Doodle winner: Royal student takes first in state Google contest

ROYAL CITY — Rebecca Carlson overcame a personal challenge, and that became the basis of her entry in the annual Google Doodle contest, a design that took first place in the state.

Carlson, a sixth-grader at Royal Intermediate School, is one of 54 state and territorial winners to advance to the national competition. The winner will receive a college scholarship and a technology package for his or her school. The winning doodle will be used on the Google website.

The contest was open to all U.S. elementary and secondary students.

“I just thought it would be a fun thing to try, even if I didn’t win anything,” she said.

She designed part of her work with a computer program, and used plastic beads, called parler beads, as her medium.

“I don’t really like drawing a lot, and I was good at these, so I decided to make (her contest entry) using parler beads,” she said.

With parler beads, an artist assembles the beads on a sheet and fuses them with hot iron. Rebecca used the beads to make a birthday present for her mom and a gift for her teacher.

She designed the background of her Google Doodle entry using striped fabric to mimic the Google rainbow, sewed it together and tacked it (with a little help) to a wooden board. She built her design, fused it and glued it to the backing.

The contest theme fit in with a challenge she had faced. Her entry shows two girls talking, and having a conversation with a person she didn’t know used to be difficult for her.

“The theme this year is ‘I am strong because,’ and I had selective mutism when I was younger, and I didn’t like talking with other people,” Rebecca said. “I made people talking because that’s why I’m strong, because I will talk to people now.”

Her mother, Polly Carlson, said the problem first appeared when Rebecca entered kindergarten, and she went the entire school year without talking to her teacher. It got a little better in first grade, but the breakthrough came in second grade, with her teacher Candy Vermeer.

Vermeer and Rebecca came to school on a Saturday, in an empty classroom, in an effort to make Rebecca more comfortable, Polly Carlson said. It was supposed to be for an hour or so, but Rebecca started talking, and as a result Vermeer stayed with her for the entire afternoon.

Rebecca’s fourth-grade teacher Liesel Hill also was crucial, Polly Carlson said. Hill encouraged Rebecca to raise her hand in class, promising she wouldn’t call on her until she was ready. Rebecca was ready within a few days.

A big test came when Rebecca won an award announced in the year-end assembly, and she had to go out to the middle of the gym in front of all the kids at RIS. She passed that test, Polly Carlson said.

Rebecca ran for RIS student body president, and won, and she is part of the RIS robotics and math teams. Participants are required to make presentations to the judges.

“Every year she gets a little better,” Polly Carlson said. “She’s come a long way.”

Rebecca said she was surprised at the state-level award.

“I knew there was a chance I could win, but I didn’t really know if I would,” she said. “I was really excited. I didn’t know I was going to win anything at all.”

The five national finalists will be announced May 24.

For more information on the contest and to see all the state-level winners, visit https://blog.google/inside-google/doodles/our-54-doodle-google-winners-show-their-strength.