Iowa’s ‘Doodle 4 Google’ Winner Is Also State’s STEM Education Poster Girl

If Iowa’s top elected officials had to choose a poster child for the state’s push for STEM education, Urbandale Middle School student Marissa Frost would fit the bill.

It’s not that Frost isn’t getting tons of publicity already. She reluctantly stepped into the spotlight and before dozens of cameras Wednesday at a school assembly recognizing her after her entry in Doodle 4 Google, the giant technology company’s contest to redesign its iconic homepage logo, was named the Iowa winner.

LINK UP WITH URBANDALE PATCH: Like us on Facebook. Follow us on Twitter. Have Urbandale news delivered to your inbox or smartphone every morning by signing up for our free newsletter.

The contest primarily recognizes students’ artistic talents, but the fact that Frost’s drawing depicts what she hopes will be her “best day” as a medical scientist wasn’t lost on Gov. Terry Branstad and Lt. Gov. Kim Reynolds, who have made increasing Iowa students' performance in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) disciplines a hallmark of their administration.

Students in Iowa and other U.S. states lag woefully behind their peers in global competition in those disciplines, areas where the greatest jobs growth is expected to occur in the years to come.

Frost, who wants to be a medical scientist and find cures for quality-of-life diminishing diseases, such as Crohn’s disease, which she suffers from, is a tremendous role model for other middle school girls, said the lieutenant governor.

“Middle school girls are under-represented and under-served in these areas,” said Reynolds, co-chair of the Governor’s STEM Advisory Council, a group charged with bolstering Iowa’s performance in STEM subjects. “They should have the same opportunity as any other child in those areas.”

“That’s when they lose interest in science,” added Branstad, who served as president of Des Moines University, an osteopathic medical school located in Iowa’s capital city, between stints as Iowa’s chief executive.

While at DMU, Branstad said, women were unrepresented. “We have got to try to change that and focus on STEM criteria,” he said.

The reasons middle school girls lose interest in science and related subjects vary, but in general, it’s because it isn’t seen as cool, according to the Institute for Mathematics and Computer Science, which said that if girls aren’t interested in STEM subjects by middle school, it’s almost impossible to convince them to pursue a career path in those fields.

“Marissa is a great role model for young for young women,” Reynolds said.

Frost, an eighth-grader, is a well-rounded student who is part of student government and participates in basketball and other sports – hardly the archetypal “science nerd.” But she does love the subject and is taking ninth-grade science classes at Urbandale.

She credits her teacher, Steve Mefford, with bringing science to life with his inquiry-based approach.

Managing her own disease has fueled her interest in medical research, but she wants to  focus on finding cures for “other things like cancer and big things like that,” she said.

Vote Now: What’s Next in Doodle 4 Google

The 50 state winners, selected from a record 130,000 submissions in the sixth annual Doodle 4 Google contest, will be winnowed to five in online voting, which continues through May 10. Vote for Frost’s drawing here.

The final selection will be made by a panel of artists, celebrities and athletes, including newswoman Katie Couric and gymnast Ali Reisman, captain of the gold-medal winning U.S. Women’s Gymnastics Team at the London 2012 Olympics.

Google’s Kate Kolbert-Hyle, one of two representatives from the Internet company who attended the assembly Wednesday, thinks Frost’s drawing has a good chance of winning the big prize – a $30,000 scholarship and a $50,000 technology grant for her school.

“We love that it’s about science and technology,” said Kolbert-Hyle. “We see technology as making so much change.

“It’s so totally on message,” she said. “I love this doodle.”

Branstad, whose long political career – he was a state representative and lieutenant governor before he elected governor – is testament to his ability to get out the vote, sounded a familiar refrain at the conclusion of his remarks.

“Make sure you vote,” he said.