Krish Patel is a 13-year-old 7th grader at Pinewood Preparatory School in Summerville, northwest of Charleston. He represented South Carolina at the 2011 and 2012 National Geographic Bees. He placed 4th in the state math contest, and his Quiz Bowl team won the state competition. He loves playing soccer. ➡ …

Walker Miller is a 13-year-old 7th grader at Weldon Johnson Middle School in Jacksonville. His favorite hobbies are rollerblading and sailing, and he has won trophies in two sailing regattas. He also enjoys reading, running and playing ping-pong. He hopes to become a travel journalist. He’d love to visit Turkey. …

Adi Sujithkumar is a 13-year-old 7th grader at Robertsville Middle School in Oak Ridge, west of Knoxville. He’s a member of his school’s Mathcounts and Quiz Bowl teams. He enjoys soccer and video games and following sports news. He admires teachers and President Obama. He’d like to visit the Maya …

Owen Benda is a 13-year-old 7th grader at Open Window School in Bellevue, east of Seattle. He loves visiting national parks and also enjoys skiing, hiking and reading. The best place he has been to is Australia, where he fed kangaroos, hugged a koala and went into the rain forest. …

Asha Jain is a 13-year- old 7th grader at Minocqua-Hazelhurst- Lake Tomahawk Elementary School in Minocqua, northwestern Wisconsin. She holds six club records in swimming and earned 5th and 8th places in a state swim meet. She enjoys music, movies and playing the flute. She’d like to visit Brazil. ➡ …

Sean Ives is a 13-year- old 7th grader at Trinity Lutheran School in Crown Point, south of Gary. He enjoys basketball, playing piano, reading maps and creating with Legos. The best place he’s visited is Venice, Italy, where he was the map navigator. He’d like to go to London. Among …

Will DiGrande is a 14-year-old 8th grader at Warren Middle School in Warren, southwest of Newark. He is captain of his school’s academic team and was honored as a Rutgers Knight in Shining Armor for his positive attitude and service to the community. He enjoys playing soccer, basketball and tennis. …

Ricky Uppaluri is an 11-year-old 5th grader at Fulton Sunshine Academy in Roswell, a suburb of Atlanta. He likes looking at maps and reading chapter books. Among those he admires are his grandparents, uncle and aunt, as they introduced him to geography. The best place he’s been is Agra, India; …

Akhil Rekulapelli is a 12-year-old 7th grader at Stone Hill Middle School in Ashburn, near Washington, D.C. He plays the clarinet in his school’s top band, is on the all-A honor roll and is a 1st degree black belt in tae kwon do. The best place he’s been is Costa …

Mahit Vaddadi is a 13-year-old 8th grader at Eagle View Middle School in Mechanicsburg, near Harrisburg. He plays the piano and violin and enjoys swimming and travel soccer. If he could be anyone else, he’d be U.N. secretary general. The best place he’s been is India, where he met his …