The Bear Facts
September 15, 2012
Good morning! I’m Andrew McGuire!
I’m Allison Frideres!
And I’m Thomas Bradley! Thanks for joining us for the “Bear Facts”, the weekly radio show from Bishop Garrigan High School.
The annual CYO volleyball tournament is tomorrow. In addition to playing volleyball, each year at the tournament the Catholic Youth Organization announces the top coaches around the diocese in all different sports. Garrigan has been honored many times in the past, and we’re pleased that more Golden Bear coaches will be receiving CYO honors this year.
The coaching staff for the girls track team, including head coach Greg Ahlers and assistant Hannah McCall, are being honored this year. After last summer’s terrific season, it’s also no surprise that baseball co-head coach Rob Meister is being named the top baseball coach in the diocese. That’s not the only honor for Mr. Meister, though. He’ll also receive a plaque as CYO Coach of the Year—a special honor given to just one coach in all the different sports. Congratulations to Coach Meister and all the Golden Bear coaches!
Last week we gave most of the results from our Homecoming class competition, but when we recorded there were still some events that hadn’t been decided. Part of the competition each year is a food drive to bring in items for the Kossuth County Food Pantry. The seniors dominated, with more than double the donations of any other class. The seniors also won the skit competition, and while they’d started slow that was enough to give them the overall win at Homecoming. Congratulations to the Class of 2013!
If you visit Garrigan this year, you can’t help but notice our new school uniforms. This is a transition year, but as time goes on more and more students are wearing the new uniforms. Most people like the new design. The uniforms now include dry-weave shirts in black or white, that feature the school logo with “B.G.” and a cross. There are also special gold shirts that athletes and other competitors wear on days they have big events.
The shirts combine with black or khaki pants or shorts to form the full uniform. A committee of parents, teachers, and students spent two full years making the re-design, and there’s now a one-year transition to switch from the old uniforms to the new. While there aren’t a lot of people who will say the uniform is their favorite part of Garrigan, it does make it easy to decide what we’re wearing in the morning—and it makes school clothing more affordable for every family.
Rehearsals have started for the BGHS fall musical. This year we’ll be presenting The Music Man, in honor of that show’s fiftieth anniversary. Shawn Vaske will play Professor Harold Hill, while Erin Quinlin will be Marian the Librarian. Other cast members include Dustin Miller, Matthew Fakler, Alex Matthews, Jakob Hamilton, Corey Weydert, and Nick Bronk; as well as Mark Fakler, Tony Kollasch, Taylor Illg, Grace Steil, Melanie Mergen, and Michael Condoleon.
Rounding out the cast are Amelia Golwitzer, Taylor Hovey, Dorothy Kirsch, Kara Eischen, Sophia Kaduce, Kristin Condoleon, Zach Kollasch, and Nicole Grein. The whole choir will be backing them up as traveling salesmen, “Pick-a-Little” ladies, and the townspeople and kids of River City. The show will be November 2nd and 3rd in Friedmann Auditorium.
People often wonder what teachers do on all those Wednesdays when we dismiss early for inservice. All schools in Iowa have been working on the Iowa CORE, a curriculum designed to provide flexibility for the future. One of the main points the teachers at Garrigan and Seton have been working with is teaching for learner differences, which means teaching things in different ways so that everybody understands them.
Our Senior Spotlight this week shines on Sean Dyson and Sophie Behr. Here to tell you about them is Erin Reedy.
Sean Dyson has won 7 medals and 21 ribbons in Special Olympics over the years. He has been honored for his skills in bowling, the softball throw, and the fifty-meter walk. Sean enjoys choir, and a highlight of his time at Garrigan was throwing out the first pitch to start the 2012 Golden Bear baseball season. Sean helps with our recycling program, and he was honored this fall by being nominated as a candidate for Homecoming king. Congratulations, Sean!
At the Homecoming coronation, Sean walked in with Sophie Behr, a three-year letterwinner in track who also plays basketball and is a cheerleading manager. Sophie enjoys being part of the Christian Leadership in Action group, and she’s taken part in lots of different service projects. Sophie wants to be a social worker in the future, and next year she’ll be heading to Hawkeye Community College. Best wishes, Sophie!
Thanks, Erin! On our Golden Bear calendar, there’s a swim meet today in Charles City. Also today the volleyball team is split up—with tournaments both in Armstrong and at Algona High.
Tomorrow is the CYO volleyball tournament at LeMars Gehlen. Monday the cross-country team will run at Humboldt. Tuesday the school board meets, and that’s also our final deadline in the annual calendar drive.
We’ll have mass Wednesday morning, with an early dismissal that afternoon for teacher inservice. Thursday there’s volleyball at Clear Lake, and then next Friday the football team takes on West Hancock. The junior class will be serving a meal at the game.
That’s the “Bear Facts” for this week. Thanks for tuning in, and be sure to catch us again next week for more news from Bishop Garrigan High School.
