Google doodle wins tablets for MIS

WINNER: Harrison Tomuri, 12, scored himself a tablet computer and 10 tablets for his classmates after winning the Year 7 and 8 age grade category of the 2013 Doodle4Google contest. PHOTO/FILE

Classmates of a Masterton Intermediate School pupil will this year share the fruits of his Doodle4Google entry, which won 10 tablet computers for his school.

Harrison Tomuri, 12, won the Year 7 to 8 category of the annual contest, for which entrants were asked to "sharpen their pencils, use their imagination and artistic talent to create a Google doodle depicting their vision for the theme, "If I was an Explorer I would ..."

Christchurch boy Deyvi Wilton, 12, of Papanui Primary School, was named in November as winner of the national prize in the contest, which included $10,000 worth of technology for their school, a Samsung Chromebook to take home and a trip to Antarctica aboard the Australasian Antarctic Expedition for a teacher nominated by the school.

Harrison earlier said he had chosen as his doodle subject the famous Kiwi adventurer and explorer Sir Edmund Hillary, who with Nepalese Sherpa guide Tenzing Norgay became the first to reach the summit of Mt Everest, the tallest mountain in the world.

Harrison titled his doodle, World's Greatest Explorer, and wrote a supporting statement for his work.

"My Google doodle features Mountaineer Sir Edmund Hillary, who in my eyes is one of our greatest explorers. I have also used a compass which is a tool used by explorers today and yesteryear. Lastly I have included our world, a planet that we all love to explore."

Masterton Intermediate School teacher Ellie Francis was overjoyed Harrison had won his category after earlier being named one of five finalists in the age grade.

She said Harrison, who is a Year 8 pupil at the school this year, took home a Nexus tablet computer as part of his prize package and the school late last year received 10 of the tablets his classmates would be using this year.

"It is really cool that Harrison did so well. I think he should have won the national prize, too, but maybe I'm just a little bit biased," she said.