Saugerties’ top spellers

A pair of stellar spellers from the Saugerties Central School District won their way to the Capital Region Spelling Bee in February after winning the annual district-wide bee on Thursday, December 12. 

Samuel Cushman, an eighth grader at Saugerties Junior High and a Riccardi Elementary alum won the district bee for the third straight year; Cushman, who also took second place as a 4th grade student, won top honors in the 14th round by correctly spelling “Himalayan.” Cushman won the district-wide bee as a seventh grader by spelling “apricot.”

Pierce Tierney, a 5th grade student at Riccardi, placed second and will join Cushman at the Capital Region Spelling Bee at Proctors Theater in Schenectady on Tuesday, February 4.