Good morning! I’m Andrew Brunsen!
And I’m Jessica Richter! Welcome once again to the “Bear Facts”, your weekly radio update from Bishop Garrigan High School.
The school year is really winding down now. Graduation is just two weeks off, and now it’s time for all those end of the year traditions. Tonight is probably the biggest event—Prom Night, 1999. While a large part of this year’s decorations were damaged—through no fault of anyone at Garrigan—the juniors have been working hard all week to get things back together and make sure everything is just right for the big night.
This year’s prom theme is “A Night in Paradise”. The fun begins at 8:30, with the traditional Grand March. This year’s march will be different, with the couples entering through a doorway, rather than on a staircase or ramp. Admission to the Grand March is just $1, and the public is invited. Following the march, all the couples will be dancing the night away, from 9 o’clock to midnight.
The fun doesn’t end at midnight, though. That’s really just the beginning, because after prom the junior parents will be hosting a Hawaiian Luau for all the prom-goers. There will be pop and paradise punch, together with sandwiches and other munchies. Guests can enjoy everything from a photo booth to searching for hidden treasure to deep sea fishing. This year’s after prom prizes include gift certificates and savings bonds. It will all keep everyone up till dawn, enjoying the fun of Prom Night, ’99.
One of Garrigan’s most successful teams this year has been the school’s math team. Their success this spring makes them the first Garrigan team ever to qualify for the Iowa Math League State Tournament. The state math competition is being held today in Des Moines. The competition started at 8:00 this morning, with a challenging proof the team has one hour to complete. Then in the Sprint Round, students will have an hour to answer thirty multiple choice questions where there is a penalty for guessing. In the Target Round, each student has ten minutes to answer two difficult questions. Then there’s the Relay Round, where students work on parts of the same question, before passing their answers along to their teammates. Finally in the team round, the whole team will work together to solve ten additional problems.
Sophomore Angie Kohlhaas has been the biggest stand-out on the Golden Bear math team this year. She had the highest individual score among all the sophomores at the two competitions the team went to earlier this season, and she qualified for state as an individual, as well as part of the team. Others top math team players include senior Abby Rahm; sophomore Lynn Kohlhaas; and freshmen Bob Brandenburg, Rebecca McGuire, and Jennifer Faber. At the team’s most recent meet at Luther College, Seton students Steve Kellner and John Kohlhaas also joined the team. We wish good luck to Coach Daryl Kohlhaas and the Golden Bear math team as they compete at state today.
Many of the math team students are also active in quiz bowl. The quiz bowl team finished their season last weekend with their best showing this year. They finished third out of eighteen teams in the first ever Wapsie Valley Invitational Tournament. Captain Angie Kohlhaas and her teammates Bob Brandenburg, Paul Loebach, and Brooke Buscherfeld had a 6-2 record after the preliminary rounds, including wins over Boone, Nevada, and Fort Dodge Senior High. They won their first two play-off games, but then fell in the quarter-finals to the eventual champions from Grundy Center. Congratulations on another great season to all the members of the Golden Bear quiz bowl team!
Next Monday you can see how the Bears and Bulldogs match up against Division I college competition. The Iowa Hawkeye seniors will be taking their farewell tour to Friedmann Auditorium right here at BGHS. Andrew Brunsen, Matt Kunkel, Jeremy Bartolo, Ben Studer, and Jason Kohlhaas will join other seniors from around Kossuth County as they face the likes of Kent McCausland, Jason Bauer, and Jess Settles. The action starts at 7:00 Monday night, and tickets are available now for just $4 at Diamond’s, Daylight Donuts, Shopper’s Supply, Coast to Coast, and the Pet Kingdom.
Next Thursday the BGHS Music Department will have their annual spring concert. This year’s event will be a “simply delicious” time, with a dessert garden party as part of the festivities. For $4, gusts can have their choice of dessert and beverage, as well as table seating. Additional desserts are also available to all guests at intermission, for just $2 each.
Together with the spring concert is the traditional art show in the gym lobby. Among the work on display this year will be a photo collage by Anna Erpelding that took “Best of Show” honors at last week’s North Central Conference Art Show. Congratulations to Anna and to all the young artists who exhibited their work at the conference show.
This week’s senior spotlight shines on Katie Reising. Katie comes to Garrigan from the Wesley area. She’s a top-notch student who was recently honored with the All North Central Conference Academic Award. Among her many activities, for the past three years Katie has been one of our announcers right here on the “Bear Facts”. She has also been involved in music, speech, quiz bowl, and publications. Katie will be off to college next year, and we wish her the very best of luck.
On this week’s Golden Bear calendar, there’s the state math tournament today in Des Moines. Then tomorrow National Teacher Appreciation Week begins.
Monday the ecology classes will take a field trip to a wilderness area near Webster City. Also that day the freshmen, sophomores, and juniors will be electing their student council representatives. Monday night baseball practice begins.
Monday night the golf teams face Algona High, and later that night the area all-stars will take on the Iowa Hawkeye seniors for a charity basketball game. You can see the action right here at Friedmann Auditorium.
Tuesday it’s the Advanced Biology class’ turn to go canoeing. That night the boys’ track squad runs at Algona High. Then on Wednesday the Spanish IV class will be cooking a traditional meal while the health class visits nursing home residents.
Wednesday night there’s boys’ golf at Clarion and girls’ track at Eagle Grove. Then on Thursday the boys’ golf team plays in the CYO tournament at Alton. That night it’s time for the annual spring concert and art show.
Next Friday the Advanced Biology class will go to Okiboji, while art students take a field trip to Mason City. Garrigan will be hosting a track meet at Algona High Friday night, while the girls’ golf team hosts Clarion Goldfield. Finally next Saturday there’s large group music contest.
Finally this week we’d like to like to congratulate juniors Ed Elbert and Jason Geving. They came out on top in an extremely close race to become next year’s BGHS Student Council Co-Presidents. Congratulations, Ed and Jason!
That’s the “Bear Facts” for another week. Thanks for tuning in, and be sure to listen up next week for more news from Bishop Garrigan High School.
