The Bear Facts

December 6, 2014

Good morning! I’m Zac Kibby!

I’m Logan Capesius!

And I’m Andrew Thilges! Thanks for joining us again for the “Bear Facts”, the weekly radio show from Bishop Garrigan High School.

It’s Advent now, the season of the church year when we prepare for the coming of Christ. We always have lots of service projects going on at school as we prepare for Christmas. One long tradition is the student council’s Adopt-a-Family project. Each year they get names of area people in need from the county social services agency and buy toys and gifts for the children in those families.

Most of the money for student council’s service project comes from our annual magazine drive, which will be starting next week. This year the magazine drive is mostly online, and students will be texting and e-mailing their relatives to renew subscriptions and order gifts. You can also help out by going to the link at the bottom of the “What’s New” page on bggoldenbears.org. When you buy through the school, you’ll get the best deals—plus 40% of everything you buy stays here to support student activities at Garrgian.

In addition to the magazine profits, this year there was a little extra money to help with the project. That’s because of a collection students in Mr. Burrow’s math classes have been doing. They contributed coins and dollar bills to a big bank Mr. Burrow has shaped like a Pepsi bottle. The bank actually broke from the weight of the coins when it was just a third full, but it already contained $56.98. There were more than 400 pennies alone. We hope our contributions help make the holidays brighter for people who are in need.

This coming week is a busy one for the Golden Bear quiz bowl team. Three different teams from Garrigan are competing today in the Spirit Lake Invitational, one of the oldest quiz bowl tournaments in northern Iowa. The first team includes seniors Hannah Bernhard and Taylor Illg and juniors Devin Degen and Joseph Espinosa. Another team puts seniors Zach Kollasch, Mark Fakler, and Tony Kollasch together with freshman Ben Degen. The final team includes sophomores Andrew Thilges, Sam Harrington, and Levi Capesius, plus freshman Noah Buscher.

The quiz bowl action continues next Monday, when the team will compete in the online 3—2—1 competition. This tournament includes is held online and includes hundreds of teams from all over the country. Last fall Garrigan was the top team in Iowa, and in the spring they were #2 after Davenport Central. They’re hoping for another good showing in this year’s event. Good luck to Coach David Burrow and the quiz bowl team!

A tradition in at Garrigan in December is to hold one of our school masses in Spanish. Normally this corresponds to the feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe, the patron saint of the Americas who was an appearance of the Virgin Mary in Mexico. This year we’re combining that with the mass for the Feast of the Immaculate Conception on Monday, December 8. Mrs. Linda Peterson’s advanced Spanish students have been working hard preparing the readings and songs for next week’s liturgy.

Next Wednesday the combined choirs from the junior and senior high will hold their Christmas concert. Again this year the concert will be held in the sanctuary at St. Cecelia’s Church. There will be performances by a variety of groups from grades 7 through 12, as well as a combined performance with all the students. The show starts at 7pm Wednesday night at St. Cecelia’s.

Our Senior Spotlight this week shines on Carter Hall. Here to tell you about him is Joseph Espinosa.

Carter Hall is an Algona native who was named the most improved defensive player on the Golden Bear football team this year. Carter has also been to state in track, and he’s part of the Christian Leadership in Action group. You’ll see him cheering on his friends in almost every Golden Bear event, and when he’s not at school he enjoys outdoor activities. Carter plans to be a business major in college, and we wish him all the best in the future.

Thanks, Joseph! On our Golden Bear calendar this week, today is St. Nicholas Day. There’s quiz bowl in Spirit Lake this morning, and this afternoon there’s a basketball quad at Mason City Newman.

Tomorrow is the second Sunday of Advent, and Monday is the Feast of the Immaculate Conception. We’ll have mass in Spanish that day, and after school the quiz bowl team will compete in the nationwide 3—2—1 challenge.

The freshman basketball teams host Humboldt Monday night. Then Tuesday the JV and varsity teams host West Hancock. The cross-country team will serve a chili supper at the games.

Next Wednesday night there’s the Christmas choir concert at St. Cecelia’s. Thursday the freshman boys basketball team hosts Lake Mills. 

Friday is the Feast of Guadalupe. Garrigan’s seniors will be doing crafts with pre-schoolers at Seton that day. At night there’s a basketball quad that night at Lake Mills.

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.