A Rockwall seventh-grader is celebrating after she became the state’s winner for the Doodle 4 Google national competition.
Students in grades kindergarten through 12 across the country submitted artwork for Google's homepage.
Piper Fisk, a student at Maurine Cain Middle School, was one of 50 finalists selected Wednesday from more than 114,000 entries this year.
Piper, who is passionate about horses, said she would watch the horse Secretariat win the Triple Crown in response to the contest's theme, which was, “If I could travel in time, I would visit..."
"I hope it sends a message that if you work really hard and do something you love and you try really hard for that, then you can accomplish your dream," she said.
It may be called doodling, but Piper wasn't horsing around when she spent 10 hours putting her passion on paper.
"If you work really hard, then dreams do come true, and this a dream come true," she said.
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Her family cheered her on as she took the title for state winner.
"I am extremely proud," her mother, Heather Fisk, said. "I know how hard she worked on this."
The artwork of the Texas finalists will be displayed at The Museum of Fine Arts in Houston during the summer while all 50 state winners will have their doodle displayed in a special exhibit at the New York Public Library.
"Doodle for Google is an opportunity to celebration the imagination and creativity of young people, and we're really enthusiastic that Piper is the state winner for Texas,” said Megan Stevenson, of Google.
The 50 state winners will go to New York City, where one will win $30,000 for college and $50,000 for his or her school's technology program.
"We told her the fact that she's going to New York makes her a winner herself and, if she wins, great; and if not, she has a lifetime of experience," Fisk said.
Starting Wednesday, the public will be able to vote for their favorite doodle from the 50 state winners and help select five national finalists (one per grade group). Vote here.
The winner will be announced on May 17 at an awards ceremony at Google's New York City office.
