Picture Courtesy of Glenn Babb, Pictures from L-R: Back row- KCSS 7-12 Principal Ted Garringer, Simon Pietig,Thomas Pottebaum, Brenden Vonnahme, Jason Schwarte Grand Knight, Charles Carroll Knights of Columbus Council #780. Front row- Megan Kies, Regan Garringer
During the national competition held a few weeks ago, a Kuemper Catholic sophomore was selected to represent the State of Iowa for her “Faith In Action” Knights of Columbus essay. Regan Garringer, daughter of Ted and Karen Garringer of Carroll, was chosen from four other Kuemper students recognized by the Knights of Columbus Council #780 for their faith-based essays to move on to the state level for this competition. This year’s topic was: “How Can the Church Evangelize in the Digital Age?” Each student wrote a 500–750-word essay, being judged on grammar, style, and the presentation of the theme while showcasing creativity and imagination throughout the topic. Garringer provided statistics on teen internet and the social media app TikTok usage in her essay. She stated if users would use social media to share “testimonies, the gospel and the goodness of Christ Our Lord,” followers would be “a Catholic by action, instead of being a Catholic by name.” Garringer was selected at the state level from 120 other K of C Council nominees to compete at the national competition. While Garringer was not selected as a winner for the national competition, Grand Knight for the Charles Carroll Knights of Columbus Council #780 Jason Schwarte was extremely proud to have a local student selected to represent Iowa in the first year that this council has offered this opportunity to local students. Jeff Hughes, the English and Speech teacher at KCHS, says, “I am enormously proud of each of these young people and so excited to see them express their ideas, insights, and convictions within these types of essays.” The other four Kuemper Catholic students honored with Garringer are Megan Kies, