THE BEAR FACTS
April 24, 2021

Good morning! I’m Ella Muller!

I’m Maryanne Capesius!

And I’m Marguerite Fakler! Thanks for tuning in to the “Bear Facts”, the radio show where each week we bring you the news from Bishop Garrigan High School.

This past week three Garrigan students were part of the national DECA competition. DECA is a nationwide organization for future business leaders and entrepreneurs. National DECA was originally scheduled to be in Anaheim, California, but it was moved online due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Senior Reese Rosenmeyer qualified for nationals by taking first place at state a month ago in the field of Apparel and Accessories Management.

The other Garrigan students competing at national DECA were juniors. Riley Rosenmeyer was first in the state in Human Resource Management, while Mya Kemna took second statewide in Sports and Entertainment Marketing. The three Garrigan students took tests and made virtual presentations this past week, and we should know their results soon. Congratulations to these DECA participants on making it to nationals!

This past week was also a big one for another Garrigan student. Sophomore Audi Crooks threw the shot put at the Drake Relays Thursday. Audi will be the first to tell you that track isn’t her top sport—in fact, it’s probably #3. Regardless of that, she’s still one of the top throwers in the state.

Audi is the first Garrigan student in many years to compete at Drake. One of the past Golden Bears with that honor is her coach, Renetta Seiler. Miss Seiler set Drake Relays throwing records when she was in high school, and she went on to be a college athlete and later a college coach. For the past few years she’s helped Garrigan’s throwers excel, with Audi being the latest. Congratulations to Audi Crooks and to Coach Seiler on making it to Drake.

Yesterday eighteen Garrigan students participated in the Stinson Prairie Art Show, which honors top artists around the area. Among those representing Bishop Garrigan were seniors Kelle Bormann, Cora Ricke, Kiana Book, Katie McIntire, Kyphus Goche, Isaiah Byrkeland, and Gracie Rosenmeyer.

Younger Golden Bears who were honored at the Stinson Prairie Art show included Veronica Capesius, Olivia Arndorfer, Ava Eisenbarth, Quinn Swift, and Avery Berte; as well as Joey Doerning, Darius Goche, Justin Bauer, Abbi Capesius, Ella Schaaf, and Reagan Murphy. Congratulations to all these great artists and to art teacher Christina Rahm.

Today is a big day for the Bishop Garrigan music department. Both band and choir members will be participating in the state solo and small ensemble music contest. The contest is being held in three different centers right here at Garrigan. As the name implies, musicians will be competing either individually or in small groups. Good luck to all the band and choir members!

This is a time of year when students all over America are busy taking standardized tests, and it’s no different here at Garrgan. Last weekend lots of students took the ACT college admissions test, and before that we took the statewide Iowa Assessments. This past week sophomores took the Accuplacer, which allows them to take college-credit classes in high school, and coming up we’ll be taking the STAR test.

The preliminary results from this year’s Iowa Assessments were very good. The vast majority of Garrigan’s students had scores that showed they were proficient in the subjects tested, and teachers will be looking at the results to see what they can do to bring up the other scores. We’re glad the scores were good, but we’re also glad that standardized testing season is almost over.

Our Senior Spotlight this week shines on Harlie Gant and Ella Nelson. Here to tell you about them is Veronica Capesius.

Harlie Gant is one of the Garrigan students who comes from the Humboldt area. After she graduates this May, she’ll still be an important part of our school, since she was recently hired to work full time on our maintenance team. We wish Harlie all the best in the future.

You may have seen Ella Nelson when she’s been working at Theresa’s Bridal in downtown Algona. Ella’s biggest school activities are danz squad and cheerleading, and she’s also been in speech all through school. Good luck to Ella as she heads off to college!

Thanks, Veronica! On our Golden Bear calendar today there’s state solo and ensemble music contest. The golf team has a coed meet Monday vs. West Hancock and North Iowa at Britt.

There’s girls track at Forest City on Tuesday, and the boys track team is at Emmetsburg that night. Wednesday there’s CYO golf in Fort Dodge.

We’ll have a student mass Wednesday morning, and there’s an early dismissal that afternoon for the last teacher inservice of the year. Then on Thursday there’s a coed track meet at North Union.

We’ll have an out of uniform day next Friday to raise money for Catholic Charities.  That's also the make-up date for Giving Back Day, which was postponed due to weather last week.

There’s a coed golf meet Friday night at Lake Mills, with Eagle Grove as part of the triangular. Finally next Saturday is Prom Night 2021.

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