Good morning! I'm Jeff Hellman!
And I'm Rosalind Kirsch! You're listening to the "Bear Facts", where once again we're bringing you all the news from Bishop Garrigan High School.
2001 officially began this past week, and here at Garrigan we've started the Third Millennium with a big leap forward in technology. Thanks to a generous gift from alumni, over the Christmas holidays, the Garrigan computer lab was completely renovated. The old computers--most of which were perfectly decent--were distributed to classrooms around the building, and the computer lab was re-fitted with brand new state-of-the-art machines. New storage areas and additional network capabilities were also installed, and a special state grant was used to purchase additional technology equipment.
The universal reaction among people who have used the lab since New Year's is that they can't believe how fast the new computers are. The new machines, together with the latest software, have made it a lot easier to do research, word processing, projects for classes, or just exploring the internet. We're glad to have the very latest in technology available right here at Garrigan--and we're especially thankful to the alumni who made it possible.
This weekend marks the first in a string of honor events that Garrigan musicians will be participating in. Today senior Angie Kohlhaas, sophomore Autumn Thompson, and freshman John Kohlhaas are in Fort Dodge for the North Central Iowa Bandmasters Association Honor Band. They're joining some of the top musicians in the area for a special performance at Iowa Central Community College. Then tomorrow Angie will be joining Amanda Freking, Ellie Reising, and Paul Loebach for the Dorian Music Festival at Luther College in Decorah.
Coming up on Tuesday, January 16, is the sixth annual Diocesan Honor Band. Many of Garrigan's top instrumentalists will join band members from all over the Sioux City Diocese for the event, which will be held at Buena Vista University in Storm Lake. Then on January 20 and 21 five Garrigan choir members will go to the Meistersinger Festival at Wartburg College in Waverly. They include Tanya Broesder, John Steier, Jake Rahm, Kelly Kohlhaas, and Mary Syharath. Congratulations to all these honored musicians!
The annual intramural madness begins tomorrow at BGHS. This year twelve teams are vying for the coveted intramural basketball championship. Every Sunday afternoon from now through March they'll be battling it out in the gym. This week we'd like to introduce you to some of the top-rated teams. Returning from last year is a group of orange-clad seniors with Scott Black as their captain. His teammates include Steven Courtney, Andy Pierson, Nick Even, Chad Mescher, Chase Johnson, Mike Murphy, and Greg Besch.
If you follow Golden Bear football, you should recognize most of the names on Bryan McAlpine's team, since almost all of his teammates were among the Bears' top players last fall. Bryan's team includes Hank Greer, Shannon Hall, Chris Thilges, Andy Kardoes, and Luke DeWaard; as well as Andy Meyer, Scot Miller, Matt Golwitzer, and Russ Vaske. Another team that will be playing hard has Ben Meyer as its captain. Ben's teammates are Steve Goede, Nick Lane, Tyler Trenary, Tyler Erpelding, Mark Meister, and Brian Welp. Good luck to them and to all the intramural teams.
Our Senior Spotlight this week shines on Marian Studer and Mary Syharath. Here to tell you about them is Joe Hellman.
Marian Studer is a top-notch student, even though she is often very laid back in class. Marian is a Wesley native who is probably best known for her work in the arts--music, drama, speech, and visual art. She has also run hard in cross-country and track. Marian will be off to college next year, and we know she'll do well there.
Mary Syharath will be leaving Garrigan after semester tests. She's a quiet, but fun Algona native who enjoys reading and art. She'll be a career girl after she graduates, and we wish Mary the very best of luck. Best wishes to both Mary and Marian, our spotlighted seniors this week.
Thanks, Joe! On our Golden Bear calendar for the new millennium, there's the honor band today at Fort Dodge. Then tonight the varsity Bears play at Webster City.
Tomorrow there's the Dorian Music Festival in Decorah. Then in the afternoon intramural basketball begins. Monday the freshman basketball teams host Algona High and the JV squad travels to West Bend Mallard.
Tuesday there's a four-game basketball match-up, with the Bears hosting Humboldt. During the games the track team will be hosting a Belgian waffle supper, and we encourage everyone to come on out and feed your face.
Wednesday semester tests begin. We'll have a special schedule, and everyone will have open campus when they don't have a test.
Wednesday noon the junior class will be treated to Godfather's pizza as their reward for being the top class in last fall's magazine drive. Then that night the freshman boys will host Emmetsburg.
Thursday morning Student Council meets. Semester tests continue, and at noon the freshmen will enjoy Subway party subs as their magazine reward.
Friday we'll finish up semester tests. That night the basketball teams will be traveling to play Ft. Dodge St. Edmond. Then next Saturday there's quiz bowl at Eagle Grove.
Finally this week, we'd like to congratulate Garrigan senior Angie Kohlhaas. Angie recently found out that she earned a perfect score of 1600 on the Scholastic Aptitude Test. Over a million people take the SAT every year, and only a handful ever get a perfect score. Congratulations, Angie!
That's the "Bear Facts" for 2001. Thanks for listening, and be sure to tune in again next week for more news from Bishop Garrigan High School.
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