Contest Celebrates Youth Who Take Action for Wildlife and Habitats
Nacogdoches, Texas (March 12, 2025) – Kind News™ children’s magazine and Earth Rangers, a charity that empowers kids and families to have a real and positive impact on the environment, are excited to announce their 2024 Kind News “Earth Ranger of the Year” Hannah Cooper! Hannah resides in Nacogdoches, Texas, and is featured in the March/April 2025 issue of Kind News.
There were 94 submissions from young people across the United States who shared stories about shoreline and roadside cleanups, recycling projects, planting pollinator gardens, pet food drives for animal shelters, and more.
Hannah Cooper’s submission stood out among the rest. Sixth-grader Hannah finds ways to make a difference wherever she goes. If she spends a day at the park, she also makes sure to pick up trash. Once she convinced her parents of the importance of recycling, she urged her whole community to do so by posting flyers around her town in Texas.
Not only does Hannah love the environment, but she is also an animal lover with two golden retrievers named Scout and Gracie at home. She volunteers at Nacogdoches Humane Society and spends time with her family walking and socializing the dogs.
“I’ve always loved animals,” she says. “I’ve always liked being outside.” That’s enough to keep her going, but there’s more: “I like how once I finish something, I can tell it’s made a difference,” she says. “The dog we walked gets adopted.”
Hannah is currently working on raising awareness about one of the most endangered animals, the marine mammal vaquita, through school presentations and placing posters around campus.
Last year, Hannah founded an eco club called Girls Go Green with her friends. They pick up trash around the church where they meet. Additionally, they’ve collected cans to recycle and donated the money to help local unhoused people.
She is a current member of Earth Rangers, a non-profit offering a free app for kids that helps them protect animals by completing missions. Her 15 missions have included showing her club how to build toad houses out of flower pots. Hannah has “adopted” numerous wild animals in the Earth Rangers app, including a seal, which earned a donation to a marine mammal center.
When Hannah grows up she wants to be a wildlife photographer or an animal conservationist.
In addition to her feature in Kind News magazine, Hannah also received a $100 gift card for Earth Rangers wildlife merchandise, an Earth Rangers t-shirt, and a one-year subscription to Kind News magazine.
Reflecting on her work, Hannah shares, “Protecting the environment is crucial. If everyone pitched in to help the earth it could make a big difference.”
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Note to editors: Images available to download include Hannah’s Kind News magazine cover, Hannah at the Nacogdoches Humane Society, the Girls Go Green club, at her school, and Earth Rangers contest merchandise.
About Kind News:
Kind News magazine™ is an eight-page, full-color RedRover publication that inspires kids to be curious, helpful, and kind to people and animals around them. The publication is available in two reading versions: Kind News, Jr. for grades K-2 and Kind News for grades 3-6, and is distributed five times throughout the school year. The magazine is available in print or as an interactive, digital edition. To learn more and download the latest issue, visit KindNews.org/download.
About Earth Rangers:
Earth Rangers is the largest youth conservation organization in the world, committed to empowering a new generation of environmental leaders. Earth Rangers instills environmental knowledge, positivity, and the confidence to take action in children across Canada and the United States. The free Earth Rangers app offers thousands of hours of education and missions that children can participate in at school, at home, and in their communities. Nearly 350,000 members have completed over 750,000 missions throughout the program. Becoming a member of Earth Rangers is free, just visit EarthRangers.com to find out how.
Contacts:
RedRover/Kind News
Sheri Madsen
916.600.8157
Earth Rangers
Justine Krulan
856.217.4234