Mark Vanderzee is a 14-year-old 8th grader at George S. Mickelson Middle School in Brookings. He enjoys looking at atlases and geography books, reading and swimming; his swim team has participated in the South Dakota State Swim Meet. If he could be anyone else, he’d be U.S. ambassador to the …

Cameron Danesh is an 11-year-old 6th grader at Mountainside Middle School in Scottsdale. He enjoys reading, playing Minecraft and looking at atlases. He taught himself to read at age 3. He is going to London this summer and looks forward to seeing the famous monuments. What he likes about geography …

Pranit Nanda is a 13-year-old 7th grader at Aurora Quest K-8 School in Aurora, east of Denver. He represented Colorado at the 2012 National Geographic Bee. He’s captain of his school Mathcounts team and a three-time winner of the President’s Award for Academic Excellence. He likes reading and watching game …

Chinmay Murthy is an 11-year-old 5th grader at Paragon Preparatory Middle School in Austin. He plays basketball and tennis and enjoys going on bike rides. He plays the piano and is a Webelos Scout. The best places he’s visited are France, Britain and Ireland; he’d like to go to Papua …

Jacob Augelli is a 12-year-old 7th grader at CDR William C. McCool Elementary/ Middle School in Guam. He’s vice president of his school, a member of the National Junior Honor Society and captain of the school Academic Challenge Bowl team. He enjoys playing the drums and studying for competitions. ➡ …

Tyler Jager is a 12-year-old 7th grader at Manchester Elementary Middle School in Manchester Center, northeast of Manchester. His Odyssey of the Mind team has won the tournament three times and placed 2nd once. He loves to read, play and write music and travel. He hopes to work at the …

Matthew Armor is a 14-year-old 8th grader at Whittier Middle School in Norman, near Oklahoma City. He has been on the Chickasaw National Honor Roll since 2nd grade and was a member of the City of Norman football championship team. He enjoys studying history and cooking. He would like to …

Sathwik Karnik is a 12-year-old 7th grader at King Philip Regional Middle School in Norfolk, southwest of Boston. He plays the clarinet and enjoys competing in chess tournaments. What he likes best about geography is how it connects people, places and cultures. HeÕd like to visit the Gal‡pagos. ➡ Subscribe: …

Theodore Jansen is an 11-year-old 5th grader at Paddock Road Elementary School in Omaha. He loves reading and also collects sports cards, rocks and coins. The best place heÕs been is Cincinnati, where he attended a Reds game. He hopes to go to Borneo to see the wildlife. Among those …

Prani Nalluri is a 12-year-old 6th grader at Overland Trail Middle School in Overland Park, a suburb of Kansas City. She enjoys the classical Indian dance Bharatanatyam. She plays piano and cello. She hopes to become a surgeon and help people in underdeveloped countries. She’d like to climb Mount Everest. …