THE BEAR FACTS
September 21, 2019

 Good morning! I’m Meredith Tigges!
 

I’m Abbi Heying!

And I’m Reese Rosenmeyer! Thanks for joining us for another episode of the “Bear Facts”, the weekly radio show from Bishop Garrigan High Show.

You may have noticed that last week there was no “Bear Facts” on the radio. That’s actually just the second time in twenty-nine years that we’ve missed a show other than during holidays or severe weather. The reason was because our faculty director David Burrow was in the hospital last week, which meant we didn’t’ have access to our sound editing equipment. We’re pleased to say Mr. Burrow is back and doing okay, and the show should be back to airing every week.

Since we were off last Saturday, we need to review the excitement of Homecoming Week. It started Monday morning with the big coronation and pep rally. This year’s Homecoming royal court included queen candidates Jordan Hansen, Carolyn Hough, Maddie Meister, Amanda Miller, and Katie Noonan; plus king candidates Andrew Arndorfer, Grant Bormann, Matt Reding, Grayson Rowlet, and Cade Winkel. When the votes were counted, our King and Queen for 2019 were Grayson Rowlet and Amanda Miller!



Every year at Homecoming there’s a big competition among the classes in decorations and service projects. Something new this year was decorating spirit squares. The freshmen won top honors there, followed by the seniors, the juniors, and the sophomores. The freshmen also won the parade banner competition, with the seniors, sophomores, and juniors following.

We raised over $1,000 to help buy new materials for the school library. The seniors were tops in that donation, followed by the juniors, sophomores, and freshmen. We also collected over 400 items for the Kossuth County food pantry. Freshmen led in those donations, with the seniors, juniors, and sophomores behind them.

Another new Homecoming contest this year was a “Mr. Garrigan” pageant. Senior Grayson Rowlet was the individual winner, adding a sash to his Homecoming King crown. In the class rankings the freshmen finished on top, with the juniors, seniors, and sophomores behind them. Points were also awarded for all the Homecoming dress-up days and for the different games on game day. When everything was added up, it was a fairly close three-way race, but the overall winners were the juniors. Congratulations to the Class of 2021!

If you’ve driven past Garrigan since the end of the summer, something you’ve probably noticed is the rapid progress that’s being made on the new chapel. As our school has expanded to include third through twelfth grades, every inch of available space has been used—including the room that for sixty years served as the school chapel. The new chapel is being built adjacent to the northwest corner of the school, next to the elementary wing.

The design of the chapel will incorporate both modern and traditional elements. It will feature windows and religious objects that were part of the St. Benedict Church that closed a few years ago. Those will be paired with modern furnishings that will accommodate about twice as many students as the old chapel did. Progress will continue throughout the fall, and we’re hoping the new chapel might be available for worship around Christmas.
 

Our Senior Spotlight this week shines on or Homecoming Queen, Amanda Miller. Amanda is an Algona native who is one of the drum majors for the Solid Gold Marching Band. She was the main pitcher who helped lead the softball team to state last summer, and she broke the school record for best winning percentage in a season. She’s also active in volleyball, basketball, speech, drama, choir, Christian Leadership, and the honor society. She plans to head to Iowa State next year. Congratulations and good luck to our Homecoming Queen, Amanda Miller!

On our Golden Bear calendar this week, there’s a JV volleyball tournament at Algona High today. Then tomorrow Garrigan will be hosting the big CYO volleyball tournament.

There’s no school at Garrigan or Seton on Monday. The staff will be in Sioux City at the Diocesan Ministries Conference. That night there’s cross-country at Humboldt and JV football at Eagle Grove.

Tuesday will be the last turn-in day in the calendar drive. That night the volleyball team hosts North Iowa. Then next Wednesday we’ll have an early dismissal for professional development.

Next Friday the football team will host Britt West Hancock. Finally next Saturday the volleyball team will host their home tournament.

Before we sign off this week, we want to express our sincere condolences to Garrigan health teacher and football coach Marty Wadle. Coach Wadle lost his father this past week, and we want him to know we’re keeping him and his family in our thoughts and prayers.

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