Good morning! I'm Rachel Studer!
And I'm Melanie McGuire! Welcome once again to the "Bear Facts," where each week we keep you informed about all the news from Bishop Garrigan High School.
While the talk of the town this week has been the Algona Bulldogs' performance in state basketball, we've got a number of things to brag about here at Garrigan, too. Topping the list is the Golden Bear danz squad, which last week performed in the National Dance Competition in San Diego. Forty-seven of the top dance teams from all over the nation competed, and we're proud to say that our own Bishop Garrigan girls ended up in the sweet sixteen. After a great preliminary and a flawless performance in the finals, they ranked number 15 nationwide. Congratulations to the whole danz squad!
Last weekend was also a successful one for the Golden Bear quiz bowl team. They competed at the Northeast Hamilton Quiz Bowl in Blairsburg. Two teams represented BGHS in the tournament, and both of them made it to the play-offs. The top team included Captain Jennifer Reinhart, Angela Kohlhaas, Ellie Reising, Rebecca McGuire, and Lynn Kohlhaas. They had a 7-1 record after the preliminary rounds, with their only loss coming to Class 4-A Ames High School. The girls were seeded sixth going into the play-offs, and they won their first play-off game. Then in the quarter-finals they faced Fort Dodge Senior High. At the end of the game, the score was tied 160-160. It took five tie-breaker questions to settle the outcome, with Fort Dodge eventually winning in a heartbreaker.
The other Garrigan team included Captain Mike Reel, Mark Anderson, Rachel Studer, and Adam Foertsch. They had a 6-2 record after the preliminaries, for a seventh seed in the play-offs. They eventually lost to Hampton/Dumont. The Bears' next quiz bowl action will be just over a month from now, on April 24, when they play in the Wapsie Valley Invitational Tournament at Fairbank, Iowa. Congratulations to all our quiz bowl players!
Another group that was very successful recently was the BGHS Varsity Math Team. They competed two weeks ago at the University of Iowa High School Math Tournament and managed to qualify for the Iowa Math League State Championship. The team included senior Abby Rahm and sophomores Angela and Lynn Kohlhaas. Angie was recognized for having the highest individual score by a sophomore in both the Sprint and Target rounds of the competition.
Making it to state really is an honor, especially since most of the schools that compete in the math league are big-city high schools like Dubuque Walhert, Cedar Rapids Washington, Fort Dodge Senior, and City High of Iowa City. Garrigan was the second smallest of the eighteen schools in the University of Iowa competition. The Bears also had a junior varsity team at the tournament, which consisted of freshmen Bob Brandenburg, Jennifer Faber, and Rebecca McGuire.
Today is a big day for the Golden Bear speech team. Eleven Garrigan students were up early this morning to head to Storm Lake for the state individual speech contest. In the Poetry category, Jake Kohlhaas will be performing "The Spell of the Yukon", Wade MacDonald will read "The Ballad of William Sycamore", and Dan Bormann is presenting "The Ballad of Blasphemous Bill". In Literary Program, Janet Kramer will present prose and poetry on the theme "God Guides Us", while Julie McGuire interprets "Views of Death". Mandy Rahm will present the Prose selection "Guys", while Marian Studer's prose piece is called "The Waltz".
In the Storytelling category, Katie Reising is presenting a Chinese tale called "The Living Kuan-Yin" and Amanda Freking is telling about "The Song and Dance Man". Angie Kohlhaas is entered in Acting with "The Little Red Shovel". In Improvisational Acting, Jake Kohlhaas and Tony Detrick will perform, and the final Garrigan entry is Amanda Freking in Radio News Announcing. Good luck to Coaches Mary McCall and David Burrow and all the Golden Bear speech performers. Break a leg, everyone!
Many of the speech performers will also be busy a week from now, when the BGHS Drama Department presents their annual spring play. This year's production is Arsenic and Old Lace, the tale of two sweet old ladies who just happen to enjoy murdering people. Those darling elderly women will be played by Amanda Freking and Angie Weber. Other cast members include Brandon Donahe, Tyler Struck, Rachel Studer, Josh Kohlhaas, and Wade MacDonald. Rounding out the cast are Dennis Gisch, Marian Studer, Bob Brandenburg, Angie Kohlhaas, Paul Loebach, Jake Kohlhaas, and Michael Loebach.
Director Sue Ney has been working with the cast for nearly two months, and it should be an excellent show. The performances will be next Friday and Saturday, March 26 and 27, in Friedmann Auditorium here at BGHS. Curtain time is promptly at 7:30pm. So be sure to catch the drama event of the season, Arsenic and Old Lace right here on the Garrigan stage.
This week's Senior Spotlight shines on Tracey Fickbohm and Julie Henkelvig. Here to tell you about them is Doug Besch.
From time to time you may have heard Tracey Fickbohm bringing you the news here on the "Bear Facts." Over the years, Tracey has been involved in speech, art, choir, basketball, Model UN, and health occupations. Tracey is an honor student who will be off to college next year. We wish her all the best in the future.
Julie Henkelvig has also been involved in lots of activities over the years. Among them are speech, Model UN, softball, choir, band, publications, and pep club. Julie is an Algona native who will also be attending college next year. We wish her the very best of luck.
Thanks, Doug! On our Golden Bear calendar this week, there's state speech contest in Storm Lake. And, of couse, we wish good luck to the Bulldogs in their basketball game today.
Tomorrow the basketball action will be here at Garrigan, where we'll have the intramural semi-finals. David Monson's sophomores, who upset Josh Kohlhaas' seniors last week, will take on the top-seeded Screaming Stus. In tomorrow's late game, the Fire Ants and Eric Becker's team will have a re-match for junior bragging rights.
Monday the fourth quarter begins. Then on Tuesday, we'll have eighth grade day, as the Class of 2003 gets their orientation to the halls of Garrigan.
Thursday we'll have a jeans day at Garrigan, and the HOSA group will leave for the state leadership conference. Then next Friday and Saturday the curtain will go up on Arsenic and Old Lace.
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.
