A teen who created a soap that could "transform skin cancer treatment" was chosen as the 2024 Kid of the Year by Time magazine and Time for Kids.

Heman Bekele from Annandale, Virginia, is a 15-year-old scientist "who could change how we treat skin cancer," stated Time in its announcement released Thursday.

"It’s absolutely incredible to think that one day my bar of soap will be able to make a direct impact on somebody else’s life," Bekele told Time. "That’s the reason I started this all in the first place.”

The teen was chosen after he created a soap that could be a "more accessible way to deliver medication to treat skin cancers, including melanoma," the magazine said in a news release.

In 2023, 3M and Discovery Education named Bekele America’s Top Young Scientist when he was just 14 years old after he competed against nine other finalists, USA TODAY previously reported. Bekele also won a $25,000 cash prize.

Honorees include inventor, actor, more

Tim also named five honorees in its 2024 Kid of the Year competition.

Shanya Gill, 13, an inventor from San Jose, California

After a restaurant behind her home burned down, Gill learned that unattended cooking is the number one cause of house fires. She created a device to send an alert to a home's residents if there is a heat source that is unattended with no sign of humans after two minutes and notifies them of a potential fire, Time reported.

Madhvi Chittoor, 12, an advocate from Arvada, Colorado

At 6 years old, Chittoor learned about forever chemicals, or PFAs, which can lead to "negative developmental effects in children, decreased fertility, increased risk of some cancers, reduced immune function, and increased cholesterol levels," stated Time.

She wanted to warn everyone about them. So, in 2021, she and her mom met with Colorado state Sen. Lisa Cutter, an environmental advocate, at a Panera.

Less than a year later, Chittoor testified at the state Capitol after Cutter proposed a bill that would ban intentionally-added PFAs and exchanged emails with Colorado Gov. Jared Polis for months, Time reported.

Then, once the bill passed, Polis gave her the pen he used to sign it into action.

Jordan Sucato, 15, an advocate from Phoenix

Sucato's goal is to protect the pets of people who are unhoused from Phoenix's sweltering heat.

“Their paws can burn and blister in under five minutes,” Sucato told Time. “If it’s 120 degrees temperature-wise, it’s 140 degrees on the concrete.”

In January, Sucato founded Laws for Paws LLC, a nonprofit that raised $7,000 to help protect the pups' vulnerable paws and provided 515 dogs with boots that will protect their delicate paw pads.

The funding supports the teen's partner organization, Dogs Day Out AZ, a nonprofit that distributes protective boots and other resources.

Keivonn Woodard, 11, from Bowie, Maryland

Woodard is an actor who, like the character he played in HBO's The Last of Us, is deaf.

Now at 11, he is an Emmy-nominated actor who wants to continue representing the Deaf community.

“Most people [in TV and film] are hearing, so you just see people talking,” he told Time through an American Sign Language interpreter. “But when I see deaf people, and they’re using sign language, I understand what they’re saying. Showing deaf people playing deaf characters is authentic and extremely important.”

Woodard is set to star in Anslem Richardson’s short film "Fractal" and will appear in "Steal Away," Stephen Ashley Blake’s debut feature.

Dom Pecora, 15, an entrepreneur from Malvern, Pennsylvania

Pecora opened his first storefront in September 2023, three years after his mom helped him open his business, Dom Fixes Bikes, to raise money for a new, expensive mountain bike, per Time.

His business was successful, and he not only got himself his dream bike, but he also got bikes for six other kids, too.

He worked out of his house, then before he moved into the store he's in now, he worked out of a one-car garage that didn't have electricity or a bathroom.

Last December, he set a goal to give away 100 bikes, but surpassed it thanks to sponsorships and donations sent to his nonprofit that helped him give away 121 instead.

“Since the beginning, I always wanted everyone to be able to ride a bike, no matter their financial abilities,” Pecora told Time. "The process, he adds, is simple: “Everyone who applies for a bike will get a bike.”

 

USA Today