The Bear Facts
December 15, 2012
Good morning! I’m Erin Reedy!
I’m Andrew McGuire!
And I’m Zac Kibby! Thanks for joining us for the “Bear Facts”, your weekly radio update from Bishop Garrigan High School.
Christmas is coming soon, and the holidays are always a time of giving. Just like every year, there are many different ways that Garrigan is getting into the Christmas spirit this year and helping to give back to the community. When the faculty and staff held their Christmas party last week, for instance, they took up a collection and raised more than $500 to help buy gifts for residents of area care centers.
Thanks to different groups at Garrigan, five different area families will have a brighter holiday this year. The BGHS student council has adopted needy families for each year for the past twenty-five years, and this year they used some of the income from our magazine drive to buy clothes and toys for a family with large group. The Christian Leadership in Action group took up a collection at mass to adopt a needy family, and students in Mrs. Miller’s Peer Helper class and Mrs. Wunder’s health classes chipped in their own money to help out those in need.
There are lots of other ways we’ve helped to make the holidays brighter in the area, too. Music students have gone caroling for area service clubs and at nursing homes, and there were also big concerts for the community from both the choir and band. There’s also been a collection for Toys for Tots. Another project is the annual coat collection being undertaken by Christian Leadership in Action. Both students and community members are dropping off new or gently used coats that will be given to people who need them. The collection started in time for Christmas, but it will continue through the winter months.
Last Saturday the Golden Bear quiz bowl team headed over to Paullina for the Wolverine Invitational at South O’Brien High School. The team of Dustin Miller, Allison Frideres, Tony Kollasch, and Hannah Bernhard had an especially good day. They were undefeated in preliminary rounds and had the top seed going into playoffs. The team lost an extremely close match in the semi-finals to take third place overall in the tournament.
We told you last week that the quiz bowl team had competed in the nationwide Knowledge Master competition. It’s only the top students in different schools who compete in the Knowledge Master, so it’s especially good news that Garrigan’s score of 1111 points placed them right at the national average and in the top half among schools from Iowa. The Bears did better than any other school in western Iowa and well almost 200 points higher than the average for schools their size around the country. Congratulations, quiz bowl!
The math team also competed last Saturday. Garrigan finished second in their home tournament, and all of the Golden Bear players won medals. Students competing included co-captains Samantha Kollasch and Makayla Foertsch, as well as Brittany Kirsch, Kaitlyn Fogarty, and Dorothy Kirsch. Congratulations to Coach Daryl Kohlhaas and the math team.
Last Wednesday was the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe, the patron saint of the Americas. This was originally a Mexican celebration, and in honor of the occasion we had our weekly school mass in Spanish. Mrs. Peterson’s advanced Spanish students did the readings and prayers in Spanish, and we also sang Spanish hymns. Having the mass in Spanish helped us keep more in touch with our fellow Christians throughout the world.
This week’s Senior Spotlight shines on Haley Froehlich. This winter you can see Haley when you go to watch Golden Bear girls basketball games. She’s been out for basketball ever since junior high, and she’s one of the Bears’ key players. Haley was also part of the state champion girls golf team last spring, and she hopes to repeat her success this year. She also enjoys cheerleading and hanging out with friends. Haley would like to play golf in college, and we wish her all the best in the future.
On our Golden Bear calendar this week, tomorrow is the third Sunday of Advent. Then Monday night the freshman basketball teams will take on Algona High.
Tuesday there’s a basketball quad, with the JV and varsity teams taking on Clear Lake. The math team will be holding a spaghetti supper during the games.
Wednesday we’ll have our schoolwide Christmas mass. We’ll have seminarians visiting the school on Wednesday, and they’ll be taking part in a special basketball game that afternoon.
Thursday we’ll have our annual Christmas traditions assembly. That night the freshmen play North Union, with the boys at home and the girls at Armstrong.
Friday we’ll dismiss early for Christmas vacation. That night there’s the big crosstown basketball rivalry. Garrigan will host the varsity games, while the JV plays across town.
That’s the “Bear Facts” for this week. Thanks for joining us, and be sure to tune in next Saturday when we’ll be back with a special Christmas edition with all the news from Bishop Garrigan High School.
JR12/12/12
