The Bear Facts
February 9, 2013
Good morning! I’m Emily Boisjolie!
I’m Andrew McGuire!
And I’m Victor Berte! Thanks for joining us for the “Bear Facts”, the
weekly radio show from Bishop Garrigan High School.
Last Saturday the Music Teachers of Northern Iowa held their district
piano auditions in Humboldt. Students from around the area competed by playing
memorized pieces from the baroque, classical, and contemporary periods, as well
as ear training and a music theory test. We’re pleased that two Garrigan
students, senior Dustin Miller and sophomore Hannah Bernhard, took top honors in
their age divisions. In addition Seton student Joey Trainer finished first among
competitors 9 and under.
Winners will now compete at the state piano competition, which will be
held March 16 at Wartburg College in Waverly. They have also been invited to a
special recital which will be held tomorrow at 2pm at Waldorf College in Forest
City. In addition Dustin Miller was one of just six finalists in the state for
the Terrace Hill Piano Scholarship. He is performing a live audition today at a
recording studio in the Des Moines area. Good luck to him, and congratulations
to all the district winners and to piano instructor Kathy Jansen.
Also last weekend was the state large group speech contest. Garrigan
received two Division One or “excellent” awards at state—for the musical theatre
“Les Mis” and the acting ensemble “Deliver Us Not”. Students receiving Ones were
Mark Fakler, Shawn Vaske, Morgan Frideres, Alex Matthews, Betty Straug, Matthew
Fakler, Jake Hamilton, and Christian Matthews. Congratulations to them.
Late last month three Garrigan choir students went to Waverly for the
Meistersingers honor choral festival at Wartburg College. Grace Steil, Erin
Quinlin, and Sophia Kaduce were selected for the prestigious festival. During
the day the students sang with Iowa native and world-renowned opera singer Simon
Estes. Congratulations to these students and to choir director Linda Ferjak.
Math is in the news this week. Last Tuesday thirty-three BGHS students took the
annual AMC-12 exam, a nationwide test that is given only to accelerated math
students. It’s just about the hardest test you can imagine, and it’s typical for
even smart students to answer just five or six of the twenty-five questions.
Doing well can qualify students for big scholarships. We’ll let you know how
Garrigan students fared on next week’s show.
Today there’s more math completion. Several members of the Bishop Garrigan
math team are down in Ames for a Great Plains Math League competition at Iowa
State University. Students will compete in target, relay, team, and sprint
competitions answering tough math questions.
Students competing today include senior Allison Frideres; junior Jake
Hamilton; sophomores Tony Kollasch, Dorothy Kirsch, Kaitlyn Fogary, Zach
Kollasch, Mark Fakler, and exchange student Sia; and freshmen Devin Degen and
Joseph Espinosa. Good luck today to Coach Daryl Kohlhaas and the math team!
A little over a month from now the Golden Bear danz squad will be headed
for national competition in Fort Worth, Texas. The Bears won the state
championship last December to qualify for another trip to nationals. Coach
Colleen Conway—Schiltz has been busy making plans, and the girls have been doing
fundraisers to earn money for the trip. We’ll give you more details as their
trip to Texas comes closer.
Ever since the tragic shooting in Connecticut last December, a lot of
people around the country have been concerned about school security. Last week
we had a special assembly at Garrigan on the topic of school security. Principal
Lynn Miller and Officer Barb Stence from the Algona Police Department reviewed
some security basics and prepared students and teachers for special drills we’ll
be adding to our schedule. They also noted that there is a detailed security
plan in place. We pray that we’ll never have to use it, but it’s good to know
the plan is there in case of an emergency.
Our Senior Spotlight this week shines on Ana Cantu. Here with the scoop
on her is Victor Berte.
Ana Cantu has one of the shortest trips to school of all our students.
She’s an Algona native who lives very close to Garrigan. Ana is not in many
activities, but she supports her friends in everything they do. She’s also
helped out with translation for Spanish-speaking families who have children
enrolled at Seton. We wish Ana all the best after high school.
On our Golden Bear calendar this week, there’s a math competition today at Iowa
State University in Ames. Tomorrow intramural basketball resumes, with two big
match-ups.
Tuesday a group of Christian Leadership students will be going to the Mary’s
Place mission in Minneapolis. That night is the second round of girls regional
basketball, with the game that night at Laurens.
Lent begins next Wednesday, and we’ll have a special service that morning for
Ash Wednesday. We’ll have a jeans day on Valentine’s Day next Thursday. That
night the boys begin district basketball playoffs, as they take on Lake Mills.
Finally this week we want to offer our condolences to art teacher Steve Brosnan.
Mr. Brosnan’s brother died this past week, and we want Broz to know we’re
keeping his whole family in our prayers.
That’s the “Bear Facts” for this week. Thanks for joining us, and a Happy
Valentine’s Day from everyone here at Bishop Garrigan High School.
