The Bear Facts
February 16, 2013
Good morning! I’m Elliot Boisjolie!
I’m Victor Berte!
And I’m Andrew McGuire! Thanks for joining us for the “Bear Facts”, the radio show where each week we update you on all the news from Bishop Garrigan High School.
Last week we told you that Garrigan students had taken the American Mathematics Competition test. The results are back, and the top local score belongs to freshman James Quinlin. Junior Jake Hamilton finished in second place, while senior Allison Frideres and sophomore Dorothy Kirsch tied for third. Other top scorers include Kaitlyn Fogarty, Tony Kollasch, Andrew Miller, Reece Wadle, and Samantha Kollasch.
Last weekend the Bishop Garrigan math team competed at Iowa State University. Four of Garrigan’s nine competitors finished among the top three in their class. Devin Degen was second in the freshman sprint round, while Tony Kollasch finished third among sophomores. In the target round, Dorothy Kirsch was second among sophomores, while Allison Frideres was the second place senior, with a state qualifying score. In the team round Dorothy Kirsch, Kaitlyn Fogarty, and Zach Kollasch finished second in their division. Congratulations, math team!
Again this past week Garrigan Christian Leadership students helped out at the Mary’s Place Caring and Sharing Hands Mission in Minneapolis. This time Logan Kumm, Erica Carlson, Hannah Boisjolie, Nicole Grein, Jamie Baumann, and Hannah Byrkeland made the trip; together with Amelia Golwitzer, Nicole Behr, Mallory Schiltz, Kara Eischen, Taylor Hovey, Erin Quinlin, Sabrina Book, and Aisha Miller. Religion teacher Rob Meister and biology teacher Beany Bode accompanied them to Minneapolis, where they helped prepare meals for Twin City residents who are in need.
Individual speech season is here. Next Saturday Garrigan will be hosting the district individual speech contest, and the Bears have twenty-three entries at contest. Matthew Fakler will be performing “Herschel’s Monologue” in Acting as well as an Improvisation performance. Levi Bernhard is also in Improvisation, and he’s also reading Red Green’s “Animal Defence” in Prose. Erica Carlson will be reading the poem “Nellie’s Prayer” and telling the story “Jessica”.
In Poetry Hannah Bernhard will read “Life’s Disappointments”, and she’s also performing a science fiction prose piece. Melanie Mergen will present a Literary Program on “Teen Pregnancy”, and she’s also competing in Radio News Announcing. Mark Fakler is competing in Improvisation, and he’s also presenting an After-Dinner speech called “Space Trek Aliens Rock”. Dorothy Kirsch is also double-entered, with the story “Pigs” and a prose piece called “Scuba Lessons”.
Other speech performers include Alissa Kirsch with a humorous poetry version of “Little Red Riding Hood”,”, Tony Kollasch with a Literary Program on “Annoying Sisters”, and Zach Kollasch with a Literary Program on “Death”. In After-Dinner Speaking Taylor Illg will present “Teenage Girls Irritating Families”, while Jake Hamilton performs “Nerds Are Cool”. Amelia Golwitzer is telling the story “The Cow that Laid an Egg”. Finally in Solo Musical Theatre, Christian Matthews will sing “Valjean’s Soliloquy and Alex Matthews will sing “Stars”—both from Les Miserables, while Shawn Vaske is performing “Gethsemane” from Jesus Christ, Superstar.
One month from now the Golden Bear quiz bowl team will host their third annual community quiz bowl tournament. This special project is a lot of work. Students on the team are putting together all the questions, organizing the details of the tournament, and working as readers and judges during the competition. That allows adults and students who aren’t normally in quiz bowl to enjoy the fun of answering trivia questions in a competitive setting.
Again this year teams of all ages—from junior high through adult—are welcome, and up to five people can compete on one team at a time. The entry fee is just $25 per team, and everyone is guaranteed to play at least three games. For more information you can contact Jake Hamilton at 320-4135 or any other member of the Golden Bear quiz bowl team. Be sure to mark you calendar for March 15 and the BGHS community quiz bowl.
Our Senior Spotlight this week shines on Elliot Boisjolie. Elliot is an Algona native who has been active in football, track, baseball, and intramural basketball. Elliot is also a yearbook editor, and he’s a representative on the student council. You’ve also probably heard him announcing here on the “Bear Facts”. When he’s not at Garrigan, you can see Elliot working at Hy-Vee. He’ll be off to college next fall at Des Moines Area Community College, and we wish him all the best.
On this week’s Golden Bear calendar, today we’re hosting a junior high quiz bowl tournament at Garrigan. Tomorrow is the first Sunday of Lent, and intramural basketball continues.
Tuesday is the second round of boy’s district basketball. Then on Wednesday we’ll have a school mass and an early dismissal for teacher inservice. Thursday is the boys district final at Garner.
Finally next Saturday there’s the district speech contest at Garrigan, and we’re crossing our fingers that the boys will still be playing at substate that night in Mason City.
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.
