The Bear Facts
November 13, 2010
Good morning! I’m Andrea Altman!
And I’m Emily Bell! Thanks for joining us for the “Bear Facts”, the weekly radio show from Bishop Garrigan High School.
Last weekend was a very special time for lots of Garrigan activities. First there was dance. Over 400 dancers were competing last weekend in Pella in the state solo dance championships, and Bishop Garrigan’s own Aimee Dahlhauser and Becca Molsberry ended up taking home first and second place. Aimee completely captivated the crowd with her performance of “All I Want”, which featured graceful lines and seemingly weightless leaps. The judges commented that Aimee had a gift for making the most difficult technical moves look effortless. Finishing right behind, Becca’s routine “Home” was both technically difficult and light hearted. Congratulations to Aimee and Becca, the top dancers in Iowa!
While the dancers were in Pella, the Golden Bear competition cheer squad was competing in Des Moines. Some issues forced them to completely overhaul their routine at the last minute, but they ended up performing almost flawlessly. The Bears tied for first place, losing the decision on a half-point tie breaker. They officially took home the second place trophy from state. Congratulations to Kristin Berte, Kimberly Schiltz, Hannah Bode, Jessica Springer, Sarah Matthews, Sydney McNertney, Ashley Bode, Ryya Kumm, Mallory Schiltz, and Kelsie Berke—and to coach Erin Miller.
The other big news last weekend was from the quiz bowl team, who competed in their third big tournament this season. They say “three’s a charm”, and it definitely was for the quiz bowlers. Garrigan had two teams in the playoffs at the Algona Invitational, and one of them ended up winning the championship. The team we dubbed “NGC-3109” featured Jake Rosenmeyer, Anna Kollasch, Michael Fakler, and Levi Bernhar. They were undefeated on the day, with a perfect 11 – 0 record. They dominated their competition until the final round, where they edged past Algona High to take first place overall. Also making playoffs were “Team Dwingeloo”, which included Rachel Berte, Philip Detrick, Dustin Miller, and Andrea Altman. They ended up in fourth place out of forty-one teams from seventeen schools around northern Iowa.
The Bears’ victory qualifies them to make another trip to the National Academic Championships. They plan to accept the bid, and this will their fourth year in a row and the twelfth time since 1995 Garrigan has gone to national quiz bowl. This year’s national tournament will be Memorial Day weekend at Loyola University in New Orleans, Louisiana. Congratulations to Coach David Burrow and all the quiz bowl team!
There’s more quiz bowl action today. Jake Rosenmeyer, Michael Fakler, Alex Hamilton, Michael Hellman, Dustin Miller, Levi Bernhard, Grace Steil, Philip Detrick, and Drew Magill are over in Orange City for the Little Dutch Invitational at MOC—Floyd Valley High School. This tournament features a much different mix of teams than many of the others Garrigan goes to, including schools near the South Dakota border. Lizzy Hohmeister, Zach Scobba, and Jake Hamilton will be alternates at the tournament today. Good luck, Bears!
The annual magazine drive ended last week, and while it took until the last day, we’re pleased that we made our goal. Michael Hellman, Jake Rosenmeyer, and Alex Boisjolie were the top three overall sellers. The senior class was #1 overall, with the sophomores close behind. Thanks to everyone who helped with this fundraiser. If you missed out on the magazine drive, you can still go to the school website and renew your subscriptions while supporting the school.
There’s always something new to check out on the Bishop Garrigan website. Garrigan was one of the first schools anywhere to go on the internet, and today that site is older than some of our students. In fact, Garrigan’s website has been online continuously for fifteen years now. Just last summer we moved to a new home in cyberspace, the domain “bishopgarrigan – dot – org”. That’s a lot easier to find than our old address, but you’ll still find all the pictures and information you’ve come to expect. This year Logan Smith, Joel Reding, Tyler Lallier, Michael Fakler, and Charlie Thilges are maintaining the school website. So be sure to check out their work at bishopgarrigan – dot – org.
Our Senior Spotlight this week shines on Andrew Schiltz. Here to tell you about him is Terrenze Franklin.
Andrew Schiltz is a year-round athlete whose favorite sport is probably golf. He helped lead the Golden Bear boys to the state golf championship last spring. Andrew is also a two-year football letterwinner and a key part of the Golden Bear basketball team. His other activities include publications and Christian Leadership, and he’s helped with the community Relay for Life and United Way fundraisers. Andrew wants to major in mechanical engineering in college, and we wish him all the best in the future.
Thanks, Terrenze! On our Golden Bear calendar, there’s quiz bowl today in Orange City. Monday we’ll have a jeans day for the student gift for Gala, and that night boys basketball practice begins..
Tuesday afternoon we’ll have the annual induction ceremony for the National Honor Society. We’ll tell you who the new members are on next week’s show. That night the girls basketball team plays in a jamboree at Corwith.
Wednesday we’ll have a short day because of mass in the morning and teacher inservice in the afternoon. Also that day the Iowa Core Curriculum team will be at a special meeting to learn about curriculum alignment.
Wednesday evening the freshman confirmation candidates will have a night of reflection. Then Friday and Saturday students from all over the Sioux City Diocese will be at Garrigan for a SEARCH retreat.
That’s the “Bear Facts” for this week. Thanks for joining us, and be sure to tune in again next week for more news from Bishop Garrigan High School.
