NICKELODEON AND TIME ANNOUNCE TOP FIVE HONOREES AND FINALISTS FOR SECOND ANNUAL "KID OF THE YEAR"

Trevor Noah Returns to Host Kid of the Year TV Special, Produced by TIME Studios, to Premiere on Nickelodeon on Wednesday, Feb. 9, at 7:30 p.m. (ET/PT)

Special to Feature Appearances by Jabari Banks, Charli D'Amelio, Dude Perfect, Rob Gronkowski, Scarlett Johansson, Zach King, Let It Happen, Charles Melton, Gitanjali Rao, Meghan Trainor and More

Nickelodeon Stars That Girl Lay Lay, Young Dylan and Wolfgang Schaeffer Join Kid Committee to Help Select Kid of the Year Honorees

HOLLYWOOD, Calif.--Jan. 19, 2022--Nickelodeon, TIME and TIME for Kids today announced the finalists for the second annual Kid of the Year, a multiplatform honor recognizing extraordinary young leaders who have made amazing and admirable contributions in 2021 in a range of fields, including social justice, science, education and more. Trevor Noah (The Daily Show with Trevor Noah) will return to host the Daytime Emmy(R) Award-nominated Kid of the Year TV special to highlight the top five honorees, with one outstanding kid ultimately being recognized as TIME Kid of the Year, and featured on the cover of TIME and in additional coverage in TIME For Kids. The special will simulcast across Nickelodeon, TeenNick and Nicktoons on Wednesday, Feb. 9, at 7:30 p.m. (ET/PT).

The Kid of the Year TV special will introduce the top five honorees ahead of the ultimate Kid of the Year being named, and feature guest stars from entertainment, sports and pop culture to help surprise them and celebrate their work. Celebrity guests scheduled to make appearances throughout the special include Jabari Banks, Charli D'Amelio, Dude Perfect, Rob Gronkowski, Scarlett Johansson, Zach King, Let It Happen, Charles Melton, 2020 Kid of the Year Gitanjali Rao, and Meghan Trainor, among others.

Following a nationwide search that yielded thousands of inspirational kids to be nominated, the top five honorees are:

· Cash Daniels (12; Chattanooga, Tenn.), an environmental activist working to conserve the rivers in his community, spending every day cleaning up cans and bottles near them. He has collected over 1,000 aluminum cans each week in 2021 alone and works to spread awareness about the interconnectedness of streams, rivers and oceans, and the threat that microplastics have on the environment. He is often joined by up to 25 kids for his regular clean-ups and runs a recycling program to collect cans from businesses. He also wrote a children's book called "One Small Piece" about river pollution, which he reads to kids at the schools near him.

· Mina Fedor (13; Oakland, Calif.), an activist working to end racism towards the AAPI community. At the age of 12, she organized a rally to help spread awareness about AAPI hate, which saw over 1,200 members of her community show up to support her and learn more about the issues that she, along with many others in the AAPI community, face in America. She also co-founded the middle school activist group AAPI Youth Rising (AYR), which is working to get legislation passed in California that would make the teaching of ethnic studies mandatory in public high schools.

· Samirah Horton (11; Brooklyn, N.Y.), an anti-bullying advocate who uses music to spread awareness about the lasting effects of cruelty by others. Also known as DJ Annie Red, she has been rapping and DJing since the age of 6, using music as a way to share her message. Due to her deep and raspy voice, she has often been the target of bullies, leading her to write the song "No, You Won't Bully Me" and book "The Bully Stop." She travels across the country to give presentations to kids to bring awareness of the effects that words can have, and also to let kids who are bullied know that they are not alone.

· Orion Jean (11; Mansfield, Texas), an activist who believes that spreading kindness is his life's mission. He founded his cause, "Race to Kindness," after winning a student kindness contest in 2020. Since then he has organized many successful "Race to Kindness" events that have included collecting over 500,000 books for kids who need them, collecting over 100,000 meals for families in need in the Texas area, and more. He also wrote his first book titled "A Kids Book About Leadership," which aims to inspire other kids to start their own kindness campaigns.

· Lino Marrero (14; Frisco, Texas), an innovator and award-winning inventor who has combined his love of sports with the desire to create practical, cool and eco-friendly devices. He recently invented the Kinetic Kickz 2.0, a shoe insert that can charge devices using energy that is generated from inside the sole of a shoe, charging as the wearer walks through the use of kinetic energy. The device has won at both regional and national competitions, and he hopes to continue inventing devices that can take advantage of this clean energy source.

The Kid of the Year finalists and honorees were selected by an Advisory Board made up of representatives from Nickelodeon, TIME, Special Olympics, Rosie's Theater Kids and Laureus Sport for Good Foundation USA to help narrow down the top 20 finalists. Of the 20, the five honorees were selected with the help of a kid committee comprised of Nickelodeon stars Alaya "That Girl Lay Lay" High (That Girl Lay Lay), Dylan "Young Dylan" Gilmer (Tyler Perry's Young Dylan) and Wolfgang Schaeffer (A Loud House Christmas).

