Representatives from Google joined students and teachers at Marist School to recognize Ian Otten, a seventh-grade student from Atlanta who will be representing Georgia in Google’s national Doodle 4 Google competition.

Ian was congratulated by classmates, teachers, representatives from Google and family members, including his grandparents who flew in from St. Louis to surprise their grandson and celebrate his accomplishment.

The contest is open to K-12 students across the U.S., challenging them to redesign the Google logo using the theme “What makes me...me”

Ian’s Doodle “My Love for Sports” focuses on the significance sports have in his life — whether he’s on the field, in the stands or watching from his couch. His doodle was selected from more than 100,000 statewide submissions.

A panel of six judges — including Emmy-Award winning actress Julie Brown, Astronaut Yvonne Cagle, NBA Player Stephen Curry, Director Glen Keane, NWSL Player Alex Morgan and Writer B.J. Novak — selected one winner from each state to advance to the final round.

Ian will now compete for one of five national finalist slots to be decided by online voters.  Voting is open to the public starting today through Feb. 22.

Following the public vote, the finalists will travel to Google’s headquarters in Mountain View, Calif., to meet and workshop with Google’s team of professional doodlers.

Ultimately, one national winner will take home a $30,000 college scholarship and a $50,000 Google for Education grant toward the establishment and improvement of a computer lab or technology program at their school.

Google will announce the national finalists and winner on March 21. The winner’s doodle will go live on Google.com that day.