Weeks, a 2024 Bishop Ryan High School graduate, spoke Wednesday to hundreds of Catholic high schoolers from across the state, who filled Minot Municipal Auditorium with their passion and energy to support fellow students participating in this year’s Bishop David D. Kagan “Know Your Faith” competition. The competition is held during Catholic Schools Week each year.

A few hours after competing last year, Weeks was driving to work when she was struck in a head-on collision by a drunk driver.

Weeks suffered multiple broken bones, a collapsed lung and a severe traumatic brain injury in the incident. Receiving life saving surgery and months of rehabilitation in Colorado, Weeks took the podium under her own power, saying she endured the experience through her faith and countless prayers from her fellow students and community.

“As I learned what I survived, I found myself turning to God more and more. Frustrations arose when I couldn’t recall memories or when I had to rely on others for help to simply stand up. I learned to give these frustrations to God. I never questioned the why. I had faith there was a reason for everything and we will never know or understand the reason for these bad things, but I do know good things come,” Weeks said. “I witnessed this throughout this event. My family and I witnessed this firsthand through my Catholic schoolmates. The clergy, faculty and classmates filled the hospital with prayers. I have met people who told me they went back to church because they witnessed the community coming together and the beauty of prayer. It wasn’t just my faith that saved me, but also the faith of the community that surrounded me at that time.”

The new traveling trophy is processed into the Minot Municipal Auditorium by Diocese of Bismarck school chaplains before the first round of the Bishop David D. Kagan “Know Your Faith” competition on Wednesday.

The “Know Your Faith” competition was the brainchild of the chaplains at St. Mary’s High School, Bismarck, in 2005, evolving in 2010 into a duel competition between students at St. Mary’s and Bishop Ryan. Over the years the friendly competition would expand to involve Trinity High School in Dickinson, School of the Holy Family in Mandan and Shanley in Fargo. It would become the premier event of Catholic Schools Week in the region.

The state competition is preceded by local competitions at each of the schools to determine their representatives. Teams of three are tested on questions relating to the Catholic faith as well as church and biblical history.

The 2025 edition of the competition was titled “Back to the Future” and served as not only a celebration of the event’s history but as a farewell to Kagan, who announced his intention to retire in November of last year. Kagan has served as bishop of the Diocese of Bismarck since 2011.

Kagan made his entrance to the festivities to thunderous applause, appearing out of the falcon wing doors of a Tesla Model X. A new traveling trophy was introduced, Weeks spoke and a special video message from Hollywood actor Mark Wahlberg aired before the competition kicked off, with the three rounds of questions broken up by skateboard towing races, hamsterball fights and a swing dance competition.

After enduring 15 brain teasing questions, the five teams were given the chance to wager their accumulated points on the final question presented by Kagan, which asked them to identify the three forms of baptism found in the Catechism of the Catholic faith. Three of the five teams correctly answered with water, blood and desire, but ultimately defending champions St. Mary’s Catholic School came out ahead to win once again.

Charles Crane/MDN Bishop David Kagan delivers the final question at the “Know Your Faith” competition on Wednesday at Minot Municipal Auditorium.