Cab Calloway student named Delaware's 2018 Doodle 4 Google finalist

For sixth-grader Catherine Skibicki, the night sky is a reminder that the possibilities are endless.

"I always liked looking at the stars," Catherine told her classmates at Cab Calloway School of the Arts earlier this month. "It's always been cool to know there's a whole universe out there we haven't explored."

That feeling is what inspired Catherine to submit an original piece of art for the annual Doodle 4 Google contest. Each year, young artists are invited to create doodles and submit them for the chance to be featured on Google.com. The winner will also receive a $30,000 college scholarship and a $50,000 technology package for their school.

Catherine learned earlier this month that she had been selected as one of 53 states and U.S. territory finalists whose doodles will be posted online until May 18 for the public to vote on. The doodle with the most votes will move onto the next stage of the competition.

GOOGLE DOODLE: Vote for Catherine

National finalists will be selected from each of five groups — grades K-3, grades 4-5, grades 6-7, grades 8-9 and grades 10-12 — and Google executives will choose one to receive the grand prize.

"It’s been over 10 years since I began doodling for Google and I’ve never been more excited about what’s coming up for our ever-changing logo," Ryan Germick, head of Google's Doodle team, said online. "In a super exciting first, this year’s winner will work directly with the Doodle team to transform their art into an interactive doodle for millions to see and play."

Catherine's doodle is of a young girl pointing up at the stars. It was selected by a panel of judges that included Olympians Laurie Hernandez and Ibtihaj Muhammad, as well as actors Neil Patrick Harris and Ty Burrell.

"Outerspace goes on forever and is limitless, which remind me of how there are limitless possibilities," Catherine wrote on her submission form. "This inspires me. Also, learning and discovery are inspiring, which is what the girl in my picture is doing."

Catherine's dad, Tim Skibicki, said this is his daughter's first year at Cab Calloway and that last year she went to Odyssey Charter School, where she developed an appreciation for Greek mythology and constellations. In August, she watched the Perseid meteor shower from the tower at the Granouge Estate on Montchanin Road.

The meteor shower is so named because meteors appear to fall from a point in the constellation Perseus. It's named after the Greek mythological hero Perseus, who slew the snake-haired monster, Medusa.

Cab Calloway teacher Steven Mayo encouraged Catherine to enter the Google 4 Doodle contest, Tim Skibicki said.

"We're just so super proud of her," Tim Skibicki said. "What else can we say? It's awesome. She's very artistic."

As a state finalist, Catherine has already won a computer and some fun Google swag. If she is named a national finalist, she will win a $5,000 college scholarship, more Google tech and a trip to Google Headquarters in California.

Vote for Catherine's doodle online at doodles.google.com/d4g before May 18.

Contact Jessica Bies at (302) 324-2881 or jbies@delawareonline.com. Follow her on Twitter @jessicajbies.

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