Since senior Augusta Thacker won the state award for her doodle of the Google logo in the D0odle4Google contest, Westside has seen added attention from Google. Today, Friday, May 2, representatives from Google celebrated Thacker’s victory and gave a presentation to those who could attend during first mod.

The representatives covered some of the new products Google is creating, including Google Glass and a Self-Driving Car. Along with that, they showcased Google’s products they thought would be helpful to high school and soon-to-be college students.

Afterwards, they talked about Thacker’s doodle. Her design reflects her love for reading.

“I really like reading and recently — I babysit a lot — and the kids I babysit don’t like to read as much,” said Thacker, when asked by the representatives to explain her idea. “I was really sad as I love reading, and it is something everyone can enjoy.”

The Google representative, Sonja Lee, appreciates Thacker’s doodle as well.

“I love it because I think this is one — of the 50 state finalists group — this is one that uses technology in a really interesting way,” Lee said. “We saw a wide range of submissions around great ways to improve the world; ways to improve clean energy or clean drinking water for everyone. But this was personally interesting because it took something even Google might think about: ways to bring the world to people in a new way.”

Thacker’s drawing has a unique design feature of horizontal lines through the drawing to make it look digital.

“I love the use of technology in her doodle because I thought that was really special compared to the other submissions we saw,” Lee said.

People can vote for Thacker’s doodle until May 9 using the link provided here. If Thacker wins her group, she will win a $30,000 scholarship for herself and a $50,000 Google for Education technology grant for Westside High School.