Two Hudson Valley Students Competing in National Spelling Bee

Two Hudson Valley students will take the national stage to compete in this year's Scripps Spelling Bee.

Grace Maxson from New Windsor is a 7th grader at Cornwall Central Middle School. Grace is an avid reader and a fan of the Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings series of books. She will be representing Orange County in this year's spelling bee. When she's not spelling, Grace enjoys crocheting and sewing and hopes to one day be a professor of planetary geology. Grace will be speller number 87.

Dhruv Kaderu is from Fishkill where he attends Van Wyck Junior High School. The 8th grader is a huge tennis fan and also enjoys playing basketball. Like Grace, Dhruv also enjoys reading, which may account for both of their exceptional spelling skills. The 14-year-old speller also plays piano and one day would like to attend Harvard University. Dhruv is speller number 7.

You can cheer on Grace and Dhruv this week as the Scripps National Spelling Bee heads into the preliminary rounds. Their section of round two will air on ESPN3 between 8am and 10am on Wednesday. If they move on they will spell again in the third round which starts at 1:15pm.

The finals will air on Thursday morning. ESPN2 will cover the first half at 10am and then ESPN picks up coverage for the championship round at 8:30pm.

 
Bonus Video: Best of Boris & Robyn