Good morning! I'm Matt Courtney!
And I'm Anthony McGuire! You're listening to the "Bear Facts", the radio show from Bishop Garrigan High School.
This has been one of the busiest weeks of school. We had classes, of course, as well as an Advent penance service, but the big activity was preparing for Madrigal. Tomorrow the BGHS music department will present its holiday madrigal brunch and dinner. We've been rehearsing for madrigal almost since the start of the school year, but since Thanksgiving things have really shifted into high gear. In fact, as you're listening to this, many students are out at school for one last rehearsal before the big day. We're hoping for two awesome performances tomorrow. A limited number of tickets will be available at the door, or you can call choir director Denis Greenfield to make a last-minute reservation.
Part of the madrigal is a play which features Katelyn Besch, Amanda Thompson, Brandon Rowley, Garrison Brosnan, Jacob Detrick, Seth Rogers, Andrew Missal, Shane Koob, Alissa McGuire, and Amanda Golwitzer. The madrigal royal court includes Mitch Bode, Bridget Doughan, Adam Elbert, Ashley Waller, Brad Thompson, and Caryn Taphorn; as well as Jacob Hellman, Gavin Freking, Laura Kellner, Renee Taphorn, Brandon Rowley, and Jacob Richter. Also on the royal court are Emily Reising, Chris Kirsch, Krissy Kohlhaas, Tim Lind, Rose Mayer, Brittany Pfeffer, and Theresa Reising. There will also be trumpet fanfares, courtesy of Sheri Kenyon, Spenser Rahm, Alicia Miller, and Maria Kohlhaas, and the rest of our music students will be busy serving the meal and entertaining. Good luck to everyone involved in madrigal.
Another big activity this weekend is state dance. The members of the Golden Bear danz squad are down in Des Moines today, and they're hoping to bring home another state trophy to add to their collection. Among those in dance are All-Iowa Drill Team members Ashley Shaw, Jessica Cink, Monica Schiltz, Michaela Pease, and Jenn Vaske. Other members of the danz squar are juniors Melissa Hilbert, Lizzie Mayer, Amanda Shaw, Tara Trenary, and Ashley Waller; sophomores Laura O'Kane, Candace Schiltz, and Marisa Spain; and freshmen Emily Behr and Taryn Vitzthum. Good luck to coaches Colleen Schiltz and Nikki Loebig and all the danz squad!
Quiz bowl has been extremely busy lately, too. This past week both the freshmen and varsity quiz bowl players competed in the Knowledge Master Open, a computer-based quiz game that pits schools all over the country against each other. Garrigan's varsity team answered 161 out of 200 challenging questions correctly, for a team score of 1137. That compares with an expected average nationwide of 1000 points. Garrigan had 100% right answers in the categories of history, economics, law, current events, and useless trivia.
The freshman team also did well in the Knowledge Master. They answered questions geared to their level and got 145 right, for a score of 1074 points. The freshmen's top categories were world history and biology. The quiz bowl action continues today as seven Golden Bears are up in Spirit Lake for another big tournament. Matt Courtney, Jeff Lappe, Samantha Kirsch, Chris Loebach, Chris Scobba, Brent Kajewski, and Josh Rahm will be competing for the Bears. Good luck, quiz bowl!
Basketball season is here. This year's Golden Bear boys are lead by four returning senior letterwinners: Matt Vitzthum, Derek Tindall, Mark Parrish, and Cole Vautier. Backing them up are juniors Dan Garman, Bobby Geelan, Nate Pierson, and Ross Froehlich; sophomores Brian Capesius, Chris Cassmann, and Scott Kollasch; and 6'6" freshman A.J. Doughan. A familiar face is back as the Golden Bear coaches. Tom Froehlich last led the Bears when they went to state in the '90s. He's back with assistant Fr. Randy Schon. The other head coach is Roger Froehlich, and Golden Bear recordholder O.J. Froehlich is the other assistant. Good luck all season to the boys basketball team.
On the girls' side the senior leadership will come from Emily DeWaard and Miranda Boekelman. Other returning letterwinners are juniors Kelly Schmidt and Amanda Steier and sophomore Maria Kohlhaas. The varsity team also includes juniors Kayla Reding and Alicia Shackelford; and sophomores Cindy Reding, Kelli Black, Alyssa Gisch, Brittany Pfeffer, and Alicia Miller. Ron Patterson and Dave Beisch coach the Garrigan girls, and we wish them good luck all season long.
Our senior spotlight this week shines on Emily DeWaard. Here to tell you about her is
Amanda Fox.
Emily DeWaard comes to Garrigan, and she's the youngest of a very athletic family. In the winter she spends much of her time on the basketball court, and in the summer she keeps busy on the softball field. Emily is very serious about her faith life, and she also challenges herself with advanced level classes. She'll be off to college next year, and we wish her all the best.
Thanks, Amanda! On our Golden Bear calendar today, there's state dance down at Veterans Auditorium in Des Moines. Also today the quiz bowl team is playing in Spirit Lake.
Tomorrow is the madrigal. Brunch is at 11:30am, and dinner is at 6:30pm. A limited number of tickets will be available at the door.
Monday the JV basketball teams will host Corwith Wesley Luverne. Also that night there's a financial aid meeting for junior and senior parents. Then Wednesday we'll have mass for the Feast of the Immaculate Conception.
We get out early Wednesday afternoon for a teacher inservice. Thursday the freshman boys basketball team plays at Estherville, and Friday the varsity Bears host Humboldt.
The cross-country team will serve a chili supper during the games on Friday. Finally next Saturday the math team will compete at ISU in Ames.
That's the "Bear Facts" for another week. Thanks for joining us, and be sure to tune in again next week for more news from Bishop Garrigan High School.
