Hempfield townlively.com
FEBRUARY 12, 2025
SERVING THE LOCAL COMMUNITIES SINCE 1954
VOL XL • NO 45
Hempfield spellers advance to regional bee BY GEORGE DEIBEL
T
wo He m p f i e l d S c h o o l District students will participate in the WITF (PBS Channel 33) Central PA Grand Championship Spelling Bee. Devonah Mahesh Nithya, a sixth-grader at Landisville Intermediate Center (LIC), and eighthgrader TJ Young of Centerville Middle School will compete on Saturday, March 15, at the Harrisburg University of Science and Technology. Devonah and TJ will take part in the bee alongside the top 33 spellers in the region, which encompasses Lancaster, Cumberland, York, and Lebanon counties. The champion will advance to the Scripps National Spelling Bee in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday to Thursday, May 27 to 29. Bethany Eaton, an instructional support teacher at LIC, coordinates the district’s spelling bees. “I am very thankful,” Eaton said. “I have coordinators in each
of our elementary buildings and our two middle schools who volunteer to run the bees in their buildings. We provide the students with lists that come from Scripps, then the buildings can decide how they want to run the bee. Some buildings do a written spelling bee, and some do an oral spelling bee like you might see on TV.” Eaton said all of Hempfield’s buildings are large enough that each can send its top four finishers to the next level. L andisville Intermediate Center holds an oral spelling bee to determine which students advance to the next round. Students interested in participating take part in a written bee for round one. According to Eaton, 235 of 475 LIC students competed in round one of the bee. Eaton scores the tests, and between 24 and 27 spellers move on based on the cutoff score. They have a month to prepare for the oral bee. LIC’s bee
Hempfield spelling bee district coordinator Bethany Eaton (left) congratulates Landisville Intermediate Center sixth-grader Devonah Mahesh Nithya for advancing to the Central PA Spelling Bee.
Centerville Middle School eighthgrader TJ Young has advanced to the Central PA Spelling Bee.
was held Nov. 25, 2024, in the school’s large group instruction room and livestreamed to classrooms and on YouTube for family members who could not attend in
15 minutes before it would have ended in a tie between Devonah and her friend Emma Sasso. “My jaw hurt a little bit after spelling so many words,” Devonah said.
person. LIC’s spelling bee was a classic, lasting a school-record four hours and 15 minutes. The bee had to stop for lunch before concluding
Area’s top high school musicians take part in festival BY GEORGE DEIBEL
Lampeter-Strasburg (L -S) High School hosted some of the area’s top high school musicians during the District 7 South Band Festival on Jan. 24 and 25. Musicians and band directors representing 38 schools in Lancaster, York, and Adams counties participated in the two-day festival, which culminated with a concert on Saturday afternoon,
led by guest conductor Tonya Mitchell-Spradlin, a director of wind band studies and assistant professor of music at Penn State University. L-S band director Larry Royer, who has been teaching for 31 years, the last 22 also as band director, said the school has hosted the district orchestra in 2019 and all-state groups, but this is the first time it has hosted the District 7 South Band Festival. See Festival pg 5
Schreiber Gala to be held March 8 BY GEORGE DEIBEL
Pam Oleksa is dedicated to making sure everyone has access to the same kind of care her family did. That’s why Pam and her husband, Greg, are co-chairs of the Schreiber Center for Pediatric Development’s annual gala. Schreiber’s 41st annual gala is scheduled for Saturday, March 8, from 5 to 10 p.m. at the DoubleTree Resort by Hilton, 2400 Willow Street Pike, Lancaster. The theme is “Havana Nights,” so there will be a Cuban influence, including some Cuban ideas infused into the food. Local organizations purchase sponsorships, which is a main source of revenue. Schreiber’s Hero sponsors are Faulkner, Penn Medicine Lancaster General Health, Highmark/PennState Health, and Miter Foundation. There will be silent and live auction items, including a seven-day trip to Africa. A DJ will supply music. The Oleksa family, including (front) Alex, The inaugural Philanthropist Award will be presented (back, from left) Pam, Greg, Nick, and See Gala pg 8 Ashley, at last year’s Schreiber Gala
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See Spelling bee pg 3