Good morning! I'm Chris Scobba!
And I'm Marisa Spain! Welcome to the five hundred ninety-seventh weekly episode of the "Bear Facts", where for the past fourteen years we've been bringing you all the news from Bishop Garrigan High School.
We finished up our calendar drive at Garrigan a week ago, and last Friday we gave out the awards to the top sellers. Once again the #1 seller was our Homecoming king, Brian Capesius, who sold seventy-nine of the $25 calendars. Casey Arndorfer was second overall, followed by Bridget Murphy, Brian Patterson, Megan Hilbert, and Brandi Roethler. The top seller at Seton was Paige Fox. All the proceeds from the calendar drive go to the school's transportation fund, which helps to buy buses and suburbans to take us to sports and activities. If no one contacted you during the calendar drive, you can still contact the Garrigan development office to get your raffle calendar.
Last weekend Mr. Beany Bode took a group of Garrigan's Advanced Biology students on an extended field trip to southwest Iowa and eastern Nebraska. They visited the Omaha Zoo, went hiking in the Loess (LESS) Hills, camped overnight in the DeSoto Wildlife Refuge, and explored the ruins of the wrecked steamship Bertrand. Everyone enjoyed the trip and got a lot out of it.
Meanwhile a group of Garrigan art and music students headed northward to Shakopee for a trip to the Minnesota Renaissance Festival. Those who went said it was a really cool trip. Things they remember include the king and queen, people fencing, giant turkey legs, and actors in enormous puppet outfits. Art teacher Steve Brosnan and choir director Denis Greenfield supervised the trip
If you walk down the halls at Garrigan this fall, you'll see yellow signs on almost every locker. That's because the Golden Bear spirit squad has been busy putting up locker decorations, not just for sports but for all the different fall activities. Colleen Schiltz and Julie Illg are in charge of the spirit squad, which includes Candace Schiltz, Megan Boever, Stephanie Kollasch, Melanie Myers, and Kendra Plathe; as well as Holly Byrkeland, Beth Kollasch, Meghan Mayer, Kristina Schiltz, Molly Brashear, Katrina Even, Katelyn Renger, and Kayla Schiltz. Thanks for their work to the spirit squad.
There's always something new to check out on the Garrigan website. In just the past week more than seventy-five pages have been added or updated. Garrigan was one of the first schools in America to go online. Our website was first created in 1995 by Tim Mosbach as a project for the gifted and talented program. Today technology coordinator Sarah Freking teaches a class in web design, and one of the big differences between our website and what other schools have is that our site is designed by and for students. It's loaded with pictures that give you a good look at everything that goes on here at Garrigan. You can check out the website by heading to garrigan dot unlimitedweb dot net.
Next week we'll begin the ITEDs, the Iowa Tests of Educational Development. Since Congress passed the No Child Left Behind Act, the ITEDs have become more important, because schools have to report their scores and show improvement from year to year. That can be tough for a school like Garrigan, where our scores were already high before they passed the new law. We'll take one test a day over the next couple of weeks, starting with English and working our way through math, social studies, and science. Good luck to everyone on the ITEDs.
Our Senior Spotlight this week shines on Emily Funk. Here to tell you about her is Rachel Byrkeland.
Emily Funk has been named "Athlete of the Week" as a volleyball captain, and she's also lettered in track. She has written for the Paw Prints newspaper, she's active in Christian Leadership in Action, and she serves as a Eucharistic minister for school masses. When she's not at Garrigan, you might see Emily working at Premier Pizza or Sheree's Hallmark. Next year she plans to major in biology at Iowa State University, and she'd like a career as an ecologist. We wish Emily the very best of luck.
Thanks, Rachel! On our Golden Bear calendar today the varsity volleyball team is hosting the Bishop Garrigan tournament this morning. Monday ITEDs begin. That night the cross-country team runs in the Algona meet at the Whittemore Golf Club.
Also on Monday there's JV football, with the Bears hosting Mason City Newman. Tuesday the band will have a special afternoon rehearsal session. That's also school picture day. Tuesday night the volleyball team travels to Eagle Grove and the freshman football players go to Clarion.
Wednesday we'll have a special assembly on vocations. Then on Thursday the volleyball team hosts Webster City for Senior Night. Friday night the football team is home vs. North Central Manly, and then next Saturday is Algona Band Day.
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.
