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Bible Bee off to strong start
Published 8/31/2010 in Local News
By KALEY CONNER
Special to The Telegram
HAYS — "I can do all things through Him who strengthens me."
With a smile on her face, 10-year-old Taylor Roemer confidently recited the words of Philippians 4:13.
The Healy resident spent her summer learning as many Bible verses as she possibly could — 216 of them, to be exact.
She said she studied for about six hours a day for the past three months, and her devotion paid off. Roemer, the only contestant in her age group competing in a final oral competition, lasted three rounds in the first annual Ellis County Bible Bee.
"I would like to be a missionary when I grow up, and I'm just preparing," Roemer said.
The event was Saturday at North Oak Community Church. Awards were given to the local winners in each of three age divisions, and it's possible some of the participants could proceed to a national contest this fall.
Similar events took place throughout the nation, and the top 100 scorers in each age group will travel to Schaumburg, Ill., in November for the national event, a project of the Shelby Kennedy Foundation.
While Roemer is hoping for a national spot, she will be satisfied either way, she said.
While the final round determined local winners, qualifications for the national contest will depend on scores from written and oral contests conducted Saturday morning.
Some participants opted to compete at a national level by memorizing hundreds of verses, while a less intense contest also was available.
The winners are expected to be announced on the national event's website by Wednesday, said Gennifer Marconette, who helped organize the event.
A total of 13 participants competed Saturday, with most of them traveling from out of town. About 30 volunteers signed up to help with the event.
"I'm encouraged by the number of people who came," she said. "I'm mostly encouraged, we didn't have a lot of local contestants, but we had a lot of local volunteers."
Five contestants traveled from Hooker, Okla., for the day's event. Marilyn Fischer said her children had competed last year in Texas, but Hays was the event closest to her hometown.
Five of the couple's nine children — Sage, 17, Sidney, 14, Cody, 15, Cory, 12, and Cade, 11 — participated.
Sage Fischer said she memorized 500 verses for this year's event alone.
"It's definitely a discipline, and it takes time to do it," she said. "But I think it's neat how you just memorize the verses, but then later, when you're talking about something or thinking about something, it just pops into your head."
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