Jersey City 6th Grader Wins 66th Annual Hudson County Spelling Bee

By
Jeff Henig
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Last Saturday at High Tech High School in Secaucus, the 66th Annual Hudson County Spelling Bee took place.  76 champions, currently in grades 3-8, from their respective schools throughout the county competed to qualify for the Scripps National Spelling Bee and represent Hudson County in Maryland later this year.  The 2025 Hudson County Spelling Bee Champion is Ishaan Gupta, an 11-year-old, 6th grader at Frank Conwell Middle School 4 in Jersey City.

Hudson County Executive Craig Guy said in a statement, “I am e-x-t-r-e-m-e-l-y proud of each child that competed in this year’s Hudson County Spelling Bee! You are all Champions! Everyone is a Champion! All of the work you did to prepare for this event showed, and you should all be proud of the work you’ve accomplished.  Congratulations to Ishaan Gupta for being this year’s Hudson County Spelling Bee Champion! Hudson County is confident that you will represent us amazingly at the Scripps National Spelling Bee later this year – we wish you the best of luck!”

Gina Hullings, the Director of Hudson County’s Office of Cultural Affairs / Tourism Development, added, “Hudson County is proud to host the 66th Annual Hudson County Spelling Bee at our beautiful Hudson County High Tech High School for the third year in a row! Thank you to the administrators and staff for their immense support in putting together and running this event for the spellers and their families.  It is critical that we support and encourage the children and adolescents of Hudson County when they find interest in subjects such as spelling – so thank you to the parents and teachers of each student for helping them prepare, for encouraging them when they needed it, and for being present to support them at this year’s Hudson County Spelling Bee. Congratulations to each contestant and to our Champion, Ishaan Gupta!”

Gupta was thrilled with his accomplishment, saying after the competition, “Spelling Bee competitions are exciting for me because I love learning about the words themselves – their root words, language of origin and the stories behind the words.  I’m excited to have won this competition but I feel sad for the other contestants as I know how hard it is to get these words right. Thank you to my teacher, Mrs. Rose, for her love and guidance, and thank you to MS4!”

Gupta is in the Accelerated Enrichment Program (AEP) at Frank Conwell Middle School 4 in Jersey City.  He was the runner up during the 2024 Hudson County Spelling Bee.  What’s the old saying?  If at first you don’t succeed, try again.   Well, Gupta became the 2025  Spelling Bee Champion during the seventh round – his winning word was ‘GUAN.’ 
                                                                                                                          Gupta’s first interest was in reading books.  He currently has a home library of over 650 books and has co-authored The Martian Miracle – Ivaan and the Climate Crisis with his father. 
                                                                                                                                He  became passionate about spelling, especially after winning his first school Spelling Bee in the 3rd grade and going on to compete at the 2022 Hudson County Spelling Bee, which was held virtually.  Born and raised in Jersey City, Gupta loves to ride his bike in Liberty State Park with his family, as well as play soccer, tennis and go swimming.

Marina Saad finished in second place.  She is 14 years-old and in the 8th grade at Philip G. Vroom School in Bayonne.  Jasmine Dalmas came in third place.  She’s a 10-year-old 5th grader at Chaplin Watters Elementary School 24 in Jersey City.

To see photos of the Spelling Bee, including photos of the contestants with their names, grades and schools, click here.

All of the contestants who participated in this year’s Spelling Bee are listed below with their schools.  Congratulations to everyone:

Anish Shama — Academy 1 Middle School, Jersey City (RANK 4th Round)

Emily Fekry — Alexander Sullivan Elementary School 30, Jersey City (RANK 4th Round)

Anuja Nere — Alfred Zampella Elementary School 27, Jersey City (RANK 4th Round)

Eesha Samala — All Saints Episcopal Day School, Hoboken (RANK 6th Round)

Dylan Valdez — Anna L Klein Elementary School, Guttenberg (RANK 6th Round)

Atharva Sharma — Beloved Community Charter School, Jersey City (RANK 4th Round)

Jasmine Dalmas — Chaplin Watters Elementary School 24, Jersey City (RANK 3rd Place)

Neelesh Sudar Kannan — Charles Trefurt School 8, Jersey City (RANK 5th Round)

Jack Brenes — Christa McAuliffe School 28, Jersey City (RANK 4th Round)

Eric Francis — Clarendon Elementary School, Secaucus (RANK 6th Round)

Kavya Jatkar — Cornelia Bradford Elementary School 16, Jersey City (RANK 6th Round)

Ivette Garcia — Dr C DeFuccio Elementary School 39, Jersey City (RANK 6th Round)

William Exiokwu — Dr Maya Angelou PS 20, Jersey City (RANK 6th Round)

Hamza Ali — Dr Michael Conti Elementary School 5, Jersey City (RANK 4th Round)

Austin Dingle — Dr Paul Rafalides PS 33, Jersey City (RANK 7th Round)

Annalise Sosa — Dr Walter F Robinson School, Bayonne (RANK 6th Round)

Devasenaa Venkatesan — Empowerment Academy Charter School, Jersey City (RANK 6th Round)

