Good morning! I'm Rosalind Kirsch!
I'm Mandy Rahm!
And I'm Sarah Erdman! Welcome once again to the "Bear Facts", where we're getting ready for GALA 2001 here at Bishop Garrigan High School.
For a decade now, GALA has been the biggest fundraiser of the year for the Bishop Garrigan school system. Last year's GALA netted almost $200,000 to help with the operation of the schools, and we hope that this year's event will do at least that well. The fun starts next Friday night with a special preview party, where guests can admire the special decorations. Then on Saturday the hors d'oeuvres begin at 5:30, followed by the special GALA meal, with the live and silent auctions. We'll tell you more about GALA 2001 on next week's "Bear Facts" show.
The GALA theme this year is "728 Points of Light", and it's designed to honor each one of the 728 students at Garrigan and Seton. Many of those students were letting their light shine last weekend. Among them were the members of the Garrigan math team, who took first place in a
regional math competition at Dordt College in Sioux Center. The Bears were tops among seven schools competing. Angie Kohlhaas won the Target Round, and her brother John Kohlhaas was first among the freshmen.
The Garrigan junior team of Rebecca McGuire, Chris Kohlhaas, and Cathy Hellman was the only one out of 18 teams to score points in the Relay Round. In the Sprint Round, where speed is everything, Steven Kellner took second place overall. Other Garrigan students who placed include Lynn Kohlhaas, Chris Kohlhaas, Jeff Hellman, Jennifer Faber, and Eric Cassman. Congratulations to them, and to their coach, Mr. Daryl
Kohlhaas!
Another group of Garrigan students also took top honors last weekend. That was
HOSA, the Health Occupations Students of America. Tricia Eischen, Melissa Lancaster, Jamie Loebig, and Ashley Thompson earned first place in the Biomedical Debate category at the state HOSA conference. They were debating whether animal organs should be transplanted into humans, and they completely overwhelmed the competition. Tricia Eischen also finished second in Medical Math.
The other HOSA group to medal was the Creative Problem Solving team of Deanna Kohlhaas, Brittany Weir, and Bethany Weir. They ended up third in the state overall. All seven of these girls now qualify for the National HOSA Leadership Conference, which will be held in Atlanta, Georgia, June 10 through 17. Congratulations to them and to health instructor Jeanne Wunder on another excellent place at state
HOSA!
Four other students will be performing next Monday at the All-State Speech Festival at UNI in Cedar Falls. Angie Kohlhaas will present her literary program on war, Bob Brandenburg will give an after-dinner address on parents, and Marian Studer and Keshar Nadkarni will read their poetry selections-both of which are modern adaptations of traditional children's stories. Four is the most entries Garrigan has ever had at All-State; in fact our little school has one percent of all the All-Staters in Iowa. Congratulations to all of them, and to speech coaches Mary McCall and David Burrow.
There's one more All-Stater to talk about, too. Senior Brad Nelson was recently named to the second team all state in Class 2-A boys' basketball. All-State is nothing new to Brad, who has statewide honors at least four times before and was even named an All-American in baseball. Still, it's a big honor for anyone to be named to All-State, and we're all proud of Brad's accomplishments here at Garrigan.
This week's Senior Spotlight shines on two Whittemore natives-Jason Besch and Greg
Besch.
Out of all the activities available at Garrigan, Jason Besch has been involved in choir. This year he spends much of his day away from school, taking specialized automotive classes through Iowa Lakes Community College. These should help him prepare for a career, and we wish him all the best in the future.
You probably know Greg Besch best as an All-District defensive lineman on the Golden Bear football team. Greg has also been active in intramurals for four years, he's president of his 4-H club, and he's also been involved in track. Greg plans to attend a community college next year, and we wish him all the best.
On our Golden Bear calendar, the quiz bowl team is in action today down in Boone today. Then tomorrow Daylight Savings Time Begins, so be sure to spring ahead as you start April.
Monday four students will be honored at the All-State Speech Festival in Cedar Falls. Then on Tuesday, track season begins, with the girls running at Clear Lake.
Thursday the area priests will be at the Chrism mass in Sioux City. Then on Friday we start the festivities for GALA 2001. The preview party starts at 5pm, for special invited guests, and the general public is welcome to check things out from 6:30 to 8:00.
Next Saturday there's girls golf, with the Garrigan invitational. At 4pm Saturday we'll have a special mass for all the GALA workers. Then that night all 728 points of light will shine as we celebrate GALA 2001.
That's the "Bear Facts" for March. Thanks for listening, and be sure to tune in again next week for more news from Bishop Garrigan High School.
