Good morning! I'm Ashley Waller!
And I'm Amanda Golwitzer! You're listening to the "Bear Facts". Thanks for joining us for all the news from Bishop Garrigan High School.
It's been eight years since a Garrigan student made it to the All-State Music Festival. That all changed in 2004, though. Garrigan choir members earned not one, but three all-state nominations, plus an additional alternate slot. Soprano Rose Mayer, Alto Bridget Doughan, and tenor Jacob Richter were all selected to the all-state choir, and Chris Kirsch earned alternate standing at baritone. All four will travel to Ames next Thursday afternoon. They'll practice all day Friday and Saturday and then sing in the all-state concert Saturday night.
Making it to all-state is not easy. Rose, Bridget, Jacob, and Chris practiced for weeks to master music written in Russian, German, Latvian, French, Latin, and English. Two weeks ago they went down to Storm Lake to audition. All the preparation leads to just a brief audition. Most of the all-state prospects are rejected, but some are called back, and a very elite group is selected to perform. You can see all the Garrigan musicians in the all-state concert, which will be televised on Iowa Public Television Thanksgiving weekend.
The Golden Bear football team finished their playoff run last Monday night when they lost a heartbreaker to Gladbrook-Reinbeck. The Bears chose to receive the opening kickoff and quickly scored the first points of the game. The score was tied at halftime, and early in the third quarter, it looked like the Gladbrook-Reinbeck Rebels were going to run away with things. The Bears came back, though, and they held a six-point lead until the final two minutes of the game.
Unfortunately, a couple of questionable penalties gave the Rebels the ball inside the 20-yard line. The opponents scored, and they ended up winning by a final score of 31 - 30. It was a long ride back from the UNI-Dome, and things were pretty quiet around school on Tuesday. It's always sad to lose, but we all know the Bears have nothing to be ashamed of. The 1-A Bears beat a 3-A district champion and another team that made the 2-A playoffs. They made it as far as the state quarterfinals, becoming just the third Garrigan team ever to play football indoors. Congratulations to Coach Wadle and all the Golden Bears!
The Bears did better than a lot of people thought they would this year, and even though they're losing two all-state players, things still look pretty good for the future. Juniors like Spenser Rahm, Bob Geelan, John Reding, Gavin Freking, Jeff Lappe, and Jude and Jesse Studer, and sophomores like Ben Berte, Dustin Tindall, and Chris Loebach have all stepped up this year. They've gotten a lot of good varsity experience, and they should be the core of next year's team.
Last weekend the Golden Bear football cheerleaders finished in second place statewide in the Iowa State Cheerleading Competition. Jill Patterson, Amanda Fox, Amanda Thompson, Brianne Donahe, Denise Kohlhaas, Kathy Kohlhaas, Courtney Mergen, Monica Schiltz, Liz Mayer, Jen Miller, and Nancy Syharath all made the trip to Cedar Rapids last Saturday and brought home the Bears' first ever statewide trophy in cheerleading. Congratulations to Coach Deb Trenary and the cheerleaders on their awesome second place finish!
We're right in the middle of quiz bowl season. Last week the Bears made the playoffs at the Algona Invitational. The team of Matt Courtney, Anthony McGuire, Samantha Kirsch, and Jacob Richter ran into too many literature questions in playoffs, but they ended up in fifth place overall. The Bears are in action again today at Parkersburg, and next weekend they'll play at Orange City. Good luck, quiz bowl!
It took over a week until the Presidential race was decided in Iowa, so we decided to wait a week to tell you about our mock election here at Garrigan. Several government and history students researched the positions held by three of the major candidates. The issues ranged from terrorism and the war in Iraq to social security and education to abortion and gay marriage. On Election Day we held a debate, where all the candidates' views were made known. Social studies teacher Ron Patterson moderated the debate, and both students and adults remarked that they learned more in the school presentation than in any of the "real" Presidential debates on TV.
After the debate we held our mock election. George Bush won at Garrigan, as he did in both Iowa and the country, but the President got less than half of the overall votes at our school. The big difference between Garrigan and the whole country was the amazingly high vote for Ralph Nader, who senior Holly Lancaster represented in the debate. Nader earned 15% of the vote among Garrigan students, which was more than enough to turn the race around and have John Kerry come out on top. Everyone had fun with the mock election, and we're proud to say there was a lot less negative campaigning than happened nationwide.
Our Senior Spotlight this week shines on all-state vocalist Rose Mayer. Here to tell you about her is Eric Goodman.
Rose Mayer comes to Garrigan from the St. Benedict area. She has been active in softball, choir, drama, and Christian leadership all through high school. In the past she was also in track and cross-country and on the student council. When she's not at Garrigan, you might see Rose working at Premier Pizza in Algona. She'll be off to college next year. Good luck Rose.
Thanks, Eric! On our Golden Bear calendar today the math team is playing at Sioux Center and there's quiz bowl at Aplington-Parkersburg. Then tomorrow night we'll have the cross-country awards banquet.
Monday boys basketball practice begins. We'll have parent-teacher conferences from 6 - 8:30 that night. Conferences were rescheduled to next Monday because of the football playoff last week.
Tuesday afternoon we'll have the annual National Honor Society installation. Many of our top juniors and seniors will be joining NHS that day.
Tuesday night the girls basketball team plays in a jamboree at Corwith-Wesley-Luverne. Then on Wednesday there's an evening of reflection for freshmen in the confirmation program.
Next Thursday the all-state music students leave for Ames. They'll rehearse on Friday, and Saturday is the all-state concert. Also that day the quiz bowl team travels to Orange City.
That's the "Bear Facts" for this week. Thanks for joining us, and be sure to set your dial here again next week for more news from Bishop Garrigan High School.
