Google Doodle honors 'classroom heroes' for Teacher Appreciation Week
Remember to thank a teacher today.
- She received the Renau Writing Scholarship in 2016 from the University of Louisville's communication department.
Google had almost 60,000 doodles to choose from for Teacher Appreciation Week.
Google is celebrating teachers on Monday. If you check out the search engine's page, you'll see a crayon-style Google Doodle surrounded by pencils, protractors, apples, puzzle pieces and other school-related images.
"Today's Doodle was created in partnership with the 57 2019 US State Teachers of the Year who visited Google in January for their first group meeting and explores the theme 'A day in the life of a teacher,'" Google said in a blog post.
In honor of Teacher Appreciation Week, Google said it's making one its largest teacher-focused grants -- a $5 million Google.org grant that'll unlock $10 million for teachers through DonorsChoose.org. For every dollar that's donated to the nonprofit, Google will add 50 cents, from Monday to Tuesday, up to $1.5 million total.
Rodney Robinson, 2019 National Teacher of the Year, created the doodle. Robinson said he went into teaching to honor his mother, Sylvia Robinson, who was denied the opportunity to become an educator because of poverty and segregation. Instead, his mother opened an in-home daycare center for children in the neighborhood and taught in a different way. Today, Robinson teaches social studies in a juvenile detention facility in Virginia.
"I work to create a positive school culture and empower my students to become civically minded social advocates," Robinson said.
When he was chosen as Virginia's Teacher of the Year, Robinson said he was "elated."
"Google's homepage today is a tribute to teachers, and I feel proud to see the contribution I made — alongside my 56 fellow State Teachers of the Year — up there for everyone to see," Robinson said in a blog post.
Teacher Appreciation Week was trending on Twitter Monday morning as thousands took to social media to celebrate educators.
Even with that sort of recognition, teachers often find themselves in a tough situation, living on modest salaries while running classrooms with a lack of resources and having to purchase supplies out of pocket. Over the last year, those working conditions have led to walkouts, sickouts and strikes.
Originally published May 6, 6:03 a.m. PT.
Update, at 6:32 a.m. PT: Added details about Google grants for teachers, 8:52 a.m. PT: Added more details about Rodney Robinson.