The Bear Facts
November 17, 2012
Good morning! I’m Alisa Kirsch!
I’m Harli Eggers!
And I’m Angelica Brosnan! Thanks for joining us for the “Bear Facts”. Happy Thanksgiving from everyone here at Bishop Garrigan High School.
One of the things we’re thankful for this year is the success of Garrigan senior Sean Dyson in Special Olympics. Last month Sean won a blue ribbon in bowling at the regional meet in Mason City, and he earned the right to advance to state. Sean is down in Des Moines today for state Special Olympics bowling, and we wish him the best of luck. Go, Sean!
Three members of the Golden Bear football spirit squad were received statewide honors this past week. Noelle Vitzthum, Melissa Kellner, and Hannah Boisjolie performed twice yesterday at the state football championships. This is an honor reserved to the top individual cheerleaders in the state. Congratulations to them and to cheerleading sponsor Erin Miller.
Also this past week we had the annual induction ceremony for the National Honor Society. NHS is a group that honors students who excel in scholarship, leadership, character, and service. Newly installed this year were senior Nicole Grein and juniors Corey Weydert, Vanessa Arndorfer, Nicole Behr, Erin Quinlin, Aisha Miller, Levi Bernhard, and Chris Loss. Other new members include Brittany Kirsch, Sabrina Book, Nick Bronk, Taylor Hovey, Anna Hohmeister, Kristin Condoleon, Jake Hamilton, and Kara Eischen.
There are also sixteen second-year National Honor Society Members. Among them are President Shawn Vaske, Vice President Aubrie Meyers, Secretary Amelia Golwitzer, treasurer Allison Frideres, and also Jamie Baumann, Hannah Byrkeland, Noelle Vitzthum,. Erica Carlson, and Erin Reedy. The rest of the NHS group is made up of Matthew Fakler, Dustin Miller, Grace Steil, Makayla Foertsch, Melanie Mergen, Logan Kumm, and Jake Kollasch. Congratulations to all the National Honor Society honorees.
This weekend the All-State Music Festival is being held at Iowa State University. This year two Garrigan choir members earned all state honors. Senior Shawn Vaske and junior Jakob Hamilton are down in Ames for the event. They’ve been rehearsing as part of a group of honored musicians from all over Iowa, and tonight they’ll present a formal concert. You can see the all-state concert on Iowa Public Television several times over Thanksgiving weekend. Congratulations to Jake and Shawn on making all-state!
Next Wednesday, November 21, is the Feast of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary. That’s the feast day of the Sisters of the Presentation, a group that has served the Algona area Catholic schools throughout their history. For more than thirty years Sr. Janet Goetz
has been the registrar at Bishop Garrigan. She keeps track of report cards and transcripts. We wish Sister Janet and all the Presentation Sisters a happy feast day, and we thank them for the service they’ve given to our school.
One week after Thanksgiving the danz squad will head down to Des Moines for state. Garrigan has a long history of success in dance, and we’re hoping to do well again this year. The 2012 BGHS danz squad includes Hannah Boisjolie, Makayla Foertsch, Sam Kollasch, Paige Berte, as well as Logan Kumm, Cassidy Vitzthum, Kaitlyn Fogarty, and Kassidy Schiltz.
Anna Hohmeister, Megan Lappe, Patricia Brandt, and Mallory Schiltz are also part of this year’s danz squad, and rounding out the group are McKaila Cink, Kylie Fox, Sophia Grandgenett, and Hailey Kollasch. The team managers are Melissa Kellner and Morgan Hannah. Good luck at state to Coach Colleen Conway-Schiltz and the danz squad!
Our Senior Spotlight for Thanksgiving shines on Hannah Byrkeland and Andrew Eden. Here to tell you about her is Keni Roethler.
Hannah Byrkeland is an Algona native who has won awards in both softball and volleyball. She’s also part of the Christian Leadership in Action group, and she’s a two-year member of National Honor Society. Hannah wants to study Athletic Training after high school, and she’s looking at going to Coe College in Cedar Rapids. Best wishes, Hannah!
Andrew Eden has family in both the Algona and Forest City areas. He enjoys working on the publications staff, and another of his favorite activities is intramural basketball. Andrew also enjoys target shooting, and he’s in the crowd cheering on the Bears for other activities. Andrew will be off to college next fall, and we wish him the very best of luck.
Thanks, Keni Roethler! Because of Thanksgiving, we have two weeks of events on our Golden Bear calendar. This weekend there’s a Search retreat at Garrigan. Sean Dyson bowls at state today, and tonight is the concert for the All-State Music Festival.
Monday the girls basketball team plays at North Union. Then on Tuesday the girls host Clarion—Goldfield. Wednesday we’ll have a special mass honoring our deceased alumni, beginning at 9:00 in the Garrigan gym.
We’ll dismiss at 2:15 Wednesday afternoon, and there’s no school next Thursday or Friday because of the holiday. The boys basketball team has a jamboree at Estherville Friday night.
Monday the 26th the boys basketball team hosts North Union. Then on Tuesday the 27th there’s a boy/girl quad at Ft. Dodge St. Edmond.
We’ll have a school mass on Wednesday the 28th. Then on the 29th and 30th there’s state dance down in Des Moines. Also on the 30th the Bears will host Eagle Grove. The cross-country game will serve a supper during the games.
That’s the “Bear Facts” for November. We’ll be off next week because of the Thanksgiving holiday, but be sure to join us on December 1st, when we’ll be back with all the news from Bishop Garrigan High School.
|