Baltimore, MD – Orthodox Girl A Finalist in Google Logo Design Contest

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    Eleven year old Johanna Robinson (L) of Brookville stands next to her Google designBaltimore, MD – A fifth grader at a Silver Spring, Maryland Orthodox day school has been chosen as a finalist in the annual Doodle 4 Google contest, putting her one step closer to winning not only a $50,000 technology grant for her school but also a $30,000 college scholarship.

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    Eleven year old Johanna Robinson of Brookville was chosen as the Maryland winner in the fourth and fifth grade category. Over 114,000 entries were submitted in the contest which offers students in kindergarten through twelfth grade the opportunity to submit designs for the Google logo which appears on the site’s homepage. 250 finalists were chosen from the entries, with one finalist per age category per state. Public vote at the Doodle 4 Google website will determine one winner per age group, with a panel of judges choosing the final winner at an awards ceremony to be held in New York on May 17th.

    In keeping with this year’s theme “If I could travel in time, I’d visit…” Johanna’s design, titled “Weaving My Past”, depicts sewing and needlework, reminiscent of that done by her Hungarian ancestors. Johanna, the oldest of four, is named for her great great grandmother who came from Hungary and according to her mother, two of the items Johanna drew were inspired by items that are located in her bedroom.

    “Johanna’s teachers say that she is a good writer and a terrific artist but, more importantly, she has such beautiful middos,” Rachel Robinson told VIN News. “When she found out that she was one of the finalists she took the news so modestly. Her whole attitude was so beautiful and we are so proud of her.”

    While the Torah Day School of Greater Washington was a little leery of allowing Google representatives to come to the school and conduct an assembly in Johanna’s honor, Rabbi Yitzchak Charner, headmaster of the school, said he found the Google representatives extremely cooperative, holding two separate assemblies so that no student would miss out on any Limudei Kodesh time.

    “I had to explain to them that not only do we discourage our children from using the internet, many families have no internet access at home,” said Rabbi Charner. “They were more than happy to work with us, even editing one of their videos in order to better accommodate our standards of tzniyus.”

    Rabbi Charner turned the assembly into a learning experience for the students, reminding them that they each have their own innate talents.

    “I told the kids that while we see a product that Johanna made that is very beautiful and indicative of her artistic abilities, the important thing to remember is that we all have different talents that Hakadosh Baruch Hu has given us and we have an obligation to use them in a constructive way to benefit klal yisroel and the world,” explained Rabbi Charner.

    In addition to the six foot by four foot mockup of Johanna’s drawing that was presented to the school by Doodle 4 Google, Google provided two hundred t-shirts featuring Johanna’s drawing. The entire fifth grade wore the t-shirts during the assembly and the remainder were distributed throughout the school after the assembly.

    “The Google people brought twenty five balloons for Johanna and as it turns out, there are exactly twenty five girls in Johanna’s class,” reported Rabbi Charner. “Johanna made sure that each one of them went home with a balloon that day. She really is an amazing girl.”

    Voting for the five national finalists continues through 8 PM Thursday night at the Doodle 4 Google website. To vote for Johanna’s design, benefitting both Johanna and the Torah School or Greater Washington., click here. (http://www.google.com/doodle4google/vote.html#d=d2-5)


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    15 Comments
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    Phineas
    Phineas
    11 years ago

    Beautiful

    UseYourHead
    UseYourHead
    11 years ago

    That’s fabulous!

    11 years ago

    I actually voted for this one! Nice!

    notknowitall
    notknowitall
    11 years ago

    Kudos to you Johanna! You are a REAL sample! Your tznius, your midos, and your eidelkeit shine through on the picture!!! WHAT AN ASSET TO OUR NATION!. May you continue to shine in every way and may MAZEL, BROCHA AND HATZLOCHA walk you through life.

    jonkamm623
    jonkamm623
    11 years ago

    yes you are great but, not as great as the girl that can lift over two hundred lbs.

    11 years ago

    will this one be on the google homepage? I am looking forward to seeing it. This is a beautiful design

    11 years ago

    I thought we’re not supposed to use the internet?

    AlbertEinstein
    AlbertEinstein
    11 years ago

    It’s the Torah School of Greater Washington. Rabbi Charner is a master mechanech. The school emphasizes middos and individual student growth al pi Toras Yisroel Sabba.

    LeibDovid
    LeibDovid
    11 years ago

    This is great – My daughter goes to that wonderful school and is in the 4th grade. Everyone is very happy for her!

    11 years ago

    Very impressive! Congrats, Johanna! You sound (and appear) like a very bright and mature young lady. Good for you! If you don’t mind my asking, what is your Jewish name? Just curious…

    bracha18
    bracha18
    11 years ago

    wow!!! im so proud!!! what an amazing girl! and i love what her mother said- about her middos!! that is the most important! you can see on her face how eidel she is! and the principal and school sound really amazing! may her parents and family continue to see much yiddish naches from her untill 120 bezras HaShem!

    Eagle
    Eagle
    11 years ago

    God bless this young lady! Beautiful art and beautiful middos! Much to be proud of.

    Butterfly
    Butterfly
    11 years ago

    She is very talented!!

    11 years ago

    Please go vote for Johanna – a talented young lady. She makes a tremendous Kiddush Hashem and she and the Torah School will win substantial scholarship money from Google.

    Rainbow18
    Rainbow18
    11 years ago

    We’re all very proud of you, Johanna!!!