(Back)

Lee Bush, an eighth grade student at the C. J. Hooker Middle School, won first place in the Division III level of the New York State competition of the National School Bus Safety Poster Contest. This year’s theme was “Avoid Harm, Obey the Stop Arm.”

Bush for the state competition after winning first place in the Orange-Ulster-Sullivan countywide level of the National School Bus Safety Poster Contest last spring when he was in the seventh grade. His winning poster will be entered in the National Association for Pupil Transportation contest.

Bush is an accomplished artist. This is the second consecutive year that he has won first place in the state competition and last year, his winning poster placed second at the national level. His artwork was also featured in the Wallkill River School’s Orange County Bounty Cookbook.

In his spare time, Bush enjoys baseball and drawing.

"Lee is an exceptionally gifted artist, who has the ability to visually memorize his drawing subjects and 'file' them into his visual vocabulary," said Christina Pahucki, art teacher at the C. J. Hooker Middle School. "After he has drawn something once, he can pull that image out of his photographic memory, and use it in future artworks. This truly unique talent is going to take Lee far."