Good morning! I'm Michael Loebach!
And I'm Mike McAlpine! You're listening to the "Bear Facts", the radio show that keeps you in touch with everything that's news at Bishop Garrigan High School.
Last week we finished up the annual BGHS magazine drive. Sales were down quite a bit this year-which is not really a surprise, given the economy. We're happy to say that we managed to meet the school goal, though, with a total sale of about $11,500. The senior class was by far the top class in sales, with 134% of their goal. The sophomores also met their goal, and those two classes helped to overcome some slow sales from the freshmen and juniors. Jeff Vaske was once again the top seller overall, and this makes the sixth straight year that a member of his Bancroft family has held that honor. Mark Meister took second place in sales, with Justin Fickbohm third. Thanks to everyone who helped to make the magazine drive a success!
Last weekend several members of the Golden Bear danz squad competed at the state individual dance competition in Pella, and they had a very successful day. Maria Erpelding took home a trophy for finishing in fifth place overall in the small school division. In addition to Maria, Nikki Loebig and Monica Studer also earned Division I ratings for their dance routines at state. Congratulations on a great start to the season to Coach Colleen Conway-Schiltz and all the Golden Bear danz squad.
The BGHS quiz bowl team was also busy last weekend. They were across town competing in the Algona High quiz bowl tournament. After the preliminary rounds, Garrigan was the only school to have two teams advance to the play-offs. Both Golden Bear teams had 7 wins and just 1 loss on the day. The team of Chris Kohlhaas, Autumn Thompson, Mike McAlpine, and David Murphy lost to the eventual champions in the quarter-finals-so they finished in fifth place overall in the tournament. John Kohlhaas, Matt Courtney, Bob Brandenburg, Mandy Rahm, and Steven Kellner also fell in play-offs, but they also had an excellent day. Congratulations on another good outing to the quiz bowl team!
There's more quiz bowl action this morning. For the fourth straight week and the fifth time this year, the Bears are competing with their brains. They left early this morning for the Little Dutch Quiz Bowl at MOC/Floyd Valley High School in Orange City. There are both varsity and JV competitions at Orange City. Sophomore John Kohlhaas will be the varsity captain today. Joining him on the team are seniors Rebecca McGuire, Mike McAlpine, Mandy Rahm, and Adam Rahm, and freshman Matt Courtney. The JV team includes captain Chris Kohlhaas, a senior, as well as juniors Autumn Thompson and Eric Fouarge; and sophomores Tyler Rolling, Amber Golwitzer, and Rachel McGuire. Good luck to Coach David Burrow and all the quiz bowl team!
Our Senior Spotlight this week shines on Steve Goede and Greg Fowler. Here to tell you about them is
Chis Kohlhaas.
Steve Goede is an fun-loving native of Algona. His biggest school activity is golf, but he also enjoys intramural
basketball, and he's one of the loudest fans in the crowd at football games. He enjoys classes like Applied Math, and when he's not at school Steve loves spending time with his friends. Steve will be a college man next year, and we wish him all the best.
Greg Fowler is also an Algona native. He spent three years running cross-country in the fall, but this year he went out for the Golden Bear
football team, and he even saw some playing time toward the end of the season. Greg is also active in
track, and he also likes
intramural
basketball. Greg will be off to college in the fall, and we wish him good luck.
Thanks! On this week's Golden Bear calendar, there's quiz bowl today in Orange City. Then tomorrow there's the awards banquet for cross-country. Also tomorrow is the Rite of Welcome for students in the confirmation program.
Monday afternoon there's National Honor Society induction, and Monday night boys' basketball practice begins. Then Tuesday night the girls' basketball team will play in a jamboree at Corwith Wesley
Luverne.
Wednesday many students will be taking a field trip to the Mall of America
as one of their rewards from the calendar drive last August. Parent/teacher conferences will be next Wednesday and Thursday nights. Garrigan's conferences will be held at the Rochleau Center at St. Cecelia's. Then next Friday there's no school at Garrigan or Seton.
Finally this week we'd like to offer a special prayer on behalf of everyone at Garrigan for former English teacher Amanda Stewart. Mrs. Stewart was diagnosed with cancer earlier this year. She was in New York for surgery during the World Trade Center disaster, and she is now receiving ambitious chemotherapy treatments. There will be a healing service for Mrs. Stewart this weekend at the Baptist church, and many of us who were her former students will be attending. We all want Mrs. Stewart to know we're keeping her in our prayers, and we support her in her recovery.
That's the "Bear Facts" for this week. We'll be back next Saturday with a special Thanksgiving episode with more news from Bishop Garrigan High School.
