THE BEAR FACTS
February 22, 2014
Good morning! I’m Neal Koob!
I’m Sean Hart!
And I’m Levi Bernhard! Thanks for listening to the “Bear Facts”, your weekly radio update from Bishop Garrigan High School.
Last Saturday the Golden Bear math team competed in a Great Plains Math League tournament down at Iowa State University in Ames. The group had a very good day, with six students qualifying for the state math competition. Seniors Brittany Kirsch and Jake Hamilton; juniors Zach Kollasch, Dorothy Kirsch, and Kaitlyn Fogarty; and sophomore Devin Degen all qualified for state. In addition Ben Fogarty finished first among all freshmen in the tournament and just missed the cut-off for being a state qualifier. Congratulations to Coach Daryl Kohlhaas and the math team!
Bishop R. Walker Nickless ,the leader of the Sioux City Diocese, was supposed to visit Garrigan and Seton in January for Catholic Schools Week. Unfortunately a snowstorm then forced the Bishop to cancel his trip. He was able to re-schedule, though, and he’ll be here to celebrate mass next Thursday morning.
Bishoip Nickless will be the chief celebrant at our school liturgy. The mass will be at St. Cecelia’s next Thursday at 10am. The juniors in Garrigan’s Christian Leadership in Action group are planning the mass that day. After the service Bishop Nickless will visit with students at both Garrigan and Seton, and he’ll also be eating lunch at the school.
This coming week is a big one for the Golden Bear danz squad. Next Thursday and Friday the state champions from Garrigan are hosting their annual dance clinic. Girls from all over the area are welcome to participate, and they’ll learn routines choreographed to music from the Disney movie Frozen. Then next Sunday, March 2nd, is the annual BGHS dance showcase. This year’s theme is “Dancing in a Winter Wonderland”, and it should be a great show. Best wishes to Coaches Colleen Conway-Schiltz and Barb Stence, and to the whole danz squad!
Next Saturday BGHS will be hosting the district individual speech contest. Garrigan has hosted district contest for more than twenty-five years, and it’s always one of the biggest events we hold at the school. As always, volunteers are needed to help make the day run smoothly. If you are able to volunteer, we encourage you to contact speech coach Mary McCall.
Speech students have been busy preparing pieces for the contest. This year Garrigan will have sixteen entries at district contest. Mark Fakler, Christian Matthews, Dorothy Kirsch, and Levi Capesius are all competing in Solo Musical Theatre; while Levi Bernhard, Morgan Frideres, and Emily Reisenberg are entered in Storytelling.
In the Prose category Garrigan’s contestants are Hannah Bernhard, Taylor Illg, and Dorothy Kirsch. Christian Matthews is competing in Poetry, and Betty Straub will be in Literary Program. Hannah Bernhard and Mariana Pacheco are entered in Expository Address. The final category is Improvisation, and it features Levi Bernhard and Mark Fakler. Best wishes to all the speech competitors!
Funds are continuing to grow for the Bishop Garrigan capital campaign. We have well over three million dollars in pledges, and so far we’ve received more than $1,600,000 in cash payments. Our goal is to have $1.7 million in cash on hand before breaking ground, since that will allow us to complete construction on the new addition without going into debt.
With less than $100,000 to go, we’re crossing our fingers that we’ll be breaking ground this summer, with construction on the new gym, office, and classroom space proceeding through the coming school year. We want to thank everyone who has contributed to the capital campaign—and if you haven’t had a chance, we urge you to contact the Garrigan development office and make a pledge.
Our Senior Spotlight this week shines on Brittany Kirsch. Here to tell you about her is Mariah McCall.
Brittany Kirsch comes to Garrigan from the St. Joe area. She was one of the state math team qualifiers that we mentioned earlier in this week’s show. Brittany’s biggest school activity is band, which she also lists as her favorite class. She’s also active in choir and track, and she enjoys reading and going to movies. Brittany plans to major in agronomy in college, and we wish her the best of luck in the future.
Thanks, Mariah! On our Golden Bear calendar this week, there’s more
intramural basketball action tomorrow. Then Tuesday is the third round of boys
district basketball playoffs.
We’ll have an early dismissal for teacher inservice on Wednesday. Then on
Thursday Bishop Nickless will be in Algona and will celebrate mass for students
at Garrigan and Seton.
Thursday night the danz squad begins their clinic, which will continue after school on Friday. We’ll have a jeans day at school on Friday. Then Saturday we’re hosting the district individual speech contest.
That’s the “Bear Facts” for February. Thanks for tuning in, and be sure to join us again next week to hear more news from Bishop Garrigan High School.
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