THE BEAR FACTS
April 29, 2023

Good morning! I’m Thadd Kollasch!

I’m Joey Doerning!

And I’m Gavin Swift! This is the “Bear Facts”, where we’re getting ready for Prom 2023 at Bishop Garrigan High School.

Dozens of Garrigan students will be busy this afternoon getting ready for prom. This year’s prom theme is “Welcome to the Jungle”, and the juniors have been busy all week transforming the old gym into a cross between a ballroom and a zoo. As always, the public is invited to attend the grand march, where you can see both the decorations and the beautiful formal outfits everyone is wearing.

Bishop Garrigan students participated in the first of a series of spring art shows this past week. Wednesday morning fourteen Golden Bears were part of the Stinson Prairie Art Show. In a competition against Algona and West Bend—Mallard, Garrigan senior Darius Goche’s work was named “best in show”. Joey Doerning had the first place entry from BGHS, and Avery Berte was second.

Also entered in the art show were Jordan Blocker, Alyssa Haugland, Keegan Berte, Lucas Behounek, Ali Lallier, and Hanna Merron; plus Gavin Swift, Reagan Murphy, Spencer Doerning, Brooke Ludwig, and Griffin Geving. All these students will also be participating in the Top of Iowa Conference Art Show next Wednesday in Forest City, and their work will be exhibited at Garrigan following the conference show.

Last weekend junior Zach Warren and sophomore Brooke Ludwig went down to Orlando for the national DECA competition. The contest went especially well for Brooke. After taking first place in the state in Iowa, she finished in the top 10% at nationals and took home a medal for her role play in the hotel and lodging management category. Congratulations, Brooke!

This past week two Golden Bear seniors were down in Des Moines, where they competed at the Drake Relays. Both Molly Joyce and Audi Crooks are state track champions in different field events, and in the unclassed meet at Drake, they were testing how their skills compared against athletes from much larger schools. Audi competed in the shot put at Drake, while Molly was in the long jump. Congratulations to them!

Next Thursday Garrigan will be hosting the conference track meet for the Top of Iowa—West. This is the first time our school has hosted the conference meet, but the renovations we did during COVID makes a great facility for the event. North Union, West Hancock, Garner Hayfield Ventura, North Iowa, Forest City, Eagle Grove, Lake Mills, and Belmond Klemme will all be coming to Garrigan for the conference meet.

Next Friday we’ll be hosting our annual Grandparents Day. This tradition has been going for almost twenty years now, and it’s one of the most popular events at our school. Grandparents will attend mass with elementary and middle school students in the morning. They’ll tour the school, and then they’ll have lunch with high school students.

The month of May begins next Monday. In the Catholic Church May is dedicated to honor Mary, and we’ll be starting the day on Monday with a special crowning of Mary celebration. This will begin with prayers in the auditorium and continue with a procession to the chapel.

The year is almost over for Bishop Garrigan music. They’ll have their spring concert next Wednesday, and then there’s one more big competition left. Next Friday the band and choir will travel up to Spirit Lake for state large group music contest. They’ll perform brief shows that display the range of talent of the groups and will be critiqued on technical ability and musicianship. Good luck at state large-group music contest!

Last week many Garrigan juniors spent a day job shadowing people in a wide range of careers. The jobs ranged from office and health care work to construction and mechanical jobs. Some students even went to the fish hatchery in Spirit Lake to see what’s involved in working there. In all seventeen students went to get ideas on what is involved in different careers that interest them.

Our next-to-last Senior Spotlight of the year shines on Emma Bacha. Emma is an Algona native whose biggest school activity has always been cheerleading. She’s cheered in both football and basketball seasons and has also been on the competitive cheer squad. She also enjoys helping out with the little kids at Seton as part of the campus ministries program. Emma plans to attend DMACC next fall, and we wish her all the best in the future.

On the Golden Bear calendar, the big event today is Prom 2023. Monday baseball and softball switch from workouts to official practices. The golf teams play at Belmond that night, and there’s boys track at Algona High.

Monday is also third grade day at Garrigan. The new third graders will have orientation, and their parents will tour the Garrigan building. Also on Monday we’ll begin the day with the crowning of Mary ceremony.

Tuesday night there’s golf at Eagle Grove. The Top or Iowa Conference Art Show is on Wednesday, with the artists gone all day. That night the school art show begins at 4pm, and at 7:00 there’s the spring band and choir concert.

There’s also a home trapshooting meet Wednesday night. Then on Thursday Bishop Garrigan will be hosting the Top of Iowa Conference track meet.

Friday we’ll have Grandparents Day at Garrigan. There’s mass for grades K-8 and their grandparents in the morning and the high school students will have lunch with their grandparents later in the day. Also next Friday is state large group music contest at Spirit Lake.

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.