The Bear Facts
March 16, 2024

Good morning! I’m Violet Bode!

I’m Abbie Capesius!

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

Last Saturday BGHS speech students went over to Carroll to compete at the state individual speech contest. It ended up being a very good day for the Bears. Bishop Garrigan earned six Division One (or “excellent”) ratings and two Division Two (or “good”) marks. Among the students receiving ones were Molly Peterson in Reviewing, Brooke Ludwig in Expository Address, and Benjy Trainer in Improvisation. Brendan Plathe and Ava Hough both got twos in Prose.

The big news in speech came Monday evening, when all-state nominations were announced. We learned that three different Garrigan students had been named outstanding performers and were invited to the All-State Speech Festival. Violet Bode got an all-state nod in Musical Theatre for her performance of “What’s Wrong with Me” from Singin’ in the Rain.

The other two all-staters were in the field of Spontaneous Speaking. Sam Plathe was named outstanding for his speech about the good and bad aspects of social media, and Brooke Ludwig advanced to all-state with a speech on why switching to a four-day school week is not a good idea. All three students will perform at the All-State Speech Festival, which will be Monday, March 25, at the University of Northern Iowa. Congratulations to them!

Tonight is your last opportunity to see the BGHS spring play. Don’t Drink the Water is a comedy written by award-winning celebrity Woody Allen. It features a family who go on vacation and end up trapped behind the Iron Curtain. Cast members include Sam Plathe, Violet Bode, Benjy Trainer, Elena Salinas, Brendan Plathe, Brooke Ludwig, and Spencer Doerning; plus Madelyn Bronk, Amaury Thomas, Alice Casey, Tate Foertsch, Matt Besch, and Alaina Casey. Rounding out the cast are Shiloh Trainer, Kylie Capesius, Cora Deardeuff, Leo Snyder, Aidan Deitering, and Sawyer Herrick.

There’s also tons of people involved in the play behind the scenes. The backstage, sound, and light crews include Ben Greteman, Nick Laubenthal, Ella Schaaf, Kyra Deike, and Molly Peterson; as well as Ava Roethler, Ethan Kuper, and Zach Warren. Also backstage are Alyssa Haugland, Eli Casey, and Alaina Bormann. The final performance of Don’t Drink the Water will be tonight at 7pm in Friedmann Auditorium.

This coming week a lot of Garrigan students will be gone. They’re part of the band and choir, and they’ll be heading to Nashville on a special music trip. The group leaves Monday morning at 7:30am, and they’ll get to Nashville late that night. Tuesday both the band and choir will perform at the Hermitage, Andrew Jackson’s historic home. Then on Wednesday the choir will have a private recording session at RCA’s Studio B.

Other highlights of the trip include the Music City Walk of Fame, the Country Music Hall of Fame, the African American Music Museum, the Parthenon, the Johnny Cash Museum, Nissan Stadium, the Tennessee state capitol, Ryman Auditorium, and the General Jackson Showboat. There’s also a special music clinic with professors from Tennessee State University. The group will return to Algona late Saturday night.

Spring sports are beginning. The Golden Bear track team will begin their season when Garrigan hosts the CYO meet next weekend. The boys track team features returning seniors Justin Bauer, Caden Roethler, Benjy Trainer, and Sam Plathe, while the girls team returns seniors Reagan Murphy, Abbie Capesius, and Violet Bode.

There’s also some seniors out for golf. Avery Lichter placed at state last year, and she’s hoping for some more success in 2024. Ben Greteman and Ethan Kuper will be at the core of the boys team, together with fellow senior Logan Nemmers. Good luck all through the spring to the track and golf teams!

Former Garrigan basketball star Molly Joyce is finishing up a great season at Truman State University in Kirksville, Missouri. Molly was recently named Freshman of the Year for the Great Lakes Valley Conference. She led conference freshmen in points and field goals and was second in steals and in rebounds per game. Congratulations, Molly!

2017 Garrigan graduate Logan Capesius is now a successful author living in the Des Moines area. Logan recently published his third novel. Called Clawless Creatures, the book is the second in his Twister series. This afternoon from 12 to 3 Logan will be at Lichter Fine Art in Algona to sign copies of his book. Congratulations to Logan Capesius on his literary success.

Our Senior Spotlight this week shines on Zack Carr. Here to tell you about him is Benjy Trainer.

Zack Carr enjoys science classes. He’s in Advanced Biology now, and he’s also liked classes like Ecology. He also enjoys the new career practicum that we’ve added at Garrigan this year. In the past Zack was in activities like football and golf, but as he’s gotten older his biggest activity has probably been taking pictures for publications. We wish Zack all the best after high school.

Thanks, Benjy! On our Golden Bear calendar, there’s a junior high quiz bowl tournament at Garrigan today. Then tonight is the last presentation of the spring play, Don’t Drink the Water.

The fourth quarter begins on Monday, and students will leave on the music trip that day. We’ll have a mission speaker at school that day, and then Tuesday morning we’ll have a student mass.

Report cards come out next Friday, and then next Saturday Garrigan will be hosting the annual CYO track meet.

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