The Bear Facts
January 10, 2015
Good morning! I’m Mark Fakler!
I’m Emily Marlow!
And I’m Paige Berte! Welcome once again to the “Bear Facts”. Happy New Year from everyone here at Bishop Garrigan High School.
The Golden Bear boys basketball definitely started out 2015 on a roll. The Bears traveled across town to take on Algona High. It was a David vs. Goliath match-up. Algona was rated in Class 3-A, and they’re one of the larger teams in that class. Garrigan, on the other hand, plays in Class 1-A. On top of that, our top scorer was out with an injury that happened just before Christmas.
Every one on the Golden Bear team played a career game, though. After going on a 13 – 3 run at the end of the first quarter, Garrigan played a slow, steady game and came away with a 50 – 47 victory. Junior Michael Condoleon scored 18 points for the Bears. There were also key plays by seniors Reece Wadle, Andrew Miller, Ben Vaske, and Jess Marlow, junior Zac Kibby, and sophomore Gibson Behr.
The Golden Bear girls didn’t win their match-up with Algona High, but they’ve had an awesome season so far. Junior Johanna Vaske has been the team leader in almost every category. Other stand-out players have included seniors Betty Straub and Emily Marlow, and juniors Avriel Miller and Olivia Vaske, sophomore Gracie Behr, and freshman Jenna Boelter.
Next Tuesday the basketball teams will be at home facing Belmond—Klemme. During the games we’ll be serving a pork loin dinner, together with beans, chips, bars, and cookies. The dinner will benefit the technology program at Garrigan. This year we’ve added new mini-labs at Garrigan and Seton—with Chromebooks, I-pads, and also traditional laptops, and we hope to add more technology in the near future.
We began semester tests this past week, but the schedule was interrupted by the winter blast. We had two late starts, two early dismissals, and one no-school day last week. Because there was no school on Wednesday, the test schedule was postponed by one day. That means we’ll be finishing up our tests next Monday, and it won’t be until Tuesday that we start the second semester.
We have special assemblies on different topics at Garrigan almost every week. Just before Christmas we had one of the more interesting assemblies. Eight members of the Class of 2014 came back to tell us about their experiences at college. They gave us advice on classes we should take and study habits we should develop before we head off to college ourselves.
Speech season has started. Head coach Mary McCall is preparing eight large-group events this year, which include thirty-four different students. The varsity Readers’ Theatre is called The Spicy Chef and features Amanda Altman, Carolyn Baxter, Mariah Bronk, Joseph Espinosa, Kylie Fox, and Taylor Frideres. There’s also a freshman Readers’ Theatre called Stranded with Kat willie, Caitlin Thilges, Tommy Kollasch, Gigi Byrkeland, Noah Buscher, Jenna Boelter, and Alisa Altman.
In Ensemble Acting Morgan Frideres, Betty Straub, and Mark Fakler are starring in Safari, while Hannah Bernhard, Dorothy Kirsch, and Mariana Pacheco are presenting One Sneaky Mouse. Musical Theatre features Levi Capesius and Chloe Garman in “My New Philosophy” from You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown and also Mark Fakler, Morgan Frideres, Taylor Illg, and Dorothy Kirsch in Anatomy of a Musical.
There’s a Group Mime selection prepared by Morgan Frideres that includes Hannah Bernhard, Mariana Pacheco, Amanda Altman, and Taylor Frideres. It’s called Thieves of the Night. The final event is Radio Broadcasting, which includes Taylor Illg, Betty Straub, Nick Kayser, Marish Bronk, and Precious Robeson. The first contest will be two weeks from today at Spencer.
Our Senior Spotlight this week shines on Caroline Hamilton. Caroline comes to Garrigan from the Bancroft area. Caroline’s biggest activity is probably cheerleading. She’s on both the basketball and football spirit squads. She’s been in band all through school, and she’s also active in choir. In the past she’s also been in speech. Caroline will be off to college next year, and we wish her all the best in the future.
On our Golden Bear calendar, this afternoon there’s a basketball quad at North Iowa. The JV games start at 2pm, and the varsity begins at 4:15. There’s also an area honor band, with Hannah Bernhard and Dorothy Kirsch attending.
Tomorrow intramural basketball begins. Then at 3pm there’s the annual KC free throw contest. Monday we’ll finish up semester tests, and then Tuesday we’ll begin the second semester.
Tuesday night there’s a basketball quad with Belmond—Klemme. During the games we’ll be serving a pork loin meal to support new technology.
Wednesday we’ll have our weekly school mass. Also on Wednesday there’s the diocesan honor band at Buena Vista University.
Next Thursday the freshman basketball teams host Clear Lake. Then on Friday the JV and varsity teams travel to Osage. Next Saturday the math team competes at Iowa Falls, and that night next Saturday there’s a Sadie Hawkins dance sponsored by the danz squad.
That’s our first “Bear Facts” for 2015. Thanks for joining us, and be sure to tune in again next week for more news from Bishop Garrigan High School.