Good morning! I'm Andrea Schiltz!
I'm Sarah Erdman!
And I'm Rosalind Kirsch! Welcome to another edition of the "Bear
Facts", the weekly radio show from Bishop Garrigan High
School.
This is a very busy weekend for Garrigan students. First of all, there's danz
squad. In spite of the war, Garrigan's dancers went ahead with their trip to the National Dance Association Disneyland Showcase. This morning they're in Anaheim competing against the top dance and drill teams from all over the country. Garrigan won the right to compete at nationals by finishing in first place overall at the state finals last December. They'll finish up their competition today and then spend tomorrow seeing Beverly Hills and relaxing at the beach.
There are sixteen members of the Golden Bear danz squad. The seniors who have been with the program all through high school include Sarah Schmitt, Nikki Loebig, Amanda Wolf, Lindsey Eischen, Rachel Foth, and Kim Frideres. Juniors Maria Erpelding and Nicole Krieps and sophomore Ashley Shaw are also key members of the group. There's also a huge group of freshmen out for dance. They include Jessica Cink, Monica Schiltz, Jennifer Vaske, April Wolf, Lizzie Mayer, Melissa Hilbert, and Michaela Pease. Good luck to all these girls and to coaches Colleen Conway-Schiltz and Carey Harris. We know they'll do a great job at nationals.
Meanwhile, six other Garrigan students are competing at the state HOSA conference. HOSA stands for the Health Occupations Students of America, and students interested in careers in health demonstrate their skills. Garrigan competes together with Algona High in HOSA, with a program sponsored by Iowa Lakes nursing instructor Jeanne Wunder. Matt Studer, Nettie McGuire, Molly Black, Ashley Berte, Lisa Thilges, and Katelyn Besch make up Garrigan's HOSA group. We wish them and Mrs. Wunder the best of luck at state.
The other big event today is the state individual speech contest. Garrigan qualified fourteen entries for state, and they are performing all day long at Storm Lake High School. Right about now Keshar Nadkarni will be reading a poetry version of "Little Red Riding Hood". Then around 10:30 Brooke Myers will give her after-dinner address "Warnings to Prospective Freshmen" and Eric Cassmann will present an acting selection about "Defusing a Bomb". Later on this morning Steven Kellner will present the after-dinner speech "How to Look Busy at Work" and Steven Kellner will read the poem "The Joy of Being Poor".
Thiis afternoon, David Murphy will compete in Improvisation, Nicole Elbert will tell the story of "Julius, the Baby of the World", and Nancy Syharath will read the poem "Nellie's Prayer". Then Amber Golwitzer will present a literary program on "Political Correctness", Amanda Golwitzer will read a prose selection called "Ballet for Boys", and Rachel McGuire will read "Goldilocks and the Three Bears". The day finishes up with Amber Golwitzer presenting the prose selection "I'm the One Who Stands Out in a Crowd" and Autumn Thompson giving a public address on "Character". Best wishes to Coaches Mary McCall and Sarah Freking and to all the Golden Bear speech team!
Yesterday the members of Garrigan's a cappella choir were in Storm Lake for the Buena Vista University choir festival. They sang songs they've been preparing throughout the year, including "Come Feel My Love", "O God of Love", and "Lamb of God". We'll fill you in how they did in competition on an upcoming show.
Last weekend as part of the St. Patrick's festivities in Emmetsburg, four Garrigan students competed in the O'Round the Loch race. Senior Jeff Hellman, junior John Kohlhaas, and freshmen Brandon Rowley and Jacob Hellman finished in first place overall in the half-marathon relay. This is a 131/2-mile race, with each runner covering about 31/2 miles. This is the second year Garrigan runners have brought home the trophy. Congratulations to them!
Nine Garrigan seniors recently learned that they will be honored as part of "Star Class 2003" in the Mason City Globe-Gazette. Autumn Thompson won the math award, Keshar Nadkarni was honored in science, and Eric Fouarge won top honors in technology. Jeff Hellman won the music award, Nick Dahlhauser was named the social studies honoree, Andrea Schiltz took language honors, and Rosalind Kirsch was honored in art. Justin Fickbohm was named Garrigan's Outstanding Male Athlete, and Nellie Fowler was the school's Outstanding Female Athlete. Congratulations to these "Star Class" winners!
March Madness is going in college hoops, and it's here at Garrigan, too. Tomorrow we'll have the semi-finals in the annual intramural basketball tournament. At 1:30pm the #1 seed, Miles Berte's team, will take on Mark McGregor and his #4-seeded teammates. Then at 2:30 Ben Geelan's #2 seeds will take on the #3 seed, Jon Hanig's team. The winners will advance to the intramural championship on March 30. We'd also like to remind everyone that you can still vote for the 2003 All-Intramural Team by going to the Garrigan website--garrigan.unlimitedweb.net--and going to "Intramurals" on the "Sports" page.
We had some more good news about another of our alumni this week. Naval Midshipman Mike Reel, a 2000 graduate of BGHS, won the eastern regional NCAA boxing championship in the 139-pound division, competing for the U.S. Naval Academy. Mike now advances to the National Collegiate Boxing Championships, which will be held next month in Las Vegas. The Naval Academy website describes boxing as the most intense and demanding sport offered there. Navy has won the national boxing championship for three of the past five years, and we're proud to see a Garrigan graduate leading them to victory this year.
Because of all the other news, we're dispensing with our Senior Spotlight this week. We'll be telling you all about the rest of our seniors on upcoming shows. On the Golden Bear calendar this week, the danz squad is at Disneyland competing at nationals.
Also today there's the state speech contest in Storm Lake and the health occupations group is competing in Des Moines. Then tomorrow afternoon there's the intramural play-offs.
Monday and Tuesday nights we'll have registration for next year's classes. Registration will be from 4 - 6pm at the Rochleau Center at St. Cecelia's.
Wednesday there's a jeans day for the student gift to Gala. Then Thursday a group of students will compete in the Iowa Lakes business competition.
Next Friday and Saturday the curtain will go up on The Curious Savage, Garrigan's 2003 spring play. Also on Saturday the quiz bowl team will compete at Boone.
Finally this week, we'd like to express our concern for Seton principal Kathee Froehlich, who is hospitalized in Rochester with Guillian-Barré Syndrome, a condition characterized by pain and weakness in the muscles. We'll certainly be keeping Mrs. Froehlich and her family in our prayers throughout the coming weeks.
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.
