The Bear Facts
February 9, 2019

Good morning! I’m Reese Rosenmeyer!

I’m Emma Fogarty!

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

Ten Garrigan students headed out between storms last Wednesday to make a trip to the sunny South. They’re not on vacation, though. The group of Golden Bears is down in Mississippi on a mission trip. The students are in the towns of Morton and Okolona, where they’re working with groups of Franciscan sisters who serve the people in the area.

Garrigan students are helping out in a mission and with an after-school youth program. They’re also supervising the delivery of the meals we packaged last fall. On the way back they’ll take a brief break by visiting Graceland and the National Civil Rights Museum in Memphis.

Students making the trip include Emma Thul, Bryce Garman, Laurel Degen, Billy Erpelding, Sam Vaske, Eric Thul, Caroline Bradley, Lauren Kenyon, Jordan Hansen, and Lucas Hough. Accompanying them are Garrigan principal Christy Peterson and teachers Jake Rosenmeyer and Marty Wadle. They’ll be continuing the mission trip through next Monday.



Basketball playoff time is here. After a great regular season, the Golden Bear boys got the top seed in their district. They got a bye in the first round of district and will face the winner of North Union and Northwood—Kensett next Thursday night. The Bears will host two rounds of districts, and they hope to make it to the championship game, which will be at Garner on February 21.

The Golden Bear girls began regional play this past week, and they should be hosting the second round of regionals next Tuesday. The third round will be at Clarksville this Friday, and the regional championship will be at West Union next Monday night. Good luck in playoffs to both the boys and girls basketball teams!

Last week the Iowa High School Speech Association held their state large group speech contest over in Spencer. Hundreds of students from all over northwest Iowa competed. We’re pleased that Garrigan’s ensemble acting selection “Flag Girls” earned a Division One or “Excellent” rating at state. Congratulations to Reese Rosenmeyer, Gracie Elsbecker, Anna Berke, and Bailey Meister.

With group speech over, students are already preparing for individual speech. Garrigan will be hosting the district contest two weeks from today, and thirteen students will be competing. They include Mya Kemna Abbi Heying, Jordan Hansen, Marguerite Fakler, Riley Rosenmeyer, and Meredith Illg; as well as Ava Eisenbarth, Logan Heying, Noah Bronk, Gabe Trainer, Joey Trainer, Ashlyn Harrington, Bryce Capesius.

Next week is a busy time for accelerated math students at Garrigan. On Wednesday about forty students will be taking the American Mathematics Council test. This is a nationwide competition that includes some of the hardest math problems anyone in high school has ever seen. Then next Saturday the Bears will travel to Waverly for a Great Plains Math League competition. Good luck, math!

You can always check out what’s going on at Garrigan on the student website, bggoldenbears.org. Garrigan has been online for twenty-three years, and this semester Grant Bormann, Cameron Baade, Ethan Utopf, and Colby Graves are taking pictures, making web pages, and updating the site. The site is updated daily and features everything that’s going on at the school, so be sure to visit us online at bggoldenbears.org.

Our Senior Spotlight this week shines on Sami Darling. Here to tell you about her is Emma Lichter.

Sami Darling is a Wesley native who is especially known for her accomplishments in art. Sami also auditioned for all-state music last fall, and she’s appeared in numerous honor bands over the years. Sami is also in quiz bowl, and she has helped out with the stage crew for almost every Garrigan play. She’ll be off to college next year, and we wish her all the best in the future.

Thanks, Emma. On our Golden Bear calendar this week, several Christian Leadership students are in Mississippi today on a mission trip. Then tomorrow is the second round of the KC Free Throw Contest.

Believe it or not, track practice begins on Monday. Tuesday Garrigan will host the second round of girls basketball regionals, and Tuesday and Wednesday we’ll have parent—teacher conferences.

There’s an early dismissal Wednesday afternoon. We also have a student mass that day, and accelerated math students will be taking the AMC math exam.

Next Thursday is Valentine’s Day. There’s an out of uniform day on Thursday, and that night we’ll be hosting boys district basketball. Then next Friday is the girls regional semi-finals.

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.