Good morning! I'm Michael Loebach!
And I'm Mike McAlpine! Welcome again to the "Bear
Facts", the weekly radio show from Bishop Garrigan High
School.
It's that time of year again-time for Garrigan to host the largest academic competition in Iowa. This morning nearly 300 students from all over northern Iowa are coming to Algona for the eleventh annual BGHS Quiz Bowl Tournament. This year's tournament includes sixty-three teams from twenty-five different schools. Every team competes against eight others in the preliminary matches, and then the top sixteen overall teams advance to the play-offs.
The team to beat this year will be last year's champions from Forest City. Other nearby schools that are competing include Algona High, Corwith Wesley Luverne, North Kossuth, Twin River Valley, Humboldt, and Armstrong Ringsted. Most of the North Central Conference schools will be on hand, as will schools from as far away as LeMars, Boone, and Wapsie Valley. Good luck to everyone competing.
Quiz bowl works like a game show. Each match begins with a toss-up round, where twelve students at a time try to be the fastest to answer questions like "What President had the shortest term in U.S. history?" or "Who reads from the Bible in
A Charlie Brown Christmas?" If they remember answers like "William Henry Harrison" and "Linus", the next challenge is the bonus round. Here teams work together to answer multi-part questions that can earn big points.
Capping off every game is the lightning round, where each team answers ten rapid-fire questions on a single topic. Most lightning rounds have strange names that hint at what they are about, and a lot of the time the titles that sound the easiest are actually the most difficult. The team that is in last place chooses first from among the lightning round categories, so points can change quickly at the end of the game.
Garrigan has five teams entered in their home quiz bowl this year. The first team includes Steven Kellner, Jeff Hellman, Mike McAlpine, Amber Golwitzer, and Jesse Bode are the official team captains. Other players include Mandy Rahm, Rebecca McGuire, John Kohlhaas, Joe Hellman, Zac Lickteig, Scott Stence, and Tyler Rolling; as well as Bob Brandenburg, David Murphy, Matt Courtney, Autumn Thompson, and Eric Fouarge. Rounding out the competitors are Mike Blocker, Josh Broesder, Jordan Kajewski, Rachel McGuire, and Jacob Richter. Good luck to all the Golden Bear quiz bowlers!
Next week will mark the start of the annual Bishop Garrigan magazine drive. The sale is a bit earlier this year, because in past years some customers had complained that their subscriptions ran out before they had a chance to renew them. The 2001 magazine drive will run through the end of October. Every Garrigan student will have a catalog of the most popular magazines, as well as books and music-all at the lowest possible prices.
In addition to getting a great deal on magazines, it's also a great way to make a contribution to the school. Forty percent of all the money that's raised goes to the BGHS Student Council. In addition to sponsoring Homecoming and intramurals and supporting numerous service projects, Student Council gives money to help out lots of school activities-from HOSA and Model UN to danz squad and publications. So be sure to catch your favorite Golden Bear to renew your subscriptions and help out school activities at Garrigan.
This week's Senior Spotlight shines on Jamie Loebig and Allison Courtney. Here to tell you about them is
Bob Brandenburg.
Jamie Loebig is a Wesley native who has lettered in basketball and track. Softball is her biggest activity, though, and she has won all-conference honors for her accomplishments on the diamond. Jamie went to nationals in HOSA last year, and she uses her health knowledge as a first responder in Wesley. She wants to major in environmental science at college, and we wish her all the best.
Allison Courtney is one of this fall's football cheerleading captains. She was a member of the All-Iowa Drill Team, and her past activities include volleyball and track. Allison is a four-year choir member and a representative on the student council. Away from Garrigan you might see her working at the Algona YMCA. She plans to major in elementary education at college. Good luck, Allison!
Thanks, Bob! On our Golden Bear calendar this week, there's the big quiz bowl tournament today at Garrigan. Also this morning there's freshman volleyball at North Kossuth.
Tomorrow and Monday is the fall HOSA state leadership conference. Also on Monday volleyball districts begin, with the Bears hosting the North Iowa Bison.
Monday night the freshman football team plays at Algona High and the JV team travels to Mason City Newman. Then on Tuesday the junior class will be taking the
PSAT.
Wednesday volleyball action continues, with Monday's winner-hopefully the Bears-taking on Woden Crystal Lake Titonka. Then on Thursday it's time for district cross-country, with Bears running at Eagle Grove.
Next Friday the Golden Bear football team will wrap up their home season, as they take on Wall Lake View Auburn. Then next Saturday the quiz bowl team travels to Ames for the ISU Invitational, and several musicians will be auditioning for the All-State Music Festival.
Finally, you might have noticed that on last week's show that we mentioned that week's big football game, but we never actually gave the result. That's because every "Bear Facts" episode is taped during the week to air on Saturday morning. We couldn't let this week pass, though, without giving a big congratulations to our Golden Bear football team on their resounding victory over the #1-ranked defending state champions from Southern Cal. It was the first loss the Mustangs had on their home field in years, and the victory virtually assured the Bears of the district championship and finally earned them a bit of respect in the statewide polls. Congratulations to Coach Wadle and the football team!
That's the "Bear Facts" for another week. Thanks for listening, and be sure to join us again next week for more news from Bishop Garrigan High School.
