June 25, 2025
Wildwood’s Diddier Morales Rivera Competes for National Junior Ranger Title
By Kyle Coppola
Wildwood’s Diddier Morales Rivera Competes for National Junior Ranger Title
Diddier Morales Rivera is among the most curious kids you will find in Sumter County. The young explorer is currently in second place in his category for the prestigious National Junior Ranger Competition, and with just a little more support, he could secure a spot in the next round and potentially win $20,000 and a feature in Ranger Rick magazine.
(Diddier enters the 5th grade at Wildwood Elementary. He’s very passionate about nature.)
This fall, Diddier will enter 5th grade at Wildwood Middle School, where his teachers and peers already know him for his contagious curiosity and endless knowledge about animals. His mom, Alma Rivera, says the passion started early.
“He’s always been interested in animals,” Alma says. “I have videos and pictures of him as young as four years old talking about reptiles. He just absorbs everything he reads or watches, especially anything about snakes, insects, or iguanas.”
(Diddier loves walking around and finding all sorts of fun animals, insects and reptiles.)
A proud member of Encounter Church in Wildwood, Diddier follows his love for God’s creation.
“I love nature because of the magical creatures and the fresh air, the wildlife, everything you can imagine,” Diddier says. “I love snakes, spiders, beetles, and any kind of insect. My favorite animals are blue iguanas and Fiji iguanas because of their colors. And my favorite snakes are the hognose, corn snake, timber rattlesnake, and ring-necked snake. They’re the coolest things I’ve ever found!”
When he’s not reading about animals or watching videos from wildlife educator Brian Barczyk, you’ll find Diddier outside climbing trees and searching for critters—living out his own backyard adventures.
(Look at that smile! Diddier loves many different kinds of animals but his favorites are snakes.)
Now just a few votes away from reaching the semifinals, the Morales Rivera family is asking the community for help.
🗳️ Vote for Diddier Morales Rivera here:
Every vote gets this young Wildwood explorer closer to his dream of being recognized for what he already is, a future wildlife ambassador.
Kyle Coppola was born in Newton, Massachusetts and received his Bachelor of Fine Arts in Communications from Curry College in 2016. After traveling to Florida on a family vacation, he decided he could not get enough of the warm weather and made the move from snowy Massachusetts to central Florida 8 years ago.
For the last decade Kyle has gained valuable experience in social media content creation, marketing and sales, writing, video production, sports announcing and even broadcasting for local radio stations, such as FM 102.9 in The Villages and FM 91.5 in Massachusetts. Every year he volunteers at The Villages Charter High School as a play-by-play sports announcer for the football games as well as a public address announcer for the basketball games, including the annual Battle at The Villages Tournament.
Outside the office Kyle is a husband and father to two beautiful girls along with their cat. In his spare time he likes to spend time with his family, travel, play golf and swim. He is also a huge sports junkie and even bigger motorsports fan and loves to attend racing events when he can.
