THE BEAR FACTS
March 23, 2019

Good morning! I’m Noah Bronk!

I’m Madison Illg!

And I’m Eric Thul! Thanks for joining us once again for the “Bear Facts”, the radio show where each week we keep you in touch with all the news from Bishop Garrigan High School.

Last week we told you about Garrigan’s success at the state speech contest. Shortly after last week’s show aired, though, we learned of some even bigger news. Junior Jordan Hansen was named an Outstanding Performer, and she now advances to the All-State Speech Festival, which will be held next Monday in Cedar Falls. Only 400 students perform at all-state each year, which is less than one-tenth of those who compete in speech each year.

Jordan’s all-state selection is in Literary Program. Called “Images of Women”, it combines poetry by the famous writer Maya Angelou with a story by former Garrigan English teacher Mary McCall. She will perform shortly after 10am Monday in the Great Reading Room at Seerley Hall on the campus of the University of Northern Iowa campus. Congratulations on making it to all-state, Jordan!




Last Friday Garrigan hosted its annual community quiz bowl. Sixteen teams of all ages competed, and the event brought in $412 in donations. In the end the top two teams included Garrigan quiz bowl alumni. The winning team featured science teacher Beany Bode, who was a quiz bowl captain back in the ‘90s, together with Joanne Roepke Bode, Dave Roepke, Heidi Roepke, and Gary Merrill. The runners-up featured former quiz bowl captains Ben Degen, Devin Degen, and Jake Rosenmeyer, quiz bowl coach David Burrow, and Coach Marty Wadle.

The income from community quiz bowl will help pay for the Bears trip to nationals. Garrigan qualified to make their 20th trip to nationals by winning their home tournament last October as well as taking the Top of Iowa Conference championship. They will be headed to Chicago June 7 – 11 for the National Academic Championships.

Students headed for nationals include seniors Gabe Trainer, Logan Heying, Bryce Capesius, and Sami Darling; junior Grant Bormann; and sophomores Abbi Heying, Joey Trainer, and Aric Laubenthal. We’ll tell you more as the trip to nationals approaches for the quiz bowl team.

Next week several Garrigan choir students will be participating in the Iowa Vocal Jazz Championships. This event will be held on March 26 at Valley High School in West Des Moines. This is the first year Garrigan has competed in vocal jazz, but they’ve already had some success, receiving top marks at a festival in Emmetsburg earlier this year.

Vocal jazz ensembles are evaluated on intonation, pitch accuracy, balance, blend, timing, dynamics, tone color, and articulation. The soloists are judged on vocal improvisation, and points are also assigned for difficulty, staging and interaction, microphone placement, and adaptation of jazz literature. Schools in each class are ranked, and Garrigan is hoping for one of the top ratings among the small schools competing. Good luck to director David Fog and the vocal jazz ensemble.

This morning Bishop Garrigan is hosting an International Math League competition. Students from as far away as Waverly will be on hand for the event. Competitors will spend the morning solving math problems, both individually and in groups. Good luck in their home meet to Coach David Burrow and the math team!

Tonight is your last chance to catch the 2019 Bishop Garrigan spring play. This year’s show is called One Foggy Christmas Eve, and it tells of people who are stuck at an airport on their way home during the holidays. Curtain time is 7pm, so be sure to come out to Garrigan for the spring play.

Our Senior Spotlight this week shines on Billy Erpelding. Here to tell you about him is Jack Snyder.

Billy Erpelding is part of the cast of tonight’s spring play. It’s more likely, though, that you’ve heard about him from his success as a lineman in football. Billy is also active in trapshooting and intramurals, and he used to be in track. He’s on the student council, and he was also part of the school mission trip to Mississippi earlier this year. Billy is headed to Iowa State next fall, and we wish him all the best in the future.

Thankss, On our Golden Bear calendar today there’s a math competition at Garrigan. Then tonight is the final performance of the BGHS spring play.

Monday there’s All-State speech in Cedar Falls, with Jordan Hansen performing around 10:15. We’ll have a school mass on Wednesday, and—weather permitting—CYO track is scheduled for that day. : Girls track is scheduled to compete in the Algona Early Bird Relays on Thursday. Then next Saturday the quiz bowl team will be competing in a tournament at Central Academy in Des Moines.

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.