THE BEAR FACTS
December 8, 2018




Good morning! I’m Jordan Hansen!

I’m Bryce Capesius!

And I’m John Meis! Thanks for joining us for the “Bear Facts”, your weekly radio update from Bishop Garrigan High School.

On last week’s show we mentioned that the danz squad competed at state, but we didn’t say how well they did. The Bears brought home two more first place trophies, winning the state championship with both their pom and kick routines. They also won special awards for academic achievement and community service.

The Golden Bear danz squad includes Isabella Capesius, Tabi Kollasch, Halle Menke, Ella Nelson, Lillee Deike, and Kaitlyn Cink; as well as Laurel Degen, Cora Ricke, Grace De Lange, Meredith Illg, Riley Rosenmeyer, and Molly Bormann. Congratulations to the danz squad on keeping up the winning ways!

Last week many Garrigan students had an interesting experience. The students were members of Mrs. Vaske’s Business Law class and the criminal justice club, and they spent time watching a trial at the Kossuth County Courthouse. They learned a lot about the different procedures in court and enjoyed following the case as it progressed.

Advent is here, and we’re starting to get into the Christmas spirit here at Garrigan. There’s a lot of Christmas decorations brightening up the school. Many of them were created by Garrigan’s art club, which helped decorate classroom doors and hallways throughout the building. Miss Christina Newton is in charge of the art club which meets every other Wednesday, on days we get out early.

Christmas is always a time to help out those in need, and we’ll be doing that next Friday at Garrigan. Friday is packaging day, when we’ll put together meals for needy people. The program is similar to the packaging St. Cecelia’s does to provide food for their twin parish in Haiti, but the meals we package at Garrigan go to help out people in need in our own country.

The meals Garrigan students package will go to Mississippi. Later this winter religion teacher Jake Rosenmeyer will take several students on a mission trip to the area where our meals go. It’s one of the neediest places in the United States. Almost all the kids there get free government meals on school days, but the food we package will help feed them on weekends and school holidays.

Several Garrigan students are taking the ACT today. The test is required for admission to most colleges, but these days—as more and more students take college classes while they’re still in high school—ACT scores are becoming important as a requirement for placement in those courses. Many students have been cramming and taking sample tests this past week, and we hope they do well on the real ACT today.

Last week’s quiz bowl at Spirit Lake was postponed due to snow, but we’re hoping the weather is good enough today that the South O’Brien quiz bowl tournament will go on as scheduled. Six Garrigan students should be competing in Paullina today: Alex Mammen, Sami Darling, Grant Bormann, Aric Laubenthal, Noah Bronk, and Jack Snyder. Good luck, quiz bowl!

We had our first late start last Monday, so it’s time to remind you of the winter weather policies. While all cancellations and late starts are announced on KLGA, you can also find them on bggoldenbears.org, and they’re sent out on texts from Remind. When there’s a late start, morning activities also start late, and when there’s an early dismissal, there are no after-school activities. Also remember that because of bussing, dismissal times at Garrigan and Seton are always fifteen minutes earlier than for the Algona Community Schools.

Our Senior Spotlight this week shines on Megan Bronk. Megan was one of the Garrigan students who was selected to be part of the all-state choir, and she was down in Ames last month for the All-State Music Festival. Choir is Megan’s biggest activity, but she is also active in band, speech, and drama. Megan is a Whittemore native who was is also in the Garrigan honor society. Earlier this fall she was installed as an extraordinary minister of holy communion. She’ll be off to college next year, and we wish her all the best in the future.

On our Golden Bear calendar, there’s quiz bowl today at South O’Brien in Paullina. Today is also the Feast of the Immaculate Conception, and there’s the ACT at Algona High.

Tonight Garrigan alumnus Shaun Johnson will perform with Tonic Sol Fa at the Wilcox Center. Tomorrow is the second Sunday of Advent, and the faculty will have their Christmas party tomorrow night.

There’s a basketball quad on Monday, with the Bears playing at Garner. Tuesday the JJV teams host Garner Hayfield Ventura.

There’s reconciliation on Wednesday, and Thursday there’s JJV basketball at North Union. Next Friday we’ll have food packaging day.

Friday night the JV and varsity Bears host North Union. The cross-country team will serve a soup supper during the games. Finally next Saturday the quiz bowl team will make up the Spirit Lake tournament that was snowed out a week ago.

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