Welcome back! Our team enjoyed relaxing during the summer but we were also eager to start the 2019-2020 Microproject season off and see your inspiring new submissions! The first project of this school year challenged you all to explore some of the practical applications of artificial intelligence by making a profile avatar using Google AutoDraw! As usual, we received hundreds of submissions that reflect the academic goals and artistic skills of our many student users. Thank you for starting this year off with all of your wonderful submissions!

Grand Prize

Our Grand Prize Winner, taking home a $25 Amazon Gift Card, is the Cello Avatar by Ananya J at Sequoia Middle School in Newbury Park, California! This project was all about using Google AutoDraw to make an avatar that represented the maker’s goals and interests, and Ananya J did a great job of reflecting this prompt in the submission. Ananya J started the project by placing a cello and some textbooks in the image to reflect the academic and music goals she has planned. Then Ananya J went a step further by bringing the AutoDraw image into another image editor called Gravit, to add the darker shading and patterns in the second version of the image. Nice job, Ananya J!

1st Runner Up

Our 1st Runner Up is a Microbit Avatar made by KingFadez23 from McPherson Magnet School in Orange, California! KingFadez23 made the image above using AutoDraw to depict the protective gear players wear while playing football. He then opened the AutoDraw image up in a second web app to add the colored wiring that represents his ultimate goal: Connecting a microbit processor to football gear that would provide the player with data on the current game like the fastest route to score a potential touchdown. Excellent work, KingFadez23!

2nd Runner Up

Our 1st Runner Up is an Avengers Avatar by my-username-is-available! from Rogers Middle School in Long Beach, California! This submission caught our judges’ attention not only through the pleasing mix of colors and expert placement of elements on the page but also through the many additions made to the original Autodraw image by using other web applications like Canva. my-username-is-available! even went a small step further by incorporating a unique font from fontmeme.com into the image to give the avatar an added flair. Great work, my-username-is-available!

Our honorable mentions go out this month to:

• Julianr’s submission inspired us with its focus on CS and use of psuedo-code.

Our Grand Prize winner will receive a $25 Amazon Gift Card for their school, and our 1st and 2nd Runners up will each win a prize of their choice from our new prize chest!

The September contest is officially closed but there are still 8 more coming up this school year with their own themes and potential prizes to win! This month your challenge is to make a 3D model representation of a 2D artwork!