THE BEAR FACTS
September 12, 2026


Good morning! I’m Shiloh Trainer!

I’m Sheila Reding!

And I’m Harper Nelson! This is the “Bear Facts”, where we’re getting ready for Homecoming here at Bishop Garrigan High School.

Homecoming is this coming week. We’ll be celebrating the movies with the theme “Lights, Camera, Action!” Two of the dress-up days this year specifically fit that theme. We’ll have “Premiere Day” on Tuesday, and then on Thursday we’ll have Classics Day. For our other dress-up days we’ll have Class Color Day on Wednesday and the traditional Black and Gold Day on Friday.

The Homecoming coronation will be Tuesday at 9am. The Homecoming queen candidates this year are Kylie Capesius, Bree Ludwig, Sheila Reding, and Shiloh Trainer. On the king’s side, the candidates are Mike Joyce, Dalton Klenz, Nate Leerar, and Madden Miller. The public is welcome to attend the coronation on Tuesday, and the event will also be live streamed.

A big feature of Homecoming will be the annual Battle of the Classes. On Wednesday students will compete in a wide range of games. In addition each class will design a hoop to use during the pep rally and a banner for the parade. There will be a lip sync contest and a rock—paper—scissors competition. The final event is a collection for the food pantry. This year the value of different donations is weighted according to how needed they are at the food pantry.

Most of the other Homecoming events will be happening on Friday. The high school will have the traditional Homecoming mass at noon in the Garrigan chapel. At 2pm there’s the parade down State Street, ending at the Carnegie Library. Finally, after the Bears win their game Friday night we’ll enjoy the big Homecoming dance.

All of Garrigan’s sports teams are in action during Homecoming week. The cross-country team begins the week by running at Emmetsburg, which is a home meet for the Bears’ top runner Julia Swift. The volleyball team plays at Lake Mills on Tuesday, and then on Saturday they have the big CYO tournament. The girls swim team is at Perry on Thursday, and then Friday night the football team will host Ft. Dodge St. Edmond.

The volleyball team just finished a busy week. The highlight was Tuesday night, when they travelled up to Northwood—Kensett and played the Vikings in volleyball for the first time in school history. Bishop Garrigan won in three straight sets, and the Bears racked up twelve serving aces on the way to their victory. Madelyn Tigges led the team in kills, Emma Garman was tops in digs, Rikaya Nielson had the most assists, and Jenna Peterson was the top server.

You can always check out what’s going on at Garrigan on the BGHS student website. This year five students are working to maintain the site—Nolan Antoine, Milo Geving, Carson Auen, Carter Cink, and Carson Pfeffer. They’re in Mr. Burrow’s “Specialized Technology Topics” class, and every day they post new photos and information about all the activities at Garrigan. You can check out the site at bggoldenbears.org.


Last week we started the annual Walk and Pray fundraiser at Garrigan. Both elementary and high school students are soliciting donations, which mostly go to the transportation budget. Our goal is to raise $50,000. People who donate are entered in a raffle, with the chance of winning $100 or $500. You can also ask for prayer intentions—with or without a donation. Be sure to find your favorite Golden Bear and help to support Walk and Pray.

Our Senior Spotlight this week shines on Gavin Rogers. Here to tell you about him is Bree Ludwig.

Gavin Rogers is the newest member of the Class of 2027, since he didn’t join our class until well into high school, when his family moved to the area. His biggest activity is band, and he’s one of the drum majors for this year’s marching band. He challenges himself with dual-credit classes like College Algebra and Comp I. We’re glad Gavin joined us at Garrigan, and we wish him all the best after high school.

Thank-you, Bree! On our Golden Bear calendar, the cross-country team is running this morning in the CYO meet over in Holstein. Tomorrow students will be working on Homecoming decorations.

There’s no school Monday because of a teacher in-service. The JV football team will be playing at West Bend—Mallard Monday night, and there’s also JV volleyball at Lake Mills. Tuesday will be Premiere Day for Homecoming, with everyone dressed up for the movie theme.

Tuesday morning we’ll have the Homecoming coronation at 9:00. That will be followed by a big pep rally. Monday night the cross-country team runs at Emmetsburg, and there’s also volleyball at Lake Mills.

Wednesday we’ll have the Homecoming Battle of the Classes. It will also be Class Color Day. The seniors will wear black, the juniors are in white, the sophomores in blue, and the freshmen in yellow. The teachers will wear tie-dye that day.

Thursday is “Classics Day” for Homecoming, and we’ll be dressing like our favorite movie characters. We’ll have the food pantry collection that day, and in the afternoon we’ll be playing rock—paper—scissors.

Friday will be Black and Gold Day. We’ll have the Homecoming mass at noon in the Garrigan chapel. At 2pm you can see the Homecoming parade. The route runs along State Street and ends at the Carnegie Library.

Friday night the varsity football team will host Ft. Dodge St. Edmond. The cheerleaders will host their elementary cheer clinic before the game, and after the game we’ll have the Homecoming dance.

Finally next Saturday the varsity volleyball team will be at the CYO Tournament. There’s also a JV volleyball tournament at Algona High.

That’s the “Bear Facts” for Homecoming week. Thanks for joining us, and be sure to tune in again next week when we’ll tell you all the results of our celebrations here at Bishop Garrigan High School.