Photo submitted to the Times Observer Zennith Galbier of Warren County is pictured with a horse.

Zennith Galbier of Warren County is asking for votes to become the next Junior Ranger Rick for the Ranger Rick magazine.

The magazine won the 2025 National Parenting Product Awards. Accepted to be in the official competition, Galbier has a love for nature that involves curiosity, exploration and learning about the natural world. As a homeschooled child, he loves learning practical survival skills alongside hiking, drawing species, and sharing facts with others.

Winning includes an exclusive wildlife experience with Jeff Corwin and a cash prize. In order to enter, some questions had to be answered by Zennith, such as what he loves most about nature.

“I love all the cool opportunities you can have in nature. I love all the exciting things that can happen outdoors, like finding new creatures and seeing amazing things. I like exploring nature, such as hiking in the woods to see what I can find. I like swimming in the ocean and seeing the cool fish and listening to the whales. I love all the amazing sights like rainbows and stars in the sky,” he said.

Next, he was asked what his favorite animal is and why?

“My favorite animal is the peregrine falcon, because it’s the fastest animal when it’s in a dive. I also love it because all of the amazing abilities like swooping down at speeds of over 200 miles per hour to catch prey. Like all birds of prey, it can see really well,” Zennith said.

Finally, Galbier was asked to share about his favorite outdoor activity.

“My favorite outdoor activity is hiking and building forts in the forest,” he said. “I really like building forts because it’s a good skill to know and it’s fun! I also like hiking because I can see all the cool stuff in the woods. I also like swimming and diving to see cool fish in the ocean. I also love hearing the whales underwater and watching them breach and slap with their fluke. ”

Ranger Rick inspires kids to discover nature with exciting animal facts, stories, crafts, games and contests. Jeff Corwin is an Emmy-winning TV host, wildlife expert, and conservationist.

Cassandra Galbier said that she would love for her son to invest a large portion of winnings for his future, while he could choose what to do with the other portion such as purchase something he loves, start up his own business, or give back locally.

“Probably give some to the Avant CLC, invest some, and donate some more,” Zennith said. . I would also probably buy something for myself, like legos and nerf guns, and maybe some fishing gear.”

Voting can happen daily by visiting https://jr-ranger.org/2026/zennith-225a. The first round of voting ends April 9 with five additional rounds before the finals May 29 through June 4. The winner will be announced by June 19.