Hudson Valley Students Competing in National Spelling Bee

Get ready to cheer on two Hudson Valley students as they compete in the annual Scripps National Spelling Bee this week.

Two eighth graders from our area will be joining 283 other gifted spellers from across the country, all competing to capture the title of National Spelling Bee Champion.

Alexandra Snyder will be representing Linden Avenue Middle School in Red Hook, NY. The 13 year old is a black belt in karate and runs on the Red Hook track and cross country teams. According the Scripps National Spelling Bee website, Snyder also plays the flute and volunteers helping children with special needs. It's hard to believe that she has time to practice spelling, but her skills have now landed her in the national spotlight.

A 13-year-old student from Orange County will also be competing in this year's tournament. Shashwat Patel attends eighth grade at Monroe-Woodbury Middle School.  When not playing with Lego bricks or watching one of his favorite films, Jurassic World, Patel spends his spare time tackling brainteasers on the Internet. The gifted student is most interested in science and evolution, but is clearly also extremely talented at spelling. This will be Patel's second year in the competition.

The preliminary round of the tournament starts on Tuesday morning in National Harbor, Maryland. The finalists will be announced on Wednesday afternoon with the finals being broadcast on live on ESPN2 this Thursday morning starting at 10am and the grand finale moving to ESPN on Thursday night at 8pm.