THE BEAR FACTS
October 19, 2019

 Good morning! I’m Meredith Tigges!

I’m Abbi Heying!

And I’m Reese Rosenmeyer! Thanks for joining us for the “Bear Facts”, your weekly radio update from Bishop Garrigan High School.

 Did you know that Rutgers and Princeton played the first college football game in history?  Or that the laurel tree was sacred to the god Apollo?  Or that New Zealand was the last modern-day country to be settled by humans?  If facts like those seem obvious to you, then you should be in quiz bowl. Quiz bowl is a trivia competition that includes questions from every field of knowledge: history, science, geography, math, English, fine arts, current events, and pop culture.

 Today Garrigan will be hosting its twenty-ninth annual quiz bowl tournament. For almost three decades the Garrigan tournament has been the largest academic competition in Iowa, and it will be a big event again this year. Thirty-three teams from nineteen different schools will be competing today. Teams are coming from as far away as Sioux City and Ankeny. Area schools like Algona High, North Iowa, North Union, Emmetsburg, and West Hancock will also be competing.


 Garrigan itself is the defending champion at the tournament, and we’ve got four teams entered in today’s quiz bowl tournament. Last year’s quiz bowl MVP, Alex Mammen, is captain of one of those teams. He’ll be playing together with Grant Bormann, Joey Trainer, Aric Laubenthal, Lucas Hough, and Cade Winkel. Another good team will include Abbi Heying, Reese Rosenmeyer, Meredith Tigges, and Jack Snyder.

 Garrigan’s third team features Xander Darling, Gavin Swift, Garrett Heying, and Jacob Ward. The final Golden Bear team is made up of Jenna Heinen, Marguerite Fakler, Ava Eisenbarth, and Mya Kemna. All the teams will play eight different teams in preliminary games, and we’re hoping lots of Golden Bears are in the “sweet sixteen” that move on to playoffs. Good luck to everyone involved in quiz bowl

 Garrigan quiz bowl coach David Burrow was recently honored by the Iowa Council of Teachers of Mathematics for providing three decades of service to that organization. Mr. Burrow has been on the state board for math teachers since the late 1980s, and he has served as a regional director and as the organization’s newsletter editor and webmaster. Congratulations, Mr. Burrow!

 Since 2015 Garrigan has had a partnership with two missions run by Franciscan sisters in the state of Mississippi. The missions in Morton and Okolona have been hard hit by both weather disasters and unemployment in the area. Again this winter, Garrigan will be doing a mission trip to help out in Mississippi.

In addition to the mission trip, Garrigan is sponsoring a special project called “Macaroni for Mississippi”. We’re collecting boxes of macaroni and cheese, and we’re also encouraging people to buy Wal-Mart gift cards through scrip that will be used to buy food for the missions. If you’d like to help, we encourage you to donate either food or gift cards through the school.
All-state music auditions are just one week away. This year five Garrigan students are auditioning for all-state, four in choir and one in band. Juniors Kelle Bormann, Noah Bronk and Joey Trainer, and sophomore Xander Darling are the vocalists who will be trying out for all-state, while Savannah Waechter will represent the Garrigan band. Good luck to all those auditioning for all-state!

 Our Senior Spotlight this week shines on Alex Mammen. Alex transferred to Garrigan in his sophomore year, and he’s been a definite asset for our school. He’s a quiz bowl captain, and he’s also a key player both on the line and as a defensive back for the Golden Bear football team. Alex placed at state in the shot put, he loves intramural basketball, and he’s also one of the top hitters on the Golden Bear baseball team. Alex will be off to college next year, and he plans a career in a computer-related field. We’re glad Alex joined us at Garrigan, and we wish him good luck in the future.

 On our Golden Bear calendar this week, there’s the big quiz bowl tournament at Garrigan today. Then tomorrow is the Diocesan Youth Conference at Carroll Kuemper.

 The second quarter begins on Monday, and that night there’s JV football at Sioux Central. Tuesday regional volleyball begins, and the Bears will be hosting West Bend—Mallard.

 The high school will attend mass in West Bend on Wednesday. Also that day the sophomores will be at a career exploration fair at Iowa Lakes. There’s early dismissal on Wednesday for teacher inservice.

 Next Thursday the cross-country team will run in the state qualifying meet at Ridge View in Holstein. Then next Friday the Golden Bear football team will finish their regular season by hosting Graettinger Terril—Ruthven Ayrshire.

 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.