The
Bear Facts
October 13, 2012
Good morning! I’m Allison Frideres!
I’m Andrew McGuire!
And I’m Grace Steil! You’re listening to the “Bear
Facts”, KLGA’s weekly radio show from Bishop Garrigan High School.
Did you know that the name of the Bolshoi ballet is
just the Russian word for “big”? … Or that the rower who navigates a boat is
called the coxswain? … Or that the official name of the U.S. military operation
in Afghanistan is Operation Enduring Freedom? That’s the kind of information it
takes to be good at quiz bowl. Garrigan has a long tradition of success in quiz
bowl, and today the Bears are hosting their twenty-third annual quiz bowl
tournament. About 250 students from all over northern Iowa will be on hand for
Iowa’s largest academic competition.
Garrigan originally had six teams entered in today’s
event, but because of another school’s cancellation that went up to seven. The
team of Tony Kollasch, Zach Kollasch, Hannah Bernhard, and Levi Bernhard
features all veterans of national competition. Allison Frideres and Jake
Hamilton have also been to nationals, and today they’re on a team with Dustin
Miller, Dorothy Kirsch, and Taylor Illg.
Another team includes Elliot Boisjolie, Reece Wadle,
Andrew Miller, and Ben Vaske; and a fourth features freshmen Carolyn Baxter,
Devin Degen, Joseph Espinosa, and Kylie Fox. Matthew Fakler, Mark Fakler, Shawn
Vaske, Alex Matthews, and Jacob Thul are on a team; and so are Hannah Boisjolie,
Corey Weydert, Logan Kumm, and Makayla Foertsch. The final team includes Taylor
Hovey, Kristin Condoleon, Vanessa Dodds, Kara Eischen, and Sophia Kaduce.
Almost every room in the school will be used for
competition today, with twenty-three different schools bring teams here for the
event. We want to thank the dozens of parents, teachers, students, and alumni
who are helping out today. The action will start around 10am, with the
championship around 2:30 this afternoon. The public is welcome to watch, and
admission is free. Good luck today to Coach David Burrow and everyone in quiz
bowl!
Last Saturday the Solid Gold Marching Band braved the
cold down in Fort Dodge when they competed at the 2012 state marching contest.
For the fifth year in a row the Bears brought home a Division I award from
state, and this time they got some of the highest ratings the judges gave out
all day. Congratulations to director Ken Ferjak, drum major Amelia Golwitzer,
and the whole Solid Gold Marching Band!
One of the largest and busiest groups at Bishop
Garrigan is Christian Leadership in Action. The name says exactly what the group
is about—it’s students putting their Christian faith into action. Last Thursday
twenty-six juniors and seniors in Christian leadership students helped lead the
8th grade retreat, and tomorrow afternoon dozens of students will be
participating in the CROP Walk to fight hunger both in our community and around
the world.
Mr. Rob Meister is in charge of Garrigan’s Christian
Leadership in Action group, and more than a hundred students participate in the
group. This year the core leaders are Erica Carlson, Melanie Mergen, Nicole
Behr, Sabrina Book, Kristin Condoleon, Kaitlyn Fogarty, and Betty Straub.
They’ll have lots of other service projects coming throughout the school year.
Last Tuesday the Golden Bear cross-country team hosted the North Central Conference meet. In spite of the cold and wind, Erin Reedy won all-conference honors and broke her own senior record. Emily Riesenberg, Mark Fakler, and Taylor Illg all set personal records at conference, and Erin Quinlin ran in a season best time. The Bears will be running down in Holstein next Thursday in the state-qualifying meet. Good luck, cross-country!
Our Senior Spotlight this week shines on Logan Kumm
and Charlie Thilges. Here with the scoop on them is Thomas Bradley.
Logan Kumm is a danz squad captain who won all-Iowa
honors and was performed at last year’s Outback Bowl. She’s also lettered in
cheerleading, she plays the trumpet in band, and she keeps busy with speech,
drama, and Christian Leadership in Action. When she’s not at Garrigan you might
see her working at Fareway. Logan wants to major in event management at Iowa
State, and we wish her all the best in the future.
Charlie Thilges is a football lineman who has also
been voted three times to the All-Intramural basketball team. He has
participated in the CROP Walk and Adopt-a-Highway, and he’s also helped out on
the publications staff. Away from school, Charlie works at the State Five
Theatre. After graduating from Garrigan he wants to major in business at UNI.
Good luck to both Charlie and Logan!
Thanks, Thomas! On our Golden Bear calendar today
there’s the quiz bowl tournament here at Garrigan. Tomorrow is the CROP Walk and
also the KC turkey dinner. Also on Sunday Keni Roethler and Noelle Vitzthum will
be at the state HOSA convention.
Monday the JV football team hosts Sioux Central—Albert
City. On Tuesday many juniors will take the PSAT. That night there’s regional
volleyball at West Bend, and the swim team is at Charles City.
There’s no school at Garrigan on Wednesday, though
Seton and the Algona public schools are in session. There’s a teacher in-service
that day, as well as our reward for setting a new record in the calendar drive.
Thursday we’ll have a jeans day at Garrigan to raise
money to help in art teacher Steve Brosnan’s fight against cancer. We’ll have a
rosary that afternoon for Respect Life Month, and that night the cross-country
team runs at Holstein for the right to go to state.
The first quarter ends next Friday. That night the
football team hosts Lake Mills, and it will be Senior Night for football,
cheerleading, cross-country, and band. The cheerleaders will be serving a supper
at the game.
That’s the “Bear Facts” for this week. Thanks for
tuning in, and be sure to join us again next week for more news from Bishop
Garrigan High School.
JR10/12/12
