THE BEAR FACTS
December 11, 2021

Good morning! I’m Ava Eisenbarth!

I’m Riley Rosenmeyer!

And I’m Marguerite Fakler! Welcome once again to the “Bear Facts”. Thanks for joining us to hear the news from Bishop Garrigan High School.

This past week we had our first big taste of real winter weather. With that we want to remind you of a few of the policies the school has in place. In general, Garrigan and Seton follow the calls made by the Algona Community School system, though for busing reasons, when there’s an early dismissal we dismiss fifteen minutes earlier than the time announced for the public schools.

If there’s an early dismissal, after-school activities are automatically cancelled. On late start days morning practices may be cancelled or start two hours late. Students should check remind texts for the specifics of their activities. In most cases, if there’s no school all the day’s activities are cancelled. Occasionally, though, if the weather changes, evening activities may go on as planned. Be sure to listen to updates on the radio about evening activities.

Parents and students are generally receive texts about changes in the school schedule. Cancellations and postponements are also given here on KLGA, and you can also find them on the main page of the student website, bggoldenbears.org. Most changes can also be found on the school’s Facebook page.

Sometimes parents wonder why there are more cancellations than there used to be. The big reason is that school districts cover much larger areas than they did in the past. Garrigan draws students 25 miles away in every direction. The weather can be very different in different places, and the school makes decisions to keep the students safe.

This weekend fifteen Golden Bears are part of the district DECA competition. DECA is an organization that promotes business and leadership skills. Last year all the DECA competitions were held online, but this year districts are in-person tomorrow down in Gilbert, Iowa. The competitors took tests this past week, and they’ll be making presentations and interviewing tomorrow.

Ben Greteman and Sam Plathe are entered in the Sports and Entertainment Marketing division. Violet Bode, Lillee Deike, Brendan Plathe, and Ella Schaaf are in Entrepreneurship. Isabel Casey is competing in Accounting Applications, Sam Greteman is in Principles of Business Management and Administration, and Mya Kemna is entered in Food Marketing.

Ava Hough and Avery Lichter are competing on the Travel and Tourism team. Brooke Ludwig is entered in Hotel and Lodging Management, Molly Peterson is in Apparel and Accessories Marketing, and Zach Warren is in Restaurant and Food Service Management. Finally there’s Riley Rosenmeyer, who’s entered in Human Resources Management. Good luck to all the Garrigan entries at district DECA!

Last Saturday the Golden Bear quiz bowl team competed in the Spirit Lake Invitational Tournament. A group of Garrigan freshmen did especially well. They made playoffs and ended up in third place in their division. Congratulations to Sam Greteman, Thadd Kollasch, Alaina Bormann, Brooke Ludwig, and Molly Peterson.

The quiz bowl team also competed in the winter 3—2—1 online contest last week. Fourteen Golden Bears were part of that competition, with Sam Plathe, Xander Darling, Meredith Tigges, Ben Greteman, and Marguerite Fakler at the core of the group. The group got a score of 268, which is about the same as they did last year when they were the top team in Iowa. They should find out right before Christmas how they did compared to top quiz bowl teams around the country.

Our Senior Spotlight this week shines on Grant Haugland. Here to tell you about him is Xander Darling.

Grant Haugland is a year-round athlete. His biggest accomplishments have probably been in basketball, where he’s one of the varsity starters this year and he’s also played AAU ball. Grant also plays football, and over the years he’s kept busy with baseball and track. He challenges himself with tough classes like Math Analysis. Grant will be off to college next year, and we wish him all the best in the future.

Thanks, Xander! On our Golden Bear calendar this week, there’s a youth basketball tournament at Garrigan today. Then tonight the staff has their annual Christmas party.

Tomorrow is the Third Sunday of Advent. Also tomorrow there’s the district DECA competition in Gilbert.

We’ll have an Advent prayer service at school Monday morning. That night the JJV boys basketball team will host Estherville Lincoln Central. Then on Tuesday the JV and varsity teams host Garner Hayfield Ventura.

The danz squad will serve a chili supper at Tuesday’s games. We’ll also have Advent reconciliation services during the day on Tuesday.

Next Wednesday night the junior high and high school choirs will have their Christmas concert. Thursday there’s JJV basketball, with the Bears hosting North Union.

Next Friday the JV and varsity Bears will play North Union at Armstrong. Finally next Saturday Garrigan will host the big cross-town basketball games with Algona High.

There’s a baseball and softball fundraiser meal at the Algona games, and we’ll announce the new inductees into the sports hall of fame that afternoon.

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