THE BEAR FACTS
April 6, 2024


Good morning! I’m Violet Bode!

I’m Ben Greteman!

And I’m Abbie Capesius! Thanks for joining us for another episode of the “Bear Facts”, the radio show where each week we update you on all the news from Bishop Garrigan High School.

Tonight is prom night 2024. The junior have been busy all week turning the old gym into a ballroom. This year’s prom theme is “Night at the Museum”, and the decorations will be based around the famous movie. Doors open at 7pm, and the grand march starts at 8:00. Prom continues through the night, and then the after-prom activities will continue until around 2:30am.

Last week five Garrigan seniors competed in the regional Envirothon. This is a science competition where students work together to take tests in the fields of forestry, aquatics, soils, and wildlife. Abbie Capesius was the captain of this year’s team, and her teammates were Nick Laubenthal, Zach Warren, Ethan Kuper, and Logan Nemmers.

The regional Envirothon was a virtual competition with the answers submitted online. The Bishop Garrigan team scored 74, which placed them third in northwest Iowa and qualified them for the state Envirothon. State will be held at the end of the month at Jester Park near Ankeny. Congratulations to science teacher Beany Bode and the whole Envirothon team!

Unfortunately Zach Warren won’t be able to join his teammates at the state Envirothon. That’s because he’s one of two Garrigan students who will be heading to the Anaheim area for the National DECA competition. DECA is an organization that highlights business skills, and Brooke Ludwig will be joining Zach in heading to California for nationals. Business teacher Alex Schwing will be accompanying the students to the national contest April 27 – 30.

Last Wednesday three Garrigan quiz bowl players competed in the spring 3—2—1 online contest. This was the smallest group the Bears have had entered in the 3—2—1, but they still ended up doing well. The team of Zach Warren, Scott Bormann, and Brendan Plathe had an overall score of 230 points. We’ll know later in the month how they compared to other schools in Iowa and around the country.

A couple weeks ago we previewed the seasons for the golf and track teams. There’s two other spring sports, though, that usually don’t get as much attention. One of those is trapshooting, which has started their practices at the Izaak Walton League. This years trapshooting team includes Scott Bormann, Wyatt Rosenmeyer, Blaire Becker, Andrew Lichter, and Nick Thul; plus Ethan Marso, Keegan Berte, Sawyer Herrick, Konnor Kramer, Kollyn Wiemers, Gibson Menke, Hailee Reutzel, Weston Rosenmeyer, and Noah Berte. Good luck, trapshooters!

The archery team has also been busy practicing, and they’ll be heading to competitions all over the upper Midwest. Senior Nathaniel Darling is at the core of the archery team. Others on the team include Alaina Bormann, Caelum Blocker, Corbin Darling, Sawyer Herrick, and Weston Ehlers. Best wishes to the archery team!

Next Monday, weather permitting, Garrigan will be hosting our home track meet. The BGHS meet is a coed event, with both boys and girls competing. It takes a lot of volunteers to run a track meet. More than forty adults will be helping out with things, and the junior high track teams will be helping as well. Thanks to all the volunteers, and good luck to the track teams in their home meet.

A lot more volunteers will be helping out next weekend, when Bishop Garrigan hosts the 35th Gala fundraiser celebration. Each year Gala brings in hundreds of thousands of dollars to help keep our school going. This year’s Gala theme is “A Winning Tradition”, with the decorations based on the Kentucky Derby. There will be 300 guests at the event, and nearly as many volunteers will be helping out behind the scenes.

Our Senior Spotlight this week shines on Ben Greteman. Here to tell you about him is our special guest star, Sam Plathe.

With golf season here, it’s time to salute Ben Greteman. Ben has competed in golf all through school, and in addition to the school team he’s participated in junior PGA events. Ben also plays basketball, and he’s kept stats for football. Ben is one of Garrigan’s top quiz bowl players. He’ll be heading to nationals in New Orleans this summer. He was also a DECA national qualifier, and he helps as a stage manager at school plays. Ben will be off to college next year, and we wish him all the best in the future.

Thanks. On our Golden Bear calendar this week, there’s prom tonight at Garrigan. Monday the Golden Bears will be hosting their home track meet, and that night there’s also a coed golf meet at Lake Mills.

We’ll have mass Tuesday morning. The sophomores will be at Iowa Lakes that day for a career day, and Tuesday night there’s girls track at Algona High.

Next Wednesday and Thursday the seniors will have their retreat at Okoboji. Thursday the Bears host a golf triangular with North Union and Forest City, and there’s also boys track at Lake Mills that night.

Next Friday the boys track team runs at Estherville, and there’s the Gala preview party that night. Saturday there’s state solo and ensemble music contest, and finally that night we’ll welcome guests for Gala 2024.

That’s the “Bear Facts” for another week. Thanks for joining us, and be sure to catch the show again next week for more news from Bishop Garrigan High School.