THE BEAR FACTS
October 11 - 2014
Good morning! I’m Mark Fakler!
And I’m Emily Marlow! Thanks for joining us for the “Bear Facts”, the weekly radio show from Bishop Garrigan High School.
Just an hour from now Garrigan’s Solid Gold Marching Band will be competing at the state marching contest at Dodger Stadium in Ft. Dodge. BGHS was the top small school last week at Algona Band Day, taking home first place trophies in both the parade and field categories. The Bears will need to step it up today, though. The rating system in music is the same for all classes, and as a small school with no auxiliary, Garrigan will need to do especially well to get a top rating. Good luck at state to the marching band!
Next week the new season begins for the Bishop Garrigan quiz bowl team. The Bears are hoping for another good season in 2014, and they’ll start that off with their home tournament next Saturday. Coach David Burrow has ten returning seniors on this year’s quiz bowl team. They include national veterans Hannah Bernhard, Zach Kollasch, Taylor Illg, and Tony Kollasch; plus Mark Fakler, Dorothy Kirsch, Gaby Steil, Reece Wadle, Andrew Miller, and Ben Vaske. Other top quiz bowlers include national player Devin Degen and fellow juniors Carolyn Baxter and Joseph Espinosa; sophomores Levi Capesius, Ben Fogarty. Good luck to Coach David burrow and the quiz bowl team!
Tomorrow dozens of Garrigan students will be participating in the annual CROP Walk. CROP stands for Christian Rural Overseas Program, and the walk is designed to raise money to prevent hunger both locally and abroad. Garrigan’s Christian Leadership in Action group has been part of the Algona CROP Walk for more than a decade, and they’re proud to participate again this year. We hope to raise several hundred dollars to help out the hungry. Christian Leadership in Action is a group that lets students live out their faith and actively participate in making the world a better place. Nearly half of Garrigan’s students are part of the leadership group, which is headed up by religion teacher Rob Meister.
Next week is National Hot Lunch Week. At Garrigan we sometimes have mixed feelings about hot lunch, but the things we don’t like are mostly changes that have come from new government regulations. We know that head cook Geri Reising and her assistants work hard to make the best food they can on a very small budget. We’re glad to salute all the hard-working lunch ladies at Garrigan.
If you’ve been past Garrigan this fall, you’ve certainly noticed the construction. The dream is becoming reality, as ground has been leveled, utility pipes have been laid, and they’re starting to pour a foundation for the new addition. Things are still targeted to be done next summer so two more classes can move to Garrigan from the old Seton building next year. We’ll keep you updated through the year as the construction progresses.
A week ago we presented awards to the top sellers in the annual calendar drive. Again this year sophomore Levi Capesius was the top overall seller, with 96 calendars sold. Kiana Book, Amanda Thilges, Reese Rosenmeyer, Bailey Meister, and Brad Capesius all sold more than fifty calendars each. Overall sales were about the same as last year, and the income should help us to buy a new bus this coming year. Thanks to everyone who purchased Garrigan calendars this year.
Two Garrigan seniors were recently honored as Commended Students by the National Merit Scholarship program. Hannah Bernhard and Dorothy Kirsch received the award, which places them among the top 5% of those who took the PSAT/National Merit Test. Congratulations to Dorothy and Hannah on this top honor!
Our Senior Spotlight this week shines on Tyler Schnurr. Here to tell you about him is Paige Berte.
Tyler Schnurr is an Algona native who is a successful athlete all year round. He’s been to state in track, baseball, and cross-country, and he won athlete of the week honors in basketball. He’s also active in Christian Leadership in Action, and he does service work with Parish Families Against Hunger. Tyler plans a career in radiology, and we wish him all the best in the future.
Thanks, Paige! On our Golden Bear calendar this week, today is the state marching band contest. Garrigan’s Solid Gold Band will compete at 9:45 at Dodger Stadium in Ft. Dodge.
Tomorrow is the CROP Walk. The event will start at 2pm at the Presbyterian Church, with lots of Garrigan’s Christian Leadership students participating. Then Monday there’s JV football, with the Bears taking on North Union in Armstrong.
The cross-country team runs at Forest City Monday night. Wednesday the sophomores take the PSAT. We’ll dismiss early that afternoon for teacher inservice.
Cross-country runs again on Thursday, this time in the North Iowa Conference meet at Belmond. Also that night the volleyball team hosts Humboldt for Senior Night. There will be a pink out to fight cancer at the game.
There’s another pink-out Friday night, when the football team has their senior night against North Union. Finally next Saturday, we’ll be hosting the first quiz bowl of the season here at Garrigan.
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.