The Bear Facts
September 26, 2026


Good morning! I’m Madelyn Tigges!

I’m Brooklyn Berte!

And I’m Gabby Buscher! Thanks for joining us for the “Bear Facts”, the weekly radio show from Bishop Garrigan High School.

Today the Golden Bear volleyball team is hosting their annual home tournament. Teams from from all over the area will be at Bishop Garrigan for a full day of round-robin competition. The Bears have had an up and down season so far, but they’re hoping to do well against the mostly smaller schools that will be on hand for today’s tournament. The public is invited to watch the games, which will take place in both the new gym and in Friedmann Auditorium.

For more than fifty years Garrigan students who wanted to take agriculture classes took them as part of a shared-time program at Algona High. That made scheduling very difficult, and it limited the number of students who could enroll in ag. In the past Garrigan students were also part of the Algona High FFA program. While some Golden Bears were quite successful there, others didn’t feel comfortable being in an activity that was dominated by kids from another school.

All of that is changing this year. With new teacher Kaitlin Rosenmeyer joining our school, Garrigan is teaching its own agriculture classes for the first time ever, and Mrs. Rosenmeyer organized the school’s first ever FFA chapter. The school got a special grant from Iowa Farm Credit that helped to establish a new FFA chapter here at Garrigan.

Eight ag students will be heading over to Mason City next week for the district soil judging contest, the first time Garrigan’s FFA has participated in that event under our own name. The soil judging students include Weston Rosenmeyer, Sawyer Herrick, Noah Schafer, and Gracelyn Eastman; as well as Josephine Joyce, Gage Meyer, Sheila Reding, and Bree Ludwig. Good luck to them in the district contest over at NIACC.

The Bishop Garrigan DECA chapter recently elected its leadership team for the 2026-27 school year. Harper Nelson is this year’s DECA President, Sheila Reding is the Vice President of Finance, Gabby Buscher is Vice President of Leadership, and Gabbie Penton is Vice President of Career Development. Hope Rooney is Vice President of Hospitality, and Lucy Eisenbarth is Vice President of Marketing. Good luck throughout the year, DECA!

Bishop Garrigan students just finished the fundraising part of this year’s Walk and Pray, and the actual walk-a-thon is scheduled for next week. Weather permitting we’ll be walking on Monday, September 28, and the rain date is Thursday, October 1. Parents and community members are welcome to join students on the track.

Third through sixth graders will start their walk at 10:30, grades 7 through 12 will walk at 11:30, and the lower elementary from prep through second grade will walk at 1pm. Starting at two o’clock the whole school will walk together, and we’ll have a final prayer session at 2:45. Thanks to everyone who gave to the fundraiser. We hope this year’s Walk and Pray is another great time for everyone.




The capital campaign has been going well, which you can see from the major construction happening at Seton. Our next goal is $6 million. When that is raised we’ll start work on a new bus barn to house all our school vehicles, which is especially important in bad weather. Other upcoming projects are renovated restrooms, a new drop-off area by the elementary wing and chapel, and a new weight room for our Golden Bear athletes. Thanks to everyone who has already contributed to the capital campaign. If you haven’t gotten a chance to give yet, we encourage you to contact Garrigan President Christy Peterson for more information.

Garrigan’s P.E. classes have been doing a dance unit lately. Next Thursday a group of dancers from Dordt College will be visiting the school to teach students swing dancing as part of the unit. The workshop will be 12:30 to 2:30 Thursday afternoon in the Garrigan gym.

Our Senior Spotlight this week shines on our Homecoming king, Madden Miller. Here to tell you about him is Lucy Eisenbarth.

Madden Miller is an Algona native who is a captain of our state champion football team. He also plays basketball, and he enjoys playing disc golf. Madden serves as student representative for the Algona Chamber of Commerce. He’s active in 4-H, and he’s won awards for his artwork. Away from school you might see Madden working for Miller Construction. In the future he’d like to major in exercise science at college and eventually attend chiropractic school. Good luck, Madden!

Thanks, Lucy! On our Golden Bear calendar, there’s the Bishop Garrigan volleyball tournament today. Then on Monday we’ll have the Walk and Pray walk-a-thon.

 Monday night the volleyball team hosts a triangular with North Union and West Bend—Mallard. The cross-country team will run in the Algona invitational Monday night at River Road.

There’s JV football Monday night, with the Bears hosting Northwood—Kensett. Then on Tuesday the volleyball team hosts Belmond—Klemme.

We have mass Wednesday morning. Thursday is the rain date for Walk and Pray, and it’s also picture re-take day.

Next Friday all the freshmen and several art students will head up to the Twin Cities to spend the day at the Minnesota Renaissance Festival. That night the Bears host North Union. Finally on Saturday it’s Algona Band Day.

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