The Bear Facts
February 11, 2012
Good morning! I’m Austin Salz!
I’m John Richter!
And I’m Alex Boisjolie! Thanks for joining us for the 794th weekly episode of the “Bear Facts”, the radio show from Bishop Garrigan High School.
Last weekend the Golden Bear speech team went over to Spencer for the state large group speech contest. Garrigan had a really good day at state, with more than 70% of our entries receiving Division One or “Excellent” ratings. Jake Hamilton, Sean Hart, and Corey Weydert got a “I” in Improvisation, while Amelia Golwitzer and Matthew Fakler earned a “I” in Ensemble Acting. In Musical Theatre an excellent rating went to Philip Detrick, Shawn Vaske, Neal Koob, and Alex Matthews.
Also earning Division One ratings were Austin Salz, Sam Evers, and John Richter in Short Film and Logan Kumm, Makayla Foertsch, and Hannah Boisjolie in Group Mime. In addition to the five “Excellent” ratings, the Bears also took home two Division Two or “Good” ratings from state contest—one in Ensemble Acting and the other in Improvisation.
Last weekend was also a success for Garrigan junior Dustin Miller. Dustin earned top honors in the regional piano competition. The contest involves playing four different memorized solo pieces and also taking a test on music theory. He now advances to the state competition in March. Congratulations, Dustin!
Another Garrigan junior who did well last weekend was Sean Dyson. Sean was part of the Special Olympics basketball competition in Forest City, and he ended up taking home a red ribbon for second place in the contest. We congratulate Sean and wish him well in his other contests throughout the year.
Today seven Golden Bears are down in Ames for a Great Plains Math League contest hosted by Iowa State University. Jenny Broesder, Allison Frideres, and Jake Hamilton make up the Bears’ varsity team today, while Brittany Krisch, Zach Kollasch, Tony Kollasch, and Dorothy Kirsch are competing at the JV level.
Math competition involves taking lots of difficult tests. Some are taken individually, while on others the competitors work together as a team. Two Golden Bears—Craig Kohlhaas and Dorothy Kirsch—have already qualified for state math this year, and we’re hoping for more success from the math team today.
There was another big math test this past week. Students in the school’s accelerated math program took the AMC-12, a twenty-five question test that features mostly college-level mathematics. Even with that tough material, Garrigan’s top scorer on this year’s test turned out to be a freshman, Andrew Miller. Others placing near the top included Kaitlyn Fogarty, Emily Riesenberg, Jenny Broesder, Dorothy Kirsch, Dustin Miller, Zach Kollasch, Betty Straub, Allison Frideres, Amelia Golwitzer, Jake Hamilton, Alex Boisjolie, and Craig Kohlhaas. Congratulations to all these top math students!
Intramural basketball is half over. So far the top team overall features Dillon Walker, Connor Garman, Colton Carroll, Jake Kollasch, Jonathan Berte, and Andrew McGuire—though other teams will tell you that’s just because that team hasn’t gone up against the faculty team yet. The faculty team is officially in second place, while Andrew Eden, Luke Eischen, Alex Boisjolie, Terrenze Franklin, Daniel Gelhaus, and Sarah McCall are in third.
Andrew McGuire became the first intramuraler in 2012 to go over 100 points, when he added another 30 last weekend. Other top scorers include Alex Boisjolie, Mark Meister, Sam Evers, Daniel Gelhaus, Charlie Thilges, Jake Kollasch, Jonathan Berte, and Abbey Reding. The regular season for intramurals continues through mid-March, and the playoffs will be April Fools Day.
Basketball playoffs are here. The Golden Bear girls began their playoff run last Thursday when they took on Laurens—Marathon. Their second round of regionals will also be at Garrigan next Tuesday night. The boys drew a tough district, but they’re hoping to start out strong when they travel to Manson for the district opener next Thursday. Their playoff bracket also includes the defending state champions from Storm Lake St. Mary’s. Good luck all through playoffs to the Golden Bears!
Our Senior Spotlight this week shines on Terrenze Franklin. Here to tell you about him is Craig Kohlhaas.
Terrenze Franklin is one of a handful of Garrigan students who isn’t Catholic, This Algona native participates in all our school’s religious activities, but on weekends he goes to the Methodist church. Terrenze was named Player of the Week in intramural basketball a week ago. He’s also a hard-working member of the Golden Bear football and track teams, and he’s been part of Christian Leadership in Action. Terrenze already has several college credits under his belt, so he’ll have a head start in the fall. We wish him all the best in the future.
Thanks, Craig. On our Golden Bear calendar, there’s a math contest today at Iowa State. Then tomorrow intramurals continue. Tuesday is Valentine’s Day, and we’ll have a jeans day that day to raise money for after-prom.
The second round of girls regionals is Tuesday night, and it’s hosted right here at Garrigan. Wednesday we’ll dismiss early for teacher inservice. Then Thursday the boys basketball team will begin playoffs at Manson—Northwest Webster.
Girls regionals continue on Friday, and next Saturday is the large group All-State Speech Festival in Ames.
That’s the “Bear Facts” for this week. Thanks for joining us, and be sure to tune in again next week for more news from Bishop Garrigan High School.