BY STEVEN STIEFEL | FOR THE OBSERVER
A local young man is a quarter-finalist in the Jr. Ranger competition. At stake is an appearance in “Ranger Rick” magazine and a $20,000 prize from wildlife expert and television personality Jeff Corwin.
The boy’s mother, Jessica Fitch, describes him as a “natural born explorer sharing his love with others fiercely, fervently, barefooted and free.”
Voting in the semi-finalist competition ends Thursday, July 10 at 2 p.m. PDT. She said her son, Keerian, begged her to let him get on social media, which was controversial at his young age.
“He begged me to let him use social media so that he could start encouraging other children to get out and explore,” she said. “And then I found this competition – and wow – what an opportunity for Keerian. Because his future dreams involve building terrariums, regenerating systems through exhibits. This is literally all he ever thinks about or talks about. We go to new places to explore. I found this Junior Ranger competition, and I’ve never been one to post my kids on social media and such. You know, it was a big deal for me to make that decision. But it’s such a joy to watch Keerian with children in the community. His dream is to continue to inspire children to get outside.”
She got into the contest thinking she could follow her son around and film him as he lives his joy.
“I entered into the competition,” Fitch said. “He got through the first stage. And on the final stage, before we came into the finals, which is what we’re in now, we got 1,000 votes on that final day. That got him into the finals.”
The Jr. Ranger competition started out with 100,000 kids from across America.
“At this stage, 99,000 of those other kids have already been eliminated, so there’s only 1,000 left,” she said. “Keerian woke up Friday morning and he’s gotten another 200 [votes]. Competition is tough because all of the other contestants have found sponsors already. On July 10 he has to be in first place in order to [move] forward into the semifinals where only 128 children will remain.”
Fitch said she would love to see Keerian become the second child from Opelika to win a national competition, joining Bryson “Cheese Curd” McGlynn, who won Season 9 of the program “MasterChef Junior”.
Keerian is learning that conserving and rebuilding new habitats takes campaigning for funds and so he is accepting donations for the National Wildlife Federation as part of his competition to support future explorers of America.
At an Opelika fundraiser on Saturday, the owners of Rock N Roll Pinball donated half of the day’s gamers to donate to the National Wildlife Federation, which the competition supports. The Federation makes it their mission to protect wildlife and wild places for future generations. Fitch said the donations made can significantly determine a child’s success in the competition.
Regardless of the contest outcome, Keerian is a young man who seems to have a winning attitude toward life. Fitch said her son finds joy exploring off trail forest areas, parks and water banks. He especially loves taking his dog for a swim on the lake.
“Reptiles, moss and edible plants are some of Keerian’s most loved organic encounters,” Fitch said. “He especially loves to bottle it up and build his own living ecosystems. He dreams about modeling and creating terrariums for kids as a potential career opportunity. I take him down to Monkey Park quite often. It’s one of his favorite places to build. Typically, he has a crowd of kids around him who are wanting to be more interested in the outdoors. That’s Keerian’s dream: to continue to inspire children to get outside.”
View Keerian’s Facebook page by typing “Keerian JrRanger” into the address or visit www.jr-ranger.org/2025/keerian-ef4a to vote.
