The Bear Facts
April 16, 2011
Good morning! I’m Kristin Berte!
I’m Anna Kollasch!
And I’m Michael Fakler! This is the “Bear Facts”, the weekly radio show from
Bishop Garrigan High School.
Gala 2011 was certainly a memorable event. The “Deep Blue” decorations were
gorgeous, and the meal was awesome, but for both guests and workers the most
memorable part of the night was probably when the tornado sirens sounded and we
ended up taking shelter in the locker rooms. That wasn’t quite the way the
planners envisioned the evening would end, but it definitely did make this
year’s Gala different from all the others.
In spite of the weather, this year’s Gala broke all previous records and was the
top single fundraiser ever in school history. The final totals are still being
tallied, but we know the event took in more than $290,000—almost 40,000 more
than last year’s record income. All of the auctions and games of chance were
well supported, but the biggest donations were for “cash for the
classrooms”—donations that directly benefit students and teachers, with nothing
going back to the donors.
Gala set another record, too. This year’s sell-out crowd had included almost
four hundred guests. A new floor arrangement managed to accommodate more people
while actually providing more space between the tables. Thanks to everyone who
attended and helped support our school through Gala 2011!
Last Saturday was a very busy day at Garrigan. In addition to Gala, dozens of
students were busy during the day competing at the State Solo and Small Ensemble
Music Contest. Garrigan hosted the contest, and our musicians had a very good
day. The band and choir students earned 26 Division I or superior ratings, 15
Division II or excellent ratings, and 4 division III or good ratings. None of
Garrigan’s entries was judged fair or poor, and three performances received
perfect scores.
Instrumental solos earning I’s include Alex Hamilton on trombone, Jake Hamilton
on trumpet, Philip Detrick and Nick Bronk on alto saxophone, Anna Kollasch on
snare drum, Sean Hart on guitar, Brittany Kirsch on flute. Also receiving I’s
were the percussion duet of Anna Kollasch and Nora Krahenbulh; and an
eight-member percussion choir with Sean Hart, Melanie Mergen, Kayla Blocker,
Dustin Miller, Jenny Broesder, Nora Krahenbuhl, Anna Kollasch, and Matthew
Fakler.
On the vocal side, soloists Nick Bronk, Nora Krahenbuhl, Anna Kollasch, Becky
Jennings, Alex Hamilton, Dustin Miller, Shawn Vaske, Neal Koob, Sarah Matthews,
John Richter, Philip Detrick, and Grace Steil all earned superior ratings. Also
earning I’s were the vocal duet of Philip Detrick and Shawn Vaske and the
madrigal ensemble with Nora Krahenbuhl, Hannah Bode, Sarah Mathews, Becky
Jennings, Anna Kollasch, Kelsie Berke, Kayla Blocker, Philip Detrick, John
Richter, Alex Hamilton, Michael Hellman, Jake Rosenmeyer, Drew Magill, and Shawn
Vaske.
The men’s double quartet also received a Division I. It featured John Richter,
Alex Matthews, Philip Detrick, Alex Hamilton, Jake Rosenmeyer, Michael Hellman,
Drew Magill, and Shawn Vaske. Another I went to the women’s triple trio with
Nora Krahenbuhl, Hannah Bode, Stephanie Kajweski, Becky Jennings, Sarah Metthews,
Kayla Blocker, Anna Kollasch, Kelsie Berke, and Alicia Richter.
The Bears’ final superior rating was earned by the chamber choir. That group
featured Hannah Bode, Nora Krahenbuhl, Lana Larson, Becky Jennings, Sarah
Matthews, Stephanie Kajewski, Anna Kollasch, Kelsie Berke, Harli Eggers, Kayla
Blocker, Amelia Golwitzer, and Alicia Richter; as well as John Richter, Corey
Weydert, Matthew Fakler, Alex Matthews, Philip Detrick, Jake Hamilton, Alex
Hamilton, Michael Hellman, Jake Rosenmeyer, Drew Magill, Shawn Vaske, Dustin
Miller, and Neal Koob.
