THE BEAR FACTS
MARCH 16, 2013
Good morning! I’m Andrew McGuire!
I’m Thomas Bradley!
And I’m Elliot Boisjolie! Thanks for joining us for
the “Bear Facts”, the weekly radio show from Bishop Garrigan High School.
Last Saturday the Golden Bear speech team competed at
the state individual speech contest over at Algona High, and they had an
outstanding day. The Bears had sixteen entries at state, and ten of those
received Division One or “excellent” ratings—including three that were named
Outstanding Performers, which means they were among the best performances
anywhere in Iowa.
The Outstanding Performances include Shawn Vaske in
Solo Musical Theatre, with the song “Gethsemane” from Jesus Christ, Superstar,
Amelia Golwitzer in Storytelling with “The Cow that Laid an Egg”, and Mark
Fakler in Improvisation. All three of them will now perform at the All-State
Speech Festival, which will be held Monday, March 25, at the University of
Northern Iowa in Cedar Falls
In addition to Shawn, Amelia, and Mark’s all-state
performances, the Bears earned seven other Division Ones at state. Excellent
ratings went to Dorothy Kirsch and Hannah Bernhard in Prose, Matthew Fakler and
Levi Bernhard in Improvisation, Dorothy Kirsch in Storytelling, Alex Matthews in
Solo Musical Theatre, and Mark Fakler in After-Dinner Speaking. In addition
Hannah Bernhard, Christian Matthews, Erica Carlson, Alissa Kirsch, and Matthew
Fakler all received “Good” ratings for their speeches at state.
Last Friday afternoon we had a schoolwide pickleball
tournament at Garrigan, with twelve different teams competing. It was mostly for
fun, but also part of the Healthy Kids Iowa initiative. There were a lot of good
players—including Reece Wadle and Andrew Miller, Tyler Schnurr and Ben Vaske,
Jason Reding and Victor Berte, and Brayton Loss and Santi Schmitt. After the
full cycle of double elimination, though, the winners were seniors Shawn Vaske
and Adam Hamilton. They each won a jar of pickles for their success at
pickleball. Congratulations, Adam and Shawn!
The Izaak Walton League’s clay target shooting team
will be starting their season soon. This is the second year for the team, and
lots of Garrigan students are involved in the program. Among those signed up
this year is senior Grace Steil, who has competed in numerous regional shooting
events. Others on the team include Mallory Schiltz, Anna Hohmeister, Alex
Matthews, Michael Berke, Noelle Vitzthum, and Cameron Langerman; as well as
Jacob Berte, Connor Langermann, Dillon Walker, Jacob Thul, Carter Hall, Andrew
Eden, Logan Rosenmeyer, Jake Kayser, Nicole Walker, LeeAnne Eischen, and Mariah
Bronk. Good luck, target shooters!
Tonight there will be a special concert at Garrigan.
The Wartburg College Band will be in town, and they’re performing at 7:30
tonight in Friedmann Auditorium. The 100-piece ensemble includes Garrigan alumni
Alex Hamilton and Becky Jennings, as well as Dan Haack from Algona High. The
BGHS band will also be performing their concert medley from Les Miserables.
Admission is a free-will donation, and we encourage everyone to come over to
Garrigan tonight to see the Wartburg College Band.
Tomorrow the Golden Bear danz squad will present their
spring show. The event will be at 5pm in Friedmann Auditorium. In addition to
the Garrigan danz squad, groups will perform from North Union, Algona High,
Janet’s School of Baton, and Dance Connection. The danz squad also held a clinic
yesterday, and the girls who participated in that will also be showing what they
learned.
The spring show is the last big event before the danz
squad leaves for nationals. They’ll be heading down to Texas Wednesday night,
and the competition will be Friday and Saturday in Fort Worth. The Garrigan
dancers will be performing their state routines, and seniors Makayla Foertsch
and Logan Kumm will also be performing solo routines at nationals. In addition
the schedule calls for a tour of the Dallas Cowboys stadium and a meeting with
the Dallas Ice Stars spirit squad. The girls will be back next Sunday around
midnight. Good luck at nationals to the Golden Bear danz squad!
Next Thursday several Garrigan science students will
be competing in the annual Envirothon. This is a competition that tests people’s
skills in various fields of environmental science. Last year Garrigan finished
in first place in soil, and the only school in northwest Iowa that did better
than them was Hull Western Christian. Science teacher Beany Bode is hoping for
another good showing in the Envirothon this year.
Our Senior Spotlight this week shines on Makayla
Foertsch. Makayla’s biggest activity by far has been dance. She’s one of only
three seniors in the Golden Bear danz squad, and she received a Division I
rating with her solo routine at the Iowa state championships last fall. Makayla
also keeps busy with choir and National Honor Society, and you may have heard
her announcing here on the “Bear Facts”. She’ll be off to college next fall, and
we wish Makayla all the best in the future.
On this week’s Golden Bear calendar, the Wartburg
College band is performing tonight at Garrigan. Admission is a free-will
donation, and showtime is 7pm.
Tomorrow we’ll wrap up the regular season of
intramurals, with two games that were postponed after last week’s snowstorm.
Then at 5pm tomorrow the danz squad will hold their spring show.
Monday and Tuesday nights we’ll have spring
parent—teacher conferences, as well as registration for next year. High school
conferences will be from 3:30 to 6:30 in the Rochleau Center at St. Cecelia’s.
The danz squad leaves for nationals on Wednesday.
We’ll dismiss early that day for teacher inservice. Then on Thursday several of
Mr. Bode’s Ecology students will be in Des Moines for the Envirothon
competition.
There’s no school at Garrigan next Friday. The danz
squad begins national competition that day. Then Friday and Saturday night the
curtain goes up on the BGHS spring play, Bless Me, Father. Showtime is 7:00 both
nights in Friedmann Auditorium.
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.
JR3/14/13
