Third Grader from CT Could Win 'Doodle 4 Google' Contest With Your Help

Google may be known as much for being a go-to Internet search engine as it is a place for fun and creative doodles that celebrate holidays, seasons, and major events in our fast-paced, digitally driven world.

The company has even created a contest, Doodle 4 Google, that gives youngsters around the country a shot at having their drawing featured on its site. And a Connecticut boy is in the running!

Jason Rosado, a third grade student at Hart Magnet Elementary School, has emerged as our state's winner for the kindergarten through Grade 3 group.

• Vote here to help Jason win.

Jason landed the state's top spot for a doodle that tackled this year's theme: “If I Could Invent One Thing to Make This World a Better Place.”

Jason described his doodle this way: 

“If I could invent one thing to make the world a better place, I would invent a machine to slow down time so we can have longer days. It would float in space and put a force field around Earth to slow down Earth's rotation."

Google representatives unveiled a life-size rendering of his doodle during an assembly at Jason's school this week.

In addition to already winning an Android tablet and a T-shirt printed with his doodle’s artwork, Jason earned a trip to the Google headquarters in California to celebrate with the other state winners in May. 

According to the Doodle 4 Google website, 250 doodles from across the country were chosen by a panel of Google employees, based on which doodles they felt best represented the theme. 

Then, in each state, one doodle was selected in each grade group (Grades K-3; Grades 4-5; Grades 6-7; Grades 8-9; Grades 10-12) for a total of 250 state finalists. 

Guest judges, including authors, directors, and designers, as well as Google doodlers, selected the one best doodle from each of the 250 state finalists as the state winner. The national finalists and winner will be chosen from among the 50 state winners, based on public opinion.

The public can cast its votes for their favorite doodles, by grade group, by visiting http://www.google.com/doodle4google/vote.html. Voting will be open till May 9.

At the Google celebration in May, five grade-level winners will be chosen and will each receive a $5,000 college scholarship. 

The national winner, whose doodle will be featured on Google's homepage on June 9 for 24 hours, will receive a $30,000 college scholarship. 

A $50,000 Google for Education technology grant will also be awarded to the student's school.