May 16, 2015
Good morning! I’m James Quinlin!
And I’m Kylie Fox! Thanks for joining us for our next-to-last “Bear Facts” of the year. We’re here once again with all the news from Bishop Garrigan High School.
Last Sunday thirty-seven seniors marched across the stage at our 2015 graduation ceremony. In addition to diplomas, more than $600,000 in scholarships were awarded to this year’s Garrigan seniors. By far the biggest scholarship funds are the H & K Foundation, which supports students going into health fields and agronomy, and the Bestenlehner Memorial, which is awarded exclusively to Garrigan graduates.
A new scholarship this year was the Dick Dale Scholarship, which is awarded through the Don Tietz foundation. Garrigan senior Mark Fakler became the first student ever to receive a scholarship in honor of the Algona native who became famous for his musical talent. Congratulations to Mark and to all the seniors who earned different scholarships.
Those scholarships went to a class that is known for its academic success. Twenty-one of this year’s seniors—more than half of the class—graduated summa cum laude, with a grade point average higher than 3.75. Almost three-fourths of the class had a 3.25 grade point or above. Percentage-wise the Class of 2015 had the highest amount of honor students ever at Garrgian.
Departmental awards were also presented to graduates. Morgan Hanna received the art award, while Paige Berte and Nick Kayser were honored in business. Reece Wadle earned English honors, and he split the foreign language award with Hannah Bernhard and Dorothy Kirsch. Dorothy shared math honors with Kaitlyn Fogarty; and in science Reece Wadle, Tony Kollasch, and Zach Kollasch were all honored.
The social studies award was split among Hannah Bernhard, Tony Kollasch, and Zach Kollasch. Mark Fakler was honored for success in speech, and Hannah Bernhard and Dorothy Kirsch won the drama award. Morgan Hannah and Cassidy Vitzthum received journalism honors, and Amanda Altman and Gaby Steil were honored for their work on the theatre tech crew.
The vocal music award went to Betty Straub, Taylor Illg, Tony Kollasch, and Zach Kollasch; while Taylor Frideres, Betty Straub, and Andrew Miller were honored for instrumental music. Patricia Brandt, Taylor Frideres, Emily Riesenberg, Betty Straub, Cassidy Vitzthum, and Reece Wadle received an award for academic excellence in theology. Amanda Altman, Kaitlyn Fogarty, Taylor Illg, Nick Kayser, Zach Kollasch, and Tony Kollasch were honored for service; and Hannah Bernhard, Morgan Frideres, Dorothy Kirsch, Emily Marlow, Mark Fakler, Kirk Kenyon, and Ben Vaske were cited as Christian role models.
The teachers selected Kirk Kenyon to receive the Iowa Bar Association citizenship award, while Taylor Illg was honored with the Rotary’s Service Above Self honor. Andrew Miller and Morgan Frideres earned the Marine Corps Scholastic Excellence Award, and Ben Vaske and Kaitlyn Fogarty were named the Outstanding Student Athletes.
Each year since 1997 Bishop Garrigan has presented medals to students who excel in a wide variety of activities. Gold, silver, and bronze medals are presented for various degrees of involvement. Percentage-wise the Class of 2015 had the highest amount of gold medals ever awarded. Nine students earned golds this year. Congratulations to Ben Vaske, Mark Fakler, Kaitlyn Fogarty, Betty Straub, Taylor Frideres, Tony Kollasch, Morgan Frideres, Andrew Miller, and Zach Kollasch.
Last Friday Garrigan hosted the state large group music contest. The judges were very tough, giving out more Division III ratings than Division I’s. Our musicians had an outstanding day, though. Both the band and choir earned Division I or superior ratings at large group contest. Congratulations to directors Ken and Linda Ferjak and the band and choir.
It’s post-season time for spring sports. Both the Golden Bear boys and girls golf teams won the North Iowa Conference championships last Monday. The boys played in the sectional tournament yesterday, and they’re hoping to advance to defend their state championship. Girls regionals start on Monday.
Meanwhile the both the boys and girls track teams finished in second place at the North Iowa Conference meet. The boys finished behind Garner/Hayfield, while the girls were second to Osage—both of which are in higher classes than the Bears. The Bears ran in the state qualifying meet Thursday. We’ll tell you who advanced to state next week on our final show of the year.
While the year winds down here at Garrigan, here’s what’s happening on our Golden Bear calendar. Tomorrow there are baccalaureate masses in West Bend and Livermore. Monday we start semester tests. As usual, we’ll have a special schedule with open campus when we’re not testing.
Girls golf regionals start on Monday. Semester tests continue Tuesday and Wednesday. State track is next Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, and the Bears should be well represented in Des Moines. Also on Thursday there’s district golf at Spencer.
That’s the “Bear Facts” for this week. Thanks for tuning in. We’ll be back next week to wrap up the year and preview all the summer activities here at Bishop Garrigan High School.
