodle team, who will select the national winner.
“With the Doodle 4 Google competition, we’re encouraging children from across Ireland to share their vision. This year’s theme ‘To me, happiness is…’ gives scope for children’s imaginations to run free, and we cannot wait to see what they come up with” said Alice Mansergh, Head of EMEA Customer Marketing at Google Ireland. “Innovation and creativity are founding principles for Google’s business. Our Doodle 4 Google competition allows us to encourage these skills in Irish students, and we’ve always been hugely impressed by the quality of response in this country. The competition has gone from strength to strength, and we’re hoping that this year will be the best yet.”
Schools Should register to take part in the competition by October 22nd 2010 and must submit entries by December 10th 2010. For more information on the competition please visit http://www.google.ie/doodle4google/. This dedicated Doodle 4 Google website is also available in Irish http://www.google.com/intl/ga/doodle4google/. Doodle 4 Google lesson guides are available to help guide students and to assist teachers in integrating the competition into their art classes.”
