The Bear Facts
April 11, 2026



Good morning! I’m Aidan Deitering!

I’m Nathan Leerar!

And I’m Shiloh Trainer! Welcome once again to the “Bear Facts”, the weekly radio show from Bishop Garrigan High School.

Gala 2026 was a huge success. The tropical-themed extravaganza brought in $476,000 in revenue to help support our local Catholic schools. That’s a new record, and it includes special gifts people made to help build a new playground as part of the new addition at Seton. This is the 37th year for Gala, which brought in just $85,000 its first year. Over the years it’s grown and grown, bringing in $9,775,000 in income all together. Thanks to everyone who has made Gala successful all these years.

The old gym continues to be decorated in tropical colors. The juniors have been working hard to get things ready for Prom 2026, which is tonight. The prom theme is “Luau Under the Lights”, and it should be both beautiful and fun. The evening will start with separate dinners for the juniors and seniors. Then there’s the big dance with the Grand March at 8pm, and of course all the after-prom activities will continue until morning.


The football awards keep coming for Garrigan senior Tate Foertsch. Tomorrow Tate will be down in Ankeny for the first annual Cooper DeJean Trophy Experience. Only seven athletes in the state were chosen as finalists for this award. Tate was selected as statewide captain for the eight-man class. All the honorees were chosen by the Iowa Football Coaches Association because of outstanding performance, character, and passion for the game. Former Hawkeye and Philadelphia Eagles star Cooper DeJean will be on hand to present one of the players with the trophy bearing his name. Congratulations to Tate on this outstanding honor.

Right before Easter Garrigan’s Viva Voce jazz choir went down to Jefferson for the Iowa Vocal Jazz Championships. Eight choirs from each class advanced to the state competition, and the Garrigan musicians ended up taking home the runner-up trophy overall. Former Garrigan choir director David Fog returned to direct the jazz choir.

Sacha Alesch was presented an outstanding soloist award. Other members of Viva Voce are Lily Wickman, Shiloh Trainer, Abby Deardeuff, Lucy Eisenbarth, Delaney Fessler, Cora Deardeuff, Anaya Thomas, Madelyn Tigges, and Rachel Kahle; as well as Amaury Thomas, Matt Besch, Tate Foertsch, Kayden Graves, Kyle Bormann, and Gabe Swift. Congratulations, jazz choir!

The Golden Bear quiz bowl team recently learned the results of their online Knowledge Master competition. Tate Foertsch, Amaury Thomas, Eva Kohlhaas, Corbin Darling, and Marshall Bormann took part in the contest. Their score of 340 was #1 in Iowa and #18 overall in the entire country. Garrigan was the only Iowa team to make the top 20 nationwide. Congratulations on another great job, quiz bowl!

The Bishop Garrigan spring play is almost here. Robin Hood will take the stage next Friday at 7:00 and Sunday at 2pm. Amaury Thomas has the title role, and the cast also features seniors Sacha Alesch, Kayden Graves, and Tate Foertsch in their final performances at Garrigan. Twenty-two other students are in the cast, and about a dozen more will help behind the scenes. Be sure to come out to Garrigan next Friday or Sunday to see Robin Hood.
 

This coming Monday Bishop Garrigan will be hosting our annual coed relays. This will be the last high school event at Conway Field before the renovations that are part of our current capital campaign. The bleachers should be coming down in early May, and the area will be under construction through the summer so it will be ready for the first football game in the fall. Thanks to everyone who contributed to the capital campaign to help make these improvements possible.

Our Senior Spotlight this week shines on Allison Denker. Allison’s biggest activities are choir and volleyball. She’s one of many seniors who are part of the E.C.E. career development program, spending time working at Holmes Animal Clinic. Allison plans to go to Kirkwood Community College next year, where she’ll be studying to be a veterinary technician. We wish her all the best in the future.

On our Golden Bear calendar, there’s a trapshooting meet today in Cylinder, and tonight is Prom 2026, with the big “Luau Under the Lights”. Tomorrow Tate Foertsch will be at the DeJean Trophy Experience in Ankeny.

Monday the Iowa Assessments continue. We’ll host the Bishop Garrigan Relays at Conway Field Monday night, and there’s also a coed golf meet in Belmond.

Tuesday there’s a girls track meet at Algona. Wednesday is Giving Back Day, when we’ll do special projects to help out at school and in the community. The dance team will have tryouts for next year’s squad Wednesday night.

Thursday there’s golf in Britt and boys track at Lake Mills. Next Friday is the Stinson Prairie Art Show at the Algona Library, and the first performance of Robin Hood is at 7:00 Friday night.

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