The Bear Facts
October 19, 2013
Good morning! I’m Erin Quinlin!
I’m Taylor Hovey!
I’m Brittany Kirsch!
And I’m Jake Hamilton! Thanks for tuning in to the “Bear Facts”, the weekly radio show where we keep you in touch with everything that’s news at Bishop Garrigan High School.
Did you know that Queen Elizabeth worked as a truck mechanic and ambulance driver during World War II? … Or that the first text message ever sent said “Merry Christmas”? … Or that the ancient Greeks didn’t consider “1” to be a number? If you knew any of those things, then you should be in quiz bowl. Quiz bowl is an academic competition, where teams of students answer trivia questions. Garrigan has been very successful in quiz bowl over the years, and they’re hoping to do well again this year.
Today Garrigan is hosting our twenty-third annual quiz bowl tournament. Forty-eight teams from twenty different schools will be on hand. The games will start at 10:00 this morning. Admission is free, and the public is welcome to come and watch. The top sixteen teams will advance to playoffs in the afternoon, and we’re hoping some of the medals handed out at the end of the day will stay right here at Garrigan.
Twenty-four Garrigan students are competing in today’s quiz bowl. There’s a team of national quiz bowl veterans—with Jake Hamilton, Levi Bernhard, Tony Kollasch, Hannah Bernhard, and Zach Kollasch. Another team includes Kristin Condoleon, Kara Eischen, Taylor Hovey, Anna Hohmeister, and Sophia Kaduce.
Taylor Illg is captain of a third team, which also features Dorothy Kirsch, Carolyn Baxter, Devin Degen, and Joseph Espinosa. Football players Reece Wadle, Andrew Miller, Zach Boelter, Zac Kibby, and Ben Vaske are on a fourth team; and the final team includes Kylie Fox together with volleyball players Patricia Brandt, Cassidy Vitzthum, and Emily Marlow. Good luck to Coach David Burrow and the quiz bowl team!
For the past two days senior Brittany Kirsch has been in Des Moines at the World Food Prize Symposium. Brittany researched the problems Russia has had with food since the fall of the Soviet Union, and she presented her findings in a paper. Congratulations to Brittany on being selected for this honor.
Last Sunday twenty-nine Garrigan students spent their afternoon walking around Algona. Instead of just getting exercise, they were helping to prevent world hunger. The students were part of Garrigan’s Christian Leadership in Action group, and they were participating in the CROP Walk. Garrigan students collected nearly a thousand dollars in donations, which will be split between local and worldwide relief efforts. Religion teacher Rob Meister coordinates the Christian Leadership program at Garrigan.
Christian Leadership isn’t the only group that does service projects at Garrigan. Last Wednesday members of the student council braved the cold and mud to do their semi-annual adopt-a-highway project. For more than twenty years Garrigan has adopted the stretch of highway 18 near Sexton, and twice the school has been cited by the state for their outstanding volunteer work with that project.
Plans are already underway for Gala 2014. This year marks the 25th anniversary of Gala, and the theme will be “Sliver Celebration”. The big event will be Saturday, April 5, 2014. As always, seating is limited. For more information you can contact the Garrigan development office.
Last weekend the Garrigan Solid Gold Marching Band competed in the state marching festival in Ft. Dodge. The judges were very strict in their ratings, but even so the Bears finished with higher than any other Class 1-A school. Overall the band received a Division II rating, which is considered “Excellent” in music. Congratulations to director Ken Ferjak and the band.
Our Senior Spotlight this week shines on Connor Langerman. Here to tell you about him is Kara Eischen.
Connor Langerman is a football captain who won all-area honors and was the most improved defensive player last year. He is also a three-year member of the trapshooting team, and he’s been involved in track and co-ed dance. Connor is a student council representative who is the three-time grand champion in the annual pumpkin launching competition. After high school he plans to attend South Dakota State University, and we wish him all the best in the future.
On our Golden Bear calendar this week, there’s the quiz bowl tournament today. Also today several of the boys in choir are at Wartburg College for the Real Men Sing festival and the World Food Prize Symposium wraps up in Des Moines.
Next week junior high and high school students will be taking the Iowa Assessments. We’ll start each day with testing, with classes on the late start schedule beginning at 10:30. Seniors will have the morning off on test days.
Monday night the JV football team will travel to Albert City. Then Tuesday there’s regional volleyball, with the Bears hosting North Iowa. Game time is 7pm Tuesday night.
We’ll have mass on Wednesday, and that night is the big DARTS Extravaganza, a variety show featuring students, teachers, and alumni. Then on Thursday the cross-country team will run in their state qualifying meet at Eagle Grove.
The annual magazine drive starts next Friday. That night the football team wraps up district play with a game at Lake Mills. Then next Saturday are auditions for the All-State Music Festival.
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.
BL 10-17-13
