Wisconsin—Eighth-grader Ovi Goia pursed his lips in concentration as he strove to recall Jeremiah 29:11. He and two classmates, Austin Will and Nick Waagen, sprawled out in front of a colorful board game, moved their pieces space by space and completed missions, much like a normal board game. Unlike other games, however, this game is Biblically-based and demands hard work, focus, and a sharp memory. At this point in the year, Ovi has learned 126 Bible verses as he and his classmates demonstrate how valuable their memories are during Woodland Adventist School’s fund-raising text-a-thon.

While most schools raise money selling magazines or candy bars, students at Woodland Adventist School in Janesville, Wis., chose a fund-raiser with more long-term implications. Starting Jan. 3, each student in fifth through eighth grades asked family, friends, and church members to sponsor them memorizing Bible verses for the text-a-thon. The verses, chosen by Evan Moravetz, Woodland teacher, include selections from the current Bible class curriculum as well as topical studies, such as "Temptation," "Procrastination," or "Spiritual Fruit." "I’ve seen schools do all kinds of fund-raisers, but in the text-a-thon the students are doing something very valuable," noted Moravetz, who memorizes verses along with his students. "What they learn in the text-a-thon is something they’ll take with them for years to come."

In order to keep the text-a-thon lively, Moravetz uses a board game he created to quiz students on their texts. Every Friday, students pull out the colorful text-a-thon boards, get into teams, and compete against themselves and their classmates to move to the next level of verses memorized. In order to move from space to space on the board or complete missions, students must recite their verses to their classmates.

Woodland students are excited to participate in a fund-raiser that helps both their school and their spiritual lives. Eighth-grader Aaron Will believes the fund-raiser is about more than just raising money for Woodland. "When you go about your life and you have an incident, you can remember a text and it helps you," he noted. "That’s the best part, and it makes you feel pretty special."

Woodland students have memorized about 60 verses each and have raised over $800 in the text-a-thon for gym equipment and a class fund.

Laura Larssen, Wisconsin Conference education department correspondent