The Bear Facts
November 8, 2014

Good morning! I’m Emily Riesenburg!

 I’m Mark Fakler!

And I’m Katelyn Fogerty! Thanks for tuning in again to the “Bear Facts”, the radio show where we keep you in touch with all the news from Bishop Garrigan High School.

Last weekend Courtney Noonan and Sarah Skilling went down to Newton to compete in the Iowa State Dance and Drill Team state solo competition. The judges were very strict, issuing fewer Division I ratings than in the past. When everything was tallied, though, both Garrigan entries earned Division I ratings. Courtney Noonan finished in sixth place statewide, while Sarah Skilling ended up eleventh. Congratulations to both girls on their excellent performances!

Also last Saturday three Golden Bears went over to Waverly for a Great Plains Math League competition. It was an especially good day for freshman Samuel Trainer. Sam ended up finishing in second place among freshmen in the Target Round, a showing that was good enough to qualify him for the state meet next spring in Iowa City. Congratulations, Sam!

Today the big event is quiz bowl. Fifteen Garrigan students are over at Algona High, where they’re part of a twenty-seven team competition. The Bears won the Algona tournament last year, and they’re hoping for another good showing in 2014. The Bears’ top team includes seniors Hannah Bernhard, Taylor Illg, Mark Fakler, and Zach Kollasch; plus junior Devin Degen.

A second team features junior Joseph Espinosa and sophomores Andrew Thilges, Logan Capesius, Josh Hamilton, and Ben Fogarty. The final Golden Bear team includes freshmen Noah Buscher, Ben Degen, Drew Bacha, Sam Trainer, and Tommy Kollasch. Good luck to Coach David Burrow and everyone in quiz bowl!

Tonight is your last chance to see the Garrigan fall musical, The Sound of Music. Major cast members for the show include Dorothy Kirsch, Caitlyn Thilges, Carolyn Baxter, Betty Straub, and Taylor Becker; as well as Mark Fakler, Tony Kollasch, Johanna Vaske, and Mariah Bronk. The VonTrapp family also includes Levi Capesius, Isabelle Davis, Skyland Meraz, and Chloe Garman.

Other key cast members are Taylor Illg, Morgan Frideres, Nick Kayser, Zach Kollasch, Grace Menke, and James Quinlin. Rounding out the cast are Taylor Frideres, Patrick Marlow, Andrew Thilges, Andrew Meister, Sam Trainer, Jedd Magill, Stephen McCall, Rebecca Bonstetter, Danielle Plathe, and Danielle Plathe. Showtime is at 7:00 tonight, and tickets are available at the door. Break a leg, everyone!

The Golden Bear volleyball team had a great run in playoffs. They beat West Bend—Mallard, Newell—Fonda, and Harris—Lake Park before taking on one of the top teams in the state, Central Lyon of Rock Rapids. The Bears played a tough match, but they ended up falling 25 – 18, 25 – 10, 25 – 22 to finish just short of the state tournament. We’re proud of the outstanding season the girls had, though. Congratulations to Coach Schnurr and the Bishop Garrigan volleyball team!

Next week is a busy time at Garrigan. All the freshmen, sophomores, and juniors will be taking the Iowa Assessments, the tests that used to be called the ITEDs. The tests show students and their parents how everyone is progressing, and the school uses them to report to the state on how our students compare with those in other schools.

In recent years teachers have used the Iowa Assessments for more practical reasons, too. They look through the results to identify areas of weakness and look for ways that they can change what they’re doing so everyone does better. We’ll be giving the tests first thing in the morning next Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday, with classes following the standard late start schedule later in the day.

Our Senior Spotlight this week shines on Kristian McGuire. Here to tell you about him is Betty Straub.

Kristian McGuire lives in Algona, though he spent time growing up in places as far away as Texas. Kristian enjoys classes like Ecology, and outside of school his activities include choir, track, and trapshooting. He also enjoys playing music and hanging out with his friends. In the future Kristian would like to work in wind energy, and we wish him all the best after high school.

Thanks, Betty! On our Golden Bear calendar this week, there’s quiz bowl today at Algona High, and St. John’s in Bancroft has their parish bazaar this afternoon. Tonight is the final show of The Sound of Music.

Tomorrow the football team will have their awards potluck. In the afternoon there’s a chicken dinner and craft show at St. Mary’s in Humboldt, and tomorrow night St. Cecelia’s will have their fall roast beef dinner.

Monday more than sixty students will head up to Minneapolis as their reward for being the top sellers in the calendar drive earlier this fall. Girls basketball practice begins Monday night.

We’ll start the Iowa Assessments on Tuesday. There’s a student mass on Wednesday, and more testing on Thursday and Friday.

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

MH 11/6/14