Annabelle White — Explore 2000 Middle School, Jersey City (RANK 6th Round)

Jeremy Quiles — Ezra Nolan Middle School 40, Jersey City (RANK 7th Round)

Varun Ramasubramanian — Elysian Charter School, Hoboken (RANK 4th Round)

Ishaan Gupta — Frank Conwell Middle School 4, Jersey City (RANK 1st Place)

Sophia Naom — Frank R Conwell Elementary School 3, Jersey City (RANK 6th Round)

Harshini Putta — Franklin L Williams Middle School 7, Jersey City (RANK 7th Round)

Ramatoulaya Keita — Gladys Cannon Nunery School 29, Jersey City (RANK 6th Round)

Joaquin Llanos — Henry E Harris Elementary School, Bayonne (RANK 6th Round)

Arthur Kennedy — Hoboken Charter School, Hoboken (RANK 6th Round)

Logan Power — Hoboken Middle School, Hoboken (RANK 4th Round)

Bahaedine Khelaifi — Horace Mann School, Bayonne (RANK 6th Round)

Vidham Dangol — Huber Street Elementary School, Secaucus (RANK 4th Round)

Jaylynn Rivera — Hudson – ASCS Middle School, Kearny (RANK 7th Round)

Anvi Gupta — Hudson Montessori School, Jersey City (RANK 6th Round)

Samarth Brahma — Hoboken Catholic Academy, Hoboken (RANK 4th Round)

Srivallabha Konduru — Infinity Institute, Jersey City (RANK 4th Round)

McKensey Martin — James Murray Elementary School 38, Jersey City (RANK 7th Round)

Siena Camion — Jefferson Elementary School, Union City (RANK 6th Round)

Sidra Ahmad — Jersey City Global Charter School, Jersey City (RANK 6th Round)

Gurshaan Randhawa — Jersey City Golden Door Charter School, Jersey City (RANK 6th Round)

Isaiah Kassi — John M Bailey School, Bayonne (RANK 4th Round)

Aleyna Traore — Joseph F Brandt Elementary School, Hoboken (RANK 6th Round)

Kriti Kattamuri — Jotham W Wakeman School 6, Jersey City (RANK 7th Round)

Ny’Layia Ransom — Julia A Barnes Elementary School 12, Jersey City (RANK 7th Round)

Freyja Maru — Learning Community Charter School, Jersey City (RANK 7th Round)

Noah Johnson — Lincoln Community School, Bayonne (RANK 5th Round)

Wilkins Rojas — Lincoln Middle School, Kearny (RANK 6th Round)

Rimah Assaggoum — Mahatma Gandhi Elementary School 23, Jersey City (RANK 4th Round)

Mohammed Raoudi — Martin L King Junior Elementary School 11, Jersey City (RANK 7th Round)

Zain Abdelmonem — Miftaahul Uloom Academy, Union City (RANK 7th Round)

Samantha Choi — Nicholas Oresko School, Bayonne (RANK 4th Round)

Dishari Das — Nicolaus Copernicus School 25, Jersey City (RANK 5th Round)

Akshita Singh — Our Lady of Czestochowa School, Jersey City (RANK 4th Round)

Darsh Gohil — Patricia Noonan School PS 26, Jersey City (RANK 7th Round)

Marina Saad — Philip G Vroom School, Bayonne (RANK 2nd Place)

Luciana Latilla — Public School #2, West New York (RANK 6th Round)

Amarii Briggs — President Barack Obama Community School, Jersey City (RANK 7th Round)

Kathryn Guerra — Public School #5, West New York (RANK 6th Round)

Aarav Jain — Rafael Cordero Y Molina Elementary School, Jersey City (RANK 5th Round)

Deshawn Silva — Rev Dr Ercel F Webb School 22, Jersey City (RANK 7th Round)

Ali Gebai — Rising Star Academy, Union City (RANK 7th Round)

Ryan Fernandez — Sara M Gilmore Academy, Union City (RANK 6th Round)

Aryan Bansal — Secaucus Middle School, Secaucus (RANK 4th Round)

Jodi Domantay — Soaring Heights Charter School, Jersey City (RANK 6th Round)

Thea Ordonez — Saint Francis Academy, Union City (RANK 6th Round)

Margarita (MAX) Kosygim — Theodore Roosevelt Elementary School 5, Weehawken (RANK 4th Round)

Sohum Dixit — Thomas G Connors Elementary School, Hoboken (RANK 6th Round)

Grace McMullan — Wallace Elementary School, Hoboken (RANK 6th Round)

Lluan Magpali — Washington Community School, Bayonne (RANK 5th Round)

Aliyah Rodriguez — Whitney M Young Junior Elementary School 15, Jersey City (RANK 7th Round)

Maxine Rivera — Woodrow Wilson School, Bayonne (RANK 6th Round)

Niki Kambam — World of ABC The Waldo School, Jersey City (RANK 6th Round)

Lucas Zhang — Washington Middle School, Harrison (RANK 7th Round)

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