Each of the five Kid of the Year honorees will receive a cash prize and have the opportunity to serve as a Kid Reporter for TIME for Kids with exclusive access to a Nickelodeon event. For additional information about the initiative, visit NickKidoftheYear.com and here on TIME.com for stories about the finalists rolling out leading up to the second annual Kid of the Year reveal.

The finalists also in the Kid of the Year top 20 this year are: Lujain Alqattawi (13; Millersville, Md.), Ruby Kate Chitsey (13; Harrison, Ark.), Miles Fetherston-Resch (9; St. Petersburg, Fla.), Gaurangi Gupta (11; Redmond, Wash.), Ethan Hill (11; Birmingham, Ala.), Khloe Joiner (9: Missouri City, Texas), Sadie Keller (14; Lantana, Texas), Zoe Oli (9; Atlanta), Jayden Perez (12; Woodland Park, N.J.), Genshu Price (13; Hauula, Hawaii), Kai Shappley (11; Austin, Texas), Jenell Theobald (15; Beaverton, Ore.), Sammie Vance (13; Fort Wayne, Ind.), and Alena Wicker (12; Cedar Hill, Texas).

Kid of the Year is sponsored by Greenlight(R) and OshKosh B'gosh(R).

The Kid of the Year TV special is a co-production of TIME Studios, Day Zero Productions, Mainstay Entertainment and Nickelodeon. Executive Producers include Ian Orefice, Mike Beck, Maria Perez-Brown, Rebecca Gitlitz, and Jeff Smith (TIME Studios), Andrea Delbanco (TIME For Kids), Trevor Noah, Sanaz Yamin, and Ashley Dizon (Day Zero Productions), Norman Aladjem, Derek Van Pelt (Mainstay Entertainment) and Ashley Kaplan, Paul J Medford and Luke Wahl (Nickelodeon).

About TIME

TIME is a global media brand that reaches a combined audience of more than 100 million around the world. A trusted destination for reporting and insight, TIME's mission is to tell the stories that matter most, to lead conversations that change the world and to deepen understanding of the ideas and events that define our time. With unparalleled access to the world's most influential people, the immeasurable trust of consumers globally, an unrivaled power to convene, TIME is one of the world's most recognizable media brands with renowned franchises that include the TIME100 Most Influential People, Person of the Year, Firsts, Best Inventions, World's Greatest Places and premium events including the TIME100 Summit and Gala, TIME100 Health Summit, TIME100 Next and more.

About TIME Studios

From one of the most globally iconic brands, TIME Studios is an Emmy Award(R)-winning television, film and immersive studio focusing on the development, production and distribution of truth-based premium unscripted and scripted storytelling that moves the world. With technical innovation and a brand defining visual language that dates back 98 years, TIME Studios aims to impact communities and the world at large with ideas that forge true progress. Combining the industry's leading creators with TIME, one of the most trusted brands that reaches an audience of over 100 million people globally, TIME Studios is uniquely positioned to bring massive audiences to the world's most impactful stories. Recent projects include, Black Gold (Paramount+), Big Vape (Netflix), John Lewis: Good Trouble (CNN Films), Amazing Grace (Neon), Right to Offend (A&E), Ricky Powell: The Individualist (Showtime), Mass Effect: The Story of YouTube, Kid of the Year (Nickelodeon/CBS), TIME100 (ABC), TIME Person of the Year, and the first scripted project for TIME Studios, Women of the Year (Amazon).

About Day Zero Productions

Day Zero Productions, a joint venture between ViacomCBS and Trevor Noah, develops and produces diverse, high-quality creative content for a global audience. With projects set up both within the ViacomCBS family, as well as at other studios, streamers, and live platforms, Day Zero focuses on entertaining and necessary content, with an eye toward authentic stories from diverse points of view. Among the current projects are the adaptation of Noah's best-selling and award-winning autobiography "Born A Crime," with Lupita Nyong'o starring and a reimagining of the classic Paramount feature President's Analyst. Additional features include a biopic centered on 8-year-old Nigerian chess champion Tanitoluwa Adewumi and an untitled animated feature with Paramount Animation and Mainstay Entertainment, based on an original idea from Noah. On the television side, Day Zero is producing several scripted and documentary series including partnering with Time Studios and Sugar23 on The Tipping Point, which examines urgent issues around the world from voting rights to civil rights, human rights to healthcare, and American Democracy to the global refugee crisis. Day Zero also produces Nickelodeon's annual Kid of the Year TV special alongside TIME Studios.

About Nickelodeon

Nickelodeon, now in its 42nd year, is the number-one entertainment brand for kids. It has built a diverse, global business by putting kids first in everything it does. The brand includes television programming and production in the United States and around the world, plus consumer products, digital, location-based experiences, publishing and feature films. For more information or artwork, visit http://www.nickpress.com. Nickelodeon and all related titles, characters and logos are trademarks of ViacomCBS Inc. (Nasdaq: VIACA, VIAC).