Good morning! I’m Ashlyn Harrington!

I’m Gabe Trainer!

And I’m Laurel Degen! You’re listening to the “Bear Facts”, the weekly radio show from Bishop Garrigan High School.

Two Garrigan seniors are in Haiti this morning. Sam Trainer and Tommy Kollasch left Minneapolis at midnight Thursday night, and they got into Port-au-Prince yesterday. Today they’re making the long journey across the island to Sainte Jeanne de Chantal, the sister parish of St. Cecelia’s here in Algona. Tommy and Sam are part of a delegation from Algona that’s helping out in the poverty-stricken and storm-ravaged country. They’ll be helping out at a medical clinic and also doing some construction work. We hope the work they do really helps out people in need.

Tommy and Sam are also part of a group of students that will be headed for national quiz bowl next summer. They’ll be joining seniors Ben Degen and Trevor Darling and juniors Logan Heying and Gabe Trainer on the Bears’ first-ever trip to Orlando for national quiz bowl. Nationals will be June 16 and 17, and we’ll tell you more about it toward the end of the school year.

District large-group speech contest is taking place today. Directors Jake Rosenmeyer and David Burrow have been busy preparing for contest since before Christmas, and today dozens of Garrigan students will be competing in the categories of one-act play, readers’ theatres, choral reading, and musical theatre.

Students performing today include Caitlin Thilges, Caroline Bradley, Emma Thul, Emory Miller, Gigi Byrkeland, Jordan Hansen, John Meis, Johnny Zeimet, Ashlyn Harrington, Sam Vaske, Logan Heying, Bryce Capesius, Gabe Trainer, Laurel Degen, Layah DeLange, Megan Wadle, and Madison Illg; as well as Amanda Miller, Lauren Kenyon, Alisa Altman, Megan Bronk, Maddie Meister, Jenna Heinen, Olivia Hart, Mackenzie Meister, Andrea Pacheco, Kat Willie, and Katie Noonan. 

Other speech contestants include Aidan Koob, Eric Thul, Austin Von Bank, Cora Ricke, Noah Bronk, Abbi Heying, Grace DeLange, Tara Kron, and Katie McIntire. Also performing today are Kelle Bormann, Joey Trainer, Kelly Baade, Amanda Thilges, Jack Snyder, Aric Laubenthal, Anna Berke, Gracie Elsbecker, Reese Rosenmeyer, Bailey Meister, Isaiah Byrkeland, Halle Menke, and Emily Lappe. Best wishes to all the Golden Bear speech team!

There are some new clubs at Garrigan this year. Art teacher Christina Newton has started a new art club that had its first meeting this past week. There’s also a new criminal justice club, which this week heard a presentation from a special agent who trains officers all over the country on criminal investigation and interrogation skills. Finally Garrigan business teacher Erin Miller has also organized a DECA group, a club for students interested in marketing, management, and entrepreneurship. All these groups provide students with opportunities to explore their interests and skills.

Garrigan also continues to offer a wide range of college-credit opportunities through arrangements with Iowa Lakes Community College. Students can take two different Psychology courses, Calculus, and Statistics right at Garrigan during the school day, and additional options are available through online study. Teachers John Byrkeland, Erin Miller, and David Burrow all teach college-credit courses at Garrigan. The courses cost less than they do on college campuses, and they help students get a start on their college studies before they even leave high school.

Our Senior Spotlight this week shines on John Zeimet and Jackson Rosenmeyer. Here to tell you about him is Caroline Bradley and John Meis.

If you’ve been to a performing arts event at Garrigan in the past few years, you’ve probably seen Johnny Zeimet. He’s active in all aspects of choir, as well as drama and speech. He was one of the top intramural basketball players last year, and he’s also been in diverse activities like football, baseball, and quiz bowl. You also may have heard him announcing here on the “Bear Facts”. John will be off to college next year, and we wish him all the best.

Like John, Jackson Rosenmeyer comes to Garrigan from the Wesley area. He’s probably best known as a lineman in football, and he’s also been successful as a thrower in track. Jackson is one of the students who works to keep the school website up to date. Jackson is also looking at continuing his education after high school, and we wish him good luck.

Thanks, John and Caroline. On our Golden Bear calendar this week, there’s district large group speech contest at Spencer today. Then Monday the JJV boys basketball team hosts Garner Hayfield Ventura.

The JV and varsity teams play at Garner on Tuesday. Wednesday the seniors leave for their retreat in Cedar Falls, and there’s also the diocesan band festival at Buena Vista University in Storm Lake.

There’s a student mass on Wednesday, and we also dismiss early that day for teacher inservice. Thursday there’s JJV basketball, with the Bears playing North Union at Armstrong. 

There’s a basketball quad with North Union Friday night. We’ll be honoring law enforcement officers at the game, and there will be a meal to help raise money for after prom that night. Finally next Saturday there’s another basketball quad, this time at North Iowa in Buffalo Center.

That’s the “Bear Facts” for this week. Thanks for joining us, and be sure to catch the show again next week when we’ll have a special edition for Catholic Schools Week here at Bishop Garrigan High School.