A Fairfax, Virginia student named Time Magazine's 2024 'Kid of the Year'

Heman Bekele, Time Magazine's Kid of the YearPhoto byYouTube Screenshot

According to Patch, a 15-year-old student from W.T. Woodson High School in Fairfax, Virginia has been named Time Magazine's 2024 "Kid of the Year."

About the winner

Heman Bekele was named the 2024 Kid of the Year by Time Magazine. He is recognized for developing an affordable compound-based bar of soap that could one day make it easier to deliver medication to treat skin cancers, including melanoma.

Bekele told the magazine:

“I’m really passionate about skin-cancer research. … Whether it’s my own research or what’s happening in the field. 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. That’s the reason I started this all in the first place.”

According to WTOP, Bekele won the title because of his lifesaving science fair project.

The 15-year-old student said:

“I saw so many people that were working really long hours under the hot sun,” he told the station. “What keeps me pushing forward is thinking back to the impact that I will be able to have on those groups of people when I one day release that bar of soap.”

About the prize

In October 2023, the 3M company and Discovery Education named Bekele the winner of its Young Scientist Challenge. The honor came with a $25,000 prize.