The Bear Facts
May 9, 2015

Good morning! I’m Emily Riesenberg!

I’m Morgan Frideres!

I’m Emily Marlow!

I’m Tony Kollasch!

I’m Dorothy Kirsch!

I’m Taylor Frideres!

I’m Kaitlyn Fogarty!

I’m Zach Kollasch!

I’m Reece Wadle!

And I’m Andrew Miller! You’re listening to a special edition of the “Bear Facts”, where we’re celebrating the achievements of the Class of 2015 here at Bishop Garrigan High School!

Garrigan is traditionally the first school in the area to graduate, and tomorrow thirty-six Golden Bear seniors will walk across the stage and receive their diplomas. Graduation is at 2pm, and the ceremony will be broadcast here on KLGA. Reece Wadle will give the senior farewell address. The class chose the school colors of black and gold as their class colors, and the class flower is the gold rose. The motto is “Behind us are memories, beside us are friends. Before us are dreams that will never end.”

The Class of 2015 has a reputation for being a very academic group. Most of us have taken tough classes all through high school and have finished with excellent grades. Class members have done well on nationwide tests, and they’ve also had a lot of success in knowledge-oriented activities. They’ve won state and national awards in quiz bowl, math team, the Envirothon, and the World Food Prize Symposium.


The seniors are a very well-rounded class, with skills in almost every area. Members of the class have won national championships in dance and all-state honors in speech and choir, and they’ve won art awards in two different conferences. They’ve also put on some of the most memorable drama performances our school has ever presented.

They’ve won multiple state championships in golf, finished first in the state in track events, and competed at state in baseball, football, and cross-country. They’ve also set new records while advancing in playoffs in volleyball, basketball, and softball. Several members of the class have also helped out as coaches and officials for youth sports.

Service is also very important to the Class of 2015. Earlier this year we highlighted two seniors—Taylor Illg and Kaitlyn Fogarty—who went to Haiti on a mission trip to St. Cecelia’s sister parish there. Kaitlyn and Taylor also serve as Eucharistic ministers, as do Ben Vaske, Reece Wadle, Emily Riesenberg, Patricia Brandt, and Betty Straub. Class members have participated in thousands of hours of service work—at school, in their parishes, and all over their community.

Nine Garrigan seniors were honored last Sunday as part of the Mason City Globe—Gazette’s STAR Class 2015. Kaitlyn Fogarty was named the top math student, while Tony Kollasch received STAR Class honors in science. Emily Riesenberg won the Language Arts award, Hannah Bernhard was honored in Social Science, Tyler Schnurr received the Technology Award, and Dorothy Kirsch earned music honors.

Reece Wadle and Taylor Frideres were named the Outstanding Golden Bear athletes for STAR class 2015. Then there was Mariana Pacheco. Not only did Mary receive the Art award, but she was also featured on the cover of the STAR Class feature in Sunday’s paper, set off as a model of achievement and service, like all the STAR class honorees.

Throughout our senior year at Garrigan, we’ve been watching the progress of the new addition at the south end of the school. The new gym floor is in, and construction workers are putting finishing touches on things now. We found out this week that the addition should be open to the public by June 8—two months ahead of schedule. Besides the new gym, the addition will have more office and classroom space.

We finished up student council elections last week. Class presidents for next year will be Nicole Zeimet and Kenzie Keith, Ben Fogarty and Levi Capesius, Noah Buscher and Jenna Boelter, and Bryce Capesius and T.J. Schnurr. The student council representatives are Joseph Espinosa and Logan Besch, Miranda Book and Sam Bormann, Ben Degen and Megan Wadle, and Laurel Degen and John Meis. Congratulations, student council officers!

This week we’re shining our Senior Spotlight on two members of the Class of 2015: Courtney Carlson and Amanda Altman. Courtney Carlson is part of the Christian Leadership in Action group. Over the years she’s also been in cross-country and basketball. Next year she plans to study radiology at Iowa Central Community College in Fort Dodge, and we wish her all the best in the future.

Amanda Altman has been a football and basketball cheerleader. She has worked the sound board for drama productions at school, and she’s also been active in various speech events. Amanda plans to major in elementary education at UNI next year. Good luck to her and to everyone in the BGHS Class of 2015!

On our Golden Bear calendar, tomorrow is Mother’s Day. It’s also graduation for the Class of 2015. Tomorrow are the conference golf and track meets. Garrigan hosts the boys golf meet, girls golf is at Garner, and the track meets are in Belmond.

Wednesday we’ll have a special school mass honoring the 8th graders. There’s an early dismissal that day for teacher inservice.

Thursday there’s the track state-qualifying meet at Manson. Then we’ll finish the week on Friday with boys sectional gold at Britt.

That’s wraps up the “Bear Facts” for the Class of 2015. While we’re out of here, some of the younger Golden Bears will be back next week. So be sure to tune in as they bring you all the news from Bishop Garrigan High School.