Schools
MJHS Student is Finalist in National Drawing Competition
By popular vote, Justas Varpucanskis, 13, ousted all other Junior High School applicants in this year's Doodle 4 Google.
A seventh-grader at is a national finalist in this year’s Doodle four Google drawing competition.
Justas Varpucanskis and his family were in New York today at an awards ceremony at Google headquarters to receive the news.
About five million public votes helped determine the winners after judges narrowed the contest from 107,000 applicants, all of whom were asked to redesign the Google logo in any way they pleased.
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Varpucanskis, 13, did not finish in first place but beat out every other finalist between seventh and ninth grade, earning him a $5,000 scholarship for the college of his choice, among other prizes. His design will hang temporarily in the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York and the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art.
Earlier this month, Varpucanskis’ to sing praise and ask the young artist about his talents. His winning doodle centered on sea life and conservation.
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“What I'd like to do someday is to take part in the conservation of our underwater universe,” Justas wrote in his submission essay. “There is no doubt the last decades were an environmental catastrophe. The underwater world is a haven for many sea creatures, thus being crucial to our existence. We need to preserve our underwater ecosystem.”
The first place design, by 7-year-old Matteo Lopez of South San Francisco, CA, will be featured on the Google homepage tomorrow, May 20.
