11-Year-Old Boy Is Hudson County Spelling Bee Champ: See W-H-O Else Was A Finalist

HUDSON COUNTY, NJ — One Hudson County sixth grader will advance to a national spelling bee after winning the countywide bee this past weekend.

Ishaan Gupta is the 2025 Hudson County Spelling Bee Champion, a sixth grader at Frank Conwell Middle School No. 4 in Jersey City. He has been a runner-up in past bees, and has a home library of more than 600 books.

His winning word was a short one: G-U-A-N. He spelled it in the seventh round.

Don't know what a guan is?

Let's go on and give the dictionary definition: "A large, turkey-like bird that is native to the jungles of Central and South America."

Ishaan competed with 76 other kids in grades 3-8 this weekend who advanced from their own schools in Hoboken, Jersey City, Secaucus, Bayonne, and more (see the full list below).

They were vying to qualify for the Scripps National Spelling Bee and represent Hudson County in Maryland later this year.

Ishaan Is An Author

Gupta is in the Accelerated Enrichment Program (AEP) at Frank Conwell Middle School. He was the runner up in the bee last year.

Born and raised in Jersey City, he loves to ride his bike in Liberty State Park with his family, as well as play soccer, play tennis, and swim.

Gupta’s first big interest was in reading books, and has a home library of over 650 books, according to the county. He has co-authored "The
Martian Miracle – Ivaan and the Climate Crisis" with his father.

"Spelling Bee competitions are exciting for me because I love learning about the words themselves," said Ishaan. “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!”

The Other Finalists

Marina Saad came in second place. She is 14 and in the eighth grade at Philip G Vroom School in Bayonne.

Jasmine Dalmas, 10, came in third place, a fifth grader at Chaplin Watters Elementary School No. 24 in Jersey City.

See the list below of kids throughout Hudson County who made it to the competition.

'Extremely Proud'

“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,”
said Hudson County Executive Craig Guy.

“Hudson County was 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," said Gina Hulings, director of the Hudson County Office of Cultural Affairs/Tourism Development.

This weekend's competition was the 66th Annual Hudson County Spelling Bee. It was started in 1959 by a community of dedicated teachers, and grew until the Jersey Journal (which closed two weeks ago) began sponsoring and organizing the event.

In 2008, the Hudson County Office of Cultural Heritage Affairs began partnering with the Jersey Journal, and in 2021, the Jersey Journal passed on the Spelling Bee to Hudson County.

Kids Who Made It To The Finals

• Anish Shama — Academy 1 Middle School, Jersey City
• Emily Fekry — Alexander Sullivan Elementary School 30, Jersey City
• Anuja Nere — Alfred Zampella Elementary School 27, Jersey City
• Eesha Samala — All Saints Episcopal Day School, Hoboken
• Dylan Valdez — Anna L Klein Elementary School, Guttenberg
• Atharva Sharma — Beloved Community Charter School, Jersey City
• Jasmine Dalmas — Chaplin Watters Elementary School 24, Jersey City
• Neelesh Sudar Kannan — Charles Trefurt School 8, Jersey City
• Jack Brenes — Christa McAuliffe School 28, Jersey City
• Eric Francis — Clarendon Elementary School, Secaucus
• Kavya Jatkar — Cornelia Bradford Elementary School 16, Jersey City
• Ivette Garcia — Dr C DeFuccio Elementary School 39, Jersey City
• William Exiokwu — Dr Maya Angelou PS 20, Jersey City
• Hamza Ali — Dr Michael Conti Elementary School 5, Jersey City
• Austin Dingle — Dr Paul Rafalides PS 33, Jersey City
• Annalise Sosa — Dr Walter F Robinson School, Bayonne
• Devasenaa Venkatesan — Empowerment Academy Charter School, Jersey City
• Annabelle White — Explore 2000 Middle School, Jersey City
• Jeremy Quiles — Ezra Nolan Middle School 40, Jersey City
• Varun Ramasubramanian — Elysian Charter School, Hoboken
• Ishaan Gupta — Frank Conwell Middle School 4, Jersey City
• Sophia Naom — Frank R Conwell Elementary School 3, Jersey City
• Harshini Putta — Franklin L Williams Middle School 7, Jersey City
• Ramatoulaya Keita — Gladys Cannon Nunery School 29, Jersey City
• Joaquin Llanos — Henry E Harris Elementary School, Bayonne
• Arthur Kennedy — Hoboken Charter School, Hoboken
• Logan Power — Hoboken Middle School, Hoboken
• Bahaedine Khelaifi — Horace Mann School, Bayonne
• Vidham Dangol — Huber Street Elementary School, Secaucus
• Jaylynn Rivera — Hudson – ASCS Middle School, Kearny
• Anvi Gupta — Hudson Montessori School, Jersey City
• Samarth Brahma — Hoboken Catholic Academy, Hoboken
• Srivallabha Konduru — Infinity Institute, Jersey City
• McKensey Martin — James Murray Elementary School 38, Jersey City
• Siena Camion — Jefferson Elementary School, Union City
• Sidra Ahmad — Jersey City Global Charter School, Jersey City
• Gurshaan Randhawa — Jersey City Golden Door Charter School, Jersey City
• Isaiah Kassi — John M Bailey School, Bayonne
• Aleyna Traore — Joseph F Brandt Elementary School, Hoboken
• Kriti Kattamuri — Jotham W Wakeman School 6, Jersey City
• Ny’Layia Ransom — Julia A Barnes Elementary School 12, Jersey City
• Freyja Maru — Learning Community Charter School, Jersey City
• Noah Johnson — Lincoln Community School, Bayonne
• Wilkins Rojas — Lincoln Middle School, Kearny
• Rimah Assaggoum — Mahatma Gandhi Elementary School 23, Jersey City
• Mohammed Raoudi — Martin L King Junior Elementary School 11, Jersey City
• Zain Abdelmonem — Miftaahul Uloom Academy, Union City
• Samantha Choi — Nicholas Oresko School, Bayonne
• Dishari Das — Nicolaus Copernicus School 25, Jersey City
• Akshita Singh — Our Lady of Czestochowa School, Jersey City
• Darsh Gohil — Patricia Noonan School PS 26, Jersey City
• Marina Saad — Philip G Vroom School, Bayonne
• Luciana Latilla — Public School #2, West New York
• Amarii Briggs — President Barack Obama Community School, Jersey City
• Kathryn Guerra — Public School #5, West New York
• Aarav Jain — Rafael Cordero Y Molina Elementary School, Jersey City
• Deshawn Silva — Rev Dr Ercel F Webb School 22, Jersey City
• Ali Gebai — Rising Star Academy, Union City
• Ryan Fernandez — Sara M Gilmore Academy, Union City
• Aryan Bansal — Secaucus Middle School, Secaucus
• Jodi Domantay — Soaring Heights Charter School, Jersey City
• Thea Ordonez — Saint Francis Academy, Union City
• Margarita (MAX) Kosygim — Theodore Roosevelt Elementary School 5, Weehawken
• Sohum Dixit — Thomas G Connors Elementary School, Hoboken
• Grace McMullan — Wallace Elementary School, Hoboken
• Lluan Magpali — Washington Community School, Bayonne
• Aliyah Rodriguez — Whitney M Young Junior Elementary School 15, Jersey City
• Maxine Rivera — Woodrow Wilson School, Bayonne
• Niki Kambam — World of ABC The Waldo School, Jersey City
• Lucas Zhang — Washington Middle School, Harrison