Good morning! I'm Keshar Nadkarni!
I'm Rachel Foth
And I'm Janel Richter! Welcome to the "Bear Facts"! Happy Thanksgiving from all of us at Bishop Garrigan High School.
At this time of year we always give thanks for all the blessings we have and think about those who are less fortunate than us. In keeping with that idea, every year at Thanksgiving we have a lot of different service projects at Garrigan-and this year is no different. Next week the student council will be buying food to supply Thanksgiving dinner to needy families around the area. We'll also be collecting items for the Kossuth County Food Pantry at our Thanksgiving mass next Wednesday. In addition we had a fundraiser this week to raise money for a student from Des Moines who has been suffering from seizures. We hope our efforts let lots of people to be a little more thankful this Thanksgiving.
Last Sunday the Golden Bear cross-country team held their annual awards banquet. Fifteen students won cross-country letters this fall. They include senior Jason Walker, a four-time letterwinner, and Michael Loebach and Cathy Hellman, who are three-time letterwinners. Juniors Jeff Hellman and Matt Studer also won their third cross-country letters. Hillary Frideres and Sylvia Weber each won second-year letters, while Christoph Gebele won his first letter as a Golden Bear runner. Sophomores Mason Elbert and John Kohlhas each lettered for the second time in cross-country. Sophomore Eric Cassmann and freshman Matt Courtney also lettered this year. Letters also were awarded to managers Rebecca McGuire, Mandy Rahm, and Steven Kellner.
Matt Courtney was named an All-CYO runner. He and Jeff Hellman both earned All-Conference honors, and Jeff also was named to the All-District team. Michael Loebach received the Four-Year Dedication Award, John Kohlhaas was named Most-Improved Runner, and Eric Cassman and Matt Courtney split the Rookie of the Year honors. Jeff Hellman and Matt Courtney were the year's Most Valuable Runners, while Cathy Hellman and Michael Loebach were named the honorary team captains for 2001. The boys' team set a new team record for best team score. Sharing that record are Jeff Hellman, Matt Studer, John Kohlhaas, Christoph Gebele, and Matt Courtney. Congratulations on another great season to the whole cross-country team!
Last Monday we inducted new members into the Garrigan chapter of the National Honor Society. N.H.S. honors students who excel in scholarship, leadership, service, and character, and last Monday 11 juniors and 6 outstanding seniors were honored. The juniors include Nicole Elbert, Sylvia Weber, Lisa Even, Autumn Thompson, Jeff Hellman, and Sarah Schmitt; as well as Janel Richter, Keshar Nadkarni, Rosalind Kisch, Andrea Schiltz, and Steven Kellner. The new seniors are Chris Kohlhaas, Andy Meyer, Brianna Miller, Emily O'Kane, Jamie Roethler, and Monica Studer. Congratulations to all the new National Honor Society members!
This week's Senior Spotlight shines on Kevin Lind and Mark Rasmussen. Here to tell you about them is Rachel.
Kevin Lind is an Algona native whose biggest interest is computers. He was one of the main designers of the BGHS website at garrigan.unlimitedweb.net, and he spends much of his time away from school working in web design and computer engineering. Kevin has also been a big part of the Golden Bear football team, and he also helps out behind the scenes for drama and music events. He'll be off to college next year, and we wish him all the best.
Mark Rasmussen was out for football all through high school. He would have been a big part of this fall's team, except for a season-ending accident he suffered near the beginning of the school year. Mark will also be going to college next year, and we wish him good luck.
Thanks, Rachel! Because of the holiday weekend coming up, we've got two weeks of news on our Golden Bear
calendar. It all starts tomorrow night, with the football awards banquet at the K.C. Hall.
Next Tuesday the girls' basketball team opens their season with a home game against Sentral. There will be a soup supper served at the game. Then Wednesday is Presentation Day, when we salute the religious sisters who have served our schools throughout their history.
We'll have Thanksgiving mass Wednesday morning, and then at 2:15 we'll dismiss for the holiday weekend. There's no school next Thursday or Friday, but Friday night the boys' basketball team plays in a jamboree at Graettinger.
Tuesday the 27th the girls basketball team has a home game versus Humboldt, while the boys travel to Sentral. Then on Wednesday the freshman teams play West Bend-Mallard, with the boys away and the girls at home.
Thursday the 29th there's a county-wide youth leadership conference at the Algona Country Club. We'll have a jeans day for the student gift to Gala that day, and that night the sophomores in the confirmation program will have their Evening of Reflection. Then on Friday the 30th the basketball Bears will travel to Ft. Dodge St. Edmond.
Finally this week, we'd like to congratulate Garrigan math teacher David Burrow. Mr. Burrow learned this week that he will be the school's 2001 nominee for the Sioux City Diocese Catholic School Teacher of the Year. Mr. Burrow is also the producer for our weekly "Bear Facts" show, so we're especially glad to hear of his honor. He joins previous nominees like English teacher Mary McCall, art teacher Steve Brosnan, and history teacher Ron Patterson. Congratulations to all these hardworking teachers!
That's the "Bear Facts" for November. We'll be off next weekend because of the Thanksgiving holiday, but be sure to join us two weeks from now-on Saturday, December 1st-to hear more news from Bishop Garrigan High School.
