Meet the 2024 Time for Change Youth Challenge Winne

Meet the 2024 Time for Change Youth Challenge Winners!

Congratulations to the 15 Winners and 2 Grand Prize Winners of the 2024 Time for Change Youth Challenge! These changemakers have each won $1,000 and $5,000 respectively to support their social change projects.

Click on each project to learn more about them, what inspired these changemakers to take action, and more!

Time for Change Youth Challenge Winners:

Kindergarten-7th Grade

Let’s Keep Baton Rouge Litter Free

River, a 2nd grader from Baton Rouge, Louisiana, is hosting litter clean-ups around his school and in the community, with the goal of getting as many young people involved in cleaning up the city as possible.

We’re Glad You’re Here!

Alina, a 5th grader from Anchorage, Alaska, is redesigning tardy slips at her school by creating slips featuring art and welcoming, encouraging messages to decrease feelings of discomfort for young students who are late to school.

Supporting Small Businesses

Yaretzi, a 7th grader from Los Angeles, California, is advocating for policy changes at her school, which currently does not allow students to sell items they make or to start their own small businesses; she argues that small businesses provide students with valuable skills like marketing, communication, finance, and more.

Snack Shack for Super Cool Students

Peyton, a kindergartener from Toledo, Ohio, aims to install a cabinet at her school that’s stocked with snacks and lunch items for students experiencing food insecurity.

NYO Games for Recess & Boom Whoopers

Paxxon and J-von, two 5th graders in Anchorage, Alaska, are reimagining their recess time by introducing cultural games and activities that are important to their Indigenous and Filipino heritages, respectively.

Time for Change Youth Challenge Winners:

Kindergarten-7th Grade Classrooms

Be a Hero, Keep Litters at Zero

A group of 4th graders in Ms. Williams’s class in Malvern, Arkansas, are raising awareness about the importance of spaying and neutering stray dogs and cats in their community through creative events and programming.

KNOW Suicide

A group of 7th graders in Ms. Chavez Romo’s class in Fullerton, California, are working to create a school-wide movement to raise awareness about suicide among young people, to educate on prevention, and to provide support systems so that everyone has a place to turn to and no one feels alone.

Fresh & Fit: A Healthy Eating Revolution

A class of 2nd graders in Ms. Thomas’s class in Bloomington, Minnesota, wants to raise awareness about the benefits of making healthy eating choices through engaging events and campaigns.

The Big Transition: Social Emotional Transition to Middle School

7th graders in Ms. Beckham’s class in Kannapolis, North Carolina, are supporting 5th graders who will be transitioning to middle school through community building activities.

Assistive Technology MakerSpace: Our Disabilities Can't Slow Us Down!

Grand Prize Winner

Sid's Changemakers - 5th, 6th, and 7th graders - in Brooklyn, New York, want to establish a Maker Space to create tools that support learners with Individualized Education Programs, creating items like sensory fidgets for self-regulation and adaptive writing tools for non-verbal students.

Cow, Chicken, Goat Food Forest

6th and 7th graders in Mr. Curtiss’s classes in Casa Grande, Arizona, want to start a regenerative farm, complete with livestock, on their school campus to improve community health, increase profit for farmers, and heal the earth.

Time for Change Youth Challenge Winners:

8th-12th Grade

Lisowe's Lights Shine Bright Project

Amelia, an 8th grader from Bryant, Arkansas, founded and grew “Lisowe’s Lights,” an organization that has donated 30,000+ night lights to offer comfort to children entering the foster system and to raise awareness about the experience that these youth endure in being removed from their homes at night or in otherwise frightening situations.