--- description: Heman Bekele, a 15-year-old from Virginia has a big idea: an affordable soap that has life-saving potential. title: TIME | Current & Breaking News | National & World Updates image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blted34bcdad648dc3d/6998c5bad32e93e00bcd6e8b/KOTY_r5.webp?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---   # Kid of the Year 2024 [How we chose this list](/7005486/kid-of-the-year-2024/) ## Kid of the Year and Honorees *  [Heman Bekele Is TIME's 2024 Kid of the Year](/collections/kid-of-the-year-2024/7276738/heman-bekele-is-times-2024-kid-of-the-year/) Dreaming of a cure byJeffrey Kluger *  [Dom Pecora](/collections/kid-of-the-year-2024/7276745/dom-pecora/) Fixing bikes, changing lives byJaime Joyce *  [Madhvi Chittoor](/collections/kid-of-the-year-2024/7276746/madhvi-chittoor/) Advocating for the earth bySanya Mansoor *  [Jordan Sucato](/collections/kid-of-the-year-2024/7276748/jordan-sucato/) Protecting paws byAllison Singer *  [Keivonn Woodard](/collections/kid-of-the-year-2024/7276756/keivonn-woodard/) Acting for representation byMegan McCluskey *  [Shanya Gill](/collections/kid-of-the-year-2024/7276760/shanya-gill/) Fighting fire with ingenuity bySanya Mansoor Kid of the Year 2024 ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"CollectionPage","@id":"https://time.com/collections/kid-of-the-year-2024/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/collections/kid-of-the-year-2024/"},"headline":"Kid of the Year 2024","description":"Heman Bekele, a 15-year-old from Virginia has a big idea: an affordable soap that has life-saving potential.","url":"https://time.com/collections/kid-of-the-year-2024/","datePublished":"2026-03-17T00:09:07.807Z","dateModified":"2026-03-17T00:09:07.529Z","publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156}},"mainEntity":{"@type":"ItemList","numberOfItems":6,"itemListOrder":"Descending"},"image":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blted34bcdad648dc3d/6998c5bad32e93e00bcd6e8b/KOTY_r5.webp?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/us/","name":"U.S."}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/koty2024/","name":"KOTY2024"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/collections/kid-of-the-year-2024/","name":"Kid of the Year 2024"}}]}] ```