The big news at solo and ensemble contest was that junior Philip Detrick
received an Outstanding Performance award for his vocal solo. This is a huge
accomplishment, because each music judge is allowed to name only one outstanding
performance in their center out of the entire day of competition.
Congratulations to Philip, to directors Ken and Linda Ferjak, and to all our
Garrigan musicians!
The Golden Bear math team has their biggest competition of the year, the state
competition in Iowa City. Seniors Alex Hamilton and Michael Fakler, juniors
Austin Salz, Jenny Broesder, and Craig Kohlhaas, and freshman Jake Hamilton all
qualified for state this year. Unfortunately not all will be able to compete
today. Good luck to Coach Daryl Kohlhaas and the math team!
Tonight is prom night, 2011. Class moderator Erin Miller and the juniors have
been busy all week transforming the gym into a beautiful setting for prom. The
juniors selected an unusual theme for this year’s event, “Welcome to the Farm”.
The decorations are as beautiful as ever, though, and we know everyone will have
a great time at prom.
The North Central Conference Art Show will be held next week in Clarion, and
several Garrigan students will be honored in the show. Art teacher Steve Brosnan
announced this week that Travis Cruise, Katie Miller, Zach Zittritsch, Sam
Evers, Mackenzie Eischen, Lizzy Hohmeister, Hannah Brykeland, and Rebecca
Richter were among those having their work featured in the show. Congratulations
to all these outstanding artists.
Our Senior Spotlight this week shines on Stephanie Kajewski. Here to tell you
about her is Aimee Dahlhauser.
You’ve already heard Steph Kajewski’s name several times on today’s show,
because she was one of the vocalists who earned superior marks at contest.
Stephanie has been in choir all through school, and she’s also active in speech
and drama, and she was on the first team in school history to qualify for state
in the Envirothon. In addition, she’s helped the band behind the scenes on band
day, and she’s helped with the annual Garrigan quiz bowl tournament. Stephanie
will be off to Kirkwood Community College in the fall, and we wish her all the
best after high school.
Thanks, Aimee! Because of the Easter holiday, we’ve got two weeks of events on
our Golden Bear calendar. Today is the state math competition in Iowa City, and
tonight there’s Prom 2011. The grand march will be at 8:30 in Friedmann
Auditorium.
Tomorrow is Palm Sunday. Then Monday Kayla Blocker, Steph Kajewski, Samantha
Cruise, Lana Larson, and Allison Frideres will be competing in the state
Envirothon at Guthrie Center.
There’s boys golf Monday night at Mallard, and girls golf at West Bend. Tuesday
the girls track team runs at Belmond, and the boys will be at Belmond. Wednesday
the quiz bowl team competes in the Knowledge Master.
The golf teams face St. Ed’s on Wednesday, and that night Christian Leadership
students will have an overnight retreat. We’ll have a morning of reflection on
Holy Thursday, and then we’ll dismiss early for the Easter holiday.
There’s no school activities between Good Friday and Easter Sunday. On Easter
Monday we’ll have the intramural championship at 3:00pm.
School starts up again on Tuesday the 236th. We’ll elect next year’s student
council presidents that day. That night the golfers take on Webster City and
Hampton Dumont, there’s boys track in Emmetsburg, and the girls run at Forest
City.
Wednesday the 27th there’s CYO golf. The boys will be in Alton, and the girls
are at Breda. Thirty-three speech and music students will be on a field trip
that day to see Jesus Christ, Superstar at the Chanhassen Theatre.
There’s class president elections on Thursday the 28th, and that night the track
teams run in Armstrong. Then on Friday the 29th the golf teams take on Clarion
Goldfield.
That’s the “Bear Facts” for this week. We’ll be off next weekend for Easter, but
be sure to join us again on April 30th when we’ll be back with more news from
Bishop Garrigan High School.
JR4-14-11
