The Bear Facts

September 7, 2024

Good morning! I’m Thadd Kollasch!

I’m Alaina Bormann!

And I’m Drew Muller! Thanks for joining us for the “Bear Facts”, the weekly update from Bishop Garrigan High School.

We’re right in the middle of our Walk and Pray fundraiser at Garrigan. This replaces the former calendar drive and frozen food sale, and it will feature a big walk-a-thon at the end of the month. Students at both Garrigan and Seton are asking for donations, and the money goes to our school transportation budget and also to classroom supplies.

You are welcome to ask for prayer intentions as well. These will be featured during the walk-a-thon. Donations are not required to request an intention, but of course we do encourage you to contribute to help out the school. As an incentive, everyone who contributes $50 or more will be entered in a raffle with opportunities to win $100 or $500. Be sure to find your favorite Golden Bear to contribute to the “Walk and Pray” fundraiser.

While the calendars we used to sell aren’t around anymore, we know lots of people still want a calendar they can display with pictures of students and all the school events. Printable monthly calendars are available on the student website, bggoldenbears.org, and you can download them for free. They’re updated each month, so feel free to visit bggoldenbears.org to get your school calendar.

Last week we previewed our fall sports teams. We noted that numbers are down in cross-country, with only three girls on the team. One of those runners is freshman Julia Swift. She ran for the Bears last Monday at Mason City Newman, and in her first varsity race she broke the school record—finishing the five-kilometer course in just 21 minutes, 31 seconds. The record she broke belonged to her coach, Alisa Altman, and Julia broke the record by 21 seconds. We expect her to go on to break the record again and again in her years in high school. Congratulations, Julia!

For the past few years Bishop Garrigan has shared the sport of swimming with Algona High. Through a new arrangement starting this year the girls team is sponsored by Algona High and the boys team is sponsored by Garrigan. Last week senior Brooke Ludwig had an individual win in the 200-freestyle and helped lead the team to a first place finish. Sophomore Cora Deardeuff is also swimming for the girls. On the boys team are sophomores Matt Besch, Aidan Deitering, Dalton Klenz, Aiden Lichter, and Leo Snyder. Good luck, swimmers!

The Golden Bear cheerleaders are working hard. This year’s fall spirit squad features senior Zoe Montag, together with juniors Sacha Alesch, Reece Kemna, Addison Kuper, Aubrey Meyer, Ava Roethler, and Ava Snider. Sophomores on the spirit squad are Kylie Capesius, Stormi Larson, and Harper Nelson. Freshmen Delaney Fessler and Lillian Wickman are also cheering the Bears on to victory. Thanks to the cheerleaders for all they do.

Garrigan’s DECA chapter has selected its 2024-25 leadership team. The DECA co-presidents are Brooke Ludwig and Molly Peterson. Reece Kemna will be serving as vice president of marketing, Sam Greteman is vice president of finance, and Thadd Kollasch is vice president of hospitality. The DECA secretary is Hailee Retuzel. DECA is a group for students interested in business and entrepreneurship. They will have district and state competitions coming up this winter.

Last week Garrigan’s freshmen elected their student council representatives. The new freshman representatives are Gabby Buscher, Carter Cink, Karson Kramer, and Gabbie Penton. They join sophomores Matt Besch, Kylie Capesius, Sawyer Herrick, and Shiloh Trainer; juniors Aubrey Meyer, Hailee Reutzel, Alyssa Haugland, Carley Nielsen, and Addison Kuper; and seniors Alaina Bormann, Izzy Waechter, Molly Peterson, and Zoe Montag on the student council. The student body co-presidents are Brooke Ludwig and Hanna Merron.

We featured Brooke Ludwig in last week’s Senior Spotlight, and this week we’re looking at our other student council co-president. Here to tell you about Hanna Merron is Dan Meis.

Hanna Merron comes to Garrigan from the Bancroft area. She won all-state honors in softball last summer, and she’s also a key member of the Golden Bear volleyball team, and in the spring she keeps busy with golf. She also helps with lights for plays and musicals at Garrigan. Hanna frequently serves masses—both at school and at St. John’s Church. Hanna challenges herself with college credit classes, and she’s also been in activities like quiz bowl. Away from school she helps out on the family farm. Hanna is undecided on her plans after high school, but we know she’ll do great wherever she ends up.

Thanks, Dan! On our Golden Bear calendar this week, the younger volleyball players have a JV tournament at Algona High today. There’s also a swim meet today in Mason City.

Monday the JV football team will be hosting Newell—Fonda. Then on Tuesday the cross-country team runs at Estherville, the volleyball team hosts Eagle Grove, and there’s a swim meet in Perry.

Wednesday we’ll start off the day with a student mass. After church we’ll be taking an all-school picture on the football field. Thursday many Garrigan students and staff will be at the Public Safety Night Out at the Kossuth County Fairgrounds.

There’s a girls swim meet on Thursday, this time at Fort Dodge. Also Thursday night the volleyball teams will be playing at Garner.

Friday we’ll have an out of uniform day at Garrigan. It’s the second turn-in deadline for the Walk and Pray fundraiser. Friday night the football team travels to Buffalo Center to take on North Iowa. Finally next Saturday the cross-country team has the CYO meet at Holstein.

That’s the “Bear Facts” for this week. Thanks for tuning in, and be sure to catch the show again next Saturday to hear more news from Bishop Garrigan High School.