WITF announced the 35 finalists who advanced to the 2023 Central PA Spelling Bee Grand Championship on March 18 at the WITF Public Media Center. In January, these finalists earned the highest scores among 203 of their peers from 75 schools in a written spelling and vocabulary test.

The finalists represented 29 schools from 11 counties in WITF's coverage area. The spellers include Aayush Behura, Hershey Elementary School, Derry Township School District; Olina Bunty, Centerville Elementary School, Hempfield School District; Salaar Faiz, Manheim Township Middle School, Manheim Township School District; Madison Gonzalez, Conestoga Valley Middle School, Conestoga Valley School District; Malachi Henson, Manheim Central Middle School, Manheim Central School District; Mackenzie Landis, Smith Middle School, Solanco School District; and Michelle Li, Infinity Charter School, Harrisburg.

Also, Susie McCooey, Rohrerstown Elementary School, Hempfield School District; Van Reiner, Reynolds Middle School, School District of Lancaster; David Rodriguez Schuetrumpf, Reynolds Middle School, School District of Lancaster; Daniel Sandblade, Reynolds Middle School, School District of Lancaster; Harry Skiles, Martin Meylin Middle School, Lampeter-Strasburg School District; and David Street, Centerville Middle School, Hempfield School District.

The winner of the 2023 Central PA Spelling Bee Grand Championship earned the opportunity to compete in the Scripps National Spelling Bee in National Harbor, Md., from Tuesday, May 30, through Thursday, June 1. To watch the Grand Championship highlights, visit http://www.witf.org/bee or http://www.youtube.com/@WITForg on Saturday, April 1.