In the aftermath of the pandemic, Maisie Derlega’s family started a new tradition. Every Sunday, family members gather at the Jackson-Reed High School student’s house for a weekly dinner.
There’s usually a rotating cast of guests, including aunts and uncles and 1, 3 and 5-year old cousins. They talk about their weeks, and, in some cases, their travels. Sometimes it’s quick, and Derlega described it as chaotic at times.
Derlega used the mundane tradition as the inspiration for artwork submitted as part of the annual Doodle for Google contest. It calls for students to submit creative versions of the Google logo based on a theme. This year’s theme tasked students with representing their wish for the next 25 years through art.
For Derlega, that meant keeping the weekly tradition alive. Her artwork, which took 35 hours to put together, shows a dinner table. Her wish, she said, is to “continue having those dinners, because they mean a lot to me.”
Derlega is one of three D.C.-area students to win the contest this year.
Google picks a winner from each state. Sofia Ravilious, an 8-year-old student at Kensington-Parkwood Elementary in Montgomery County, was named Maryland’s winner. Fairfax County student Arya Pribadi won in Virginia.
“It was really shocking,” Derlega said of learning she won and the ensuing celebration. “And it was really exciting, but I was kind of taken by surprise.”
Derlega’s dad is a chef, and she spent a lot of time in the kitchen with him, often baking while he cooked.
“Food plays a pretty major part in a lot of the different relationships in my family,” Derlega said.
Her artwork shows a kitchen table, with hands reaching into it. She aimed to show people around the dinner table.
“The focus was to kind of show the community that forms around it,” Derlega said.
Ravilious, Maryland’s winner, used clay plants and animals to represent letters in the word “Google.” She created a forest with animals and trees, to show her wish that there will be more nature for animals to survive in.
“I love nature, and I love animals,” Ravilious said.
It took about a month for her to finish everything, her mother, Erin Pickar said. Ravilious worked on it at the table, and then put it all in a plastic bag to make sure the clay didn’t dry out.
“It’s competitive in terms of the competition,” Pickar said. “I was really impressed.”
Arya Pribadi, a student at Greenbriar West Elementary School, won in Virginia for a submission based on the wish that nobody gets sick, and that there’s a vaccine for every sickness in the next 25 years.
“To represent that, I drew a shot with two germs with four family members saying how happy they are that me, my family, and everyone doesn’t get sick,” Pribadi said in a news release.
Members of the public can vote for their favorite Doodle until June 4. Google will name five national finalists. One of them will be named the national winner.
The national winner will receive a college scholarship and have their Doodle displayed on Google’s homepage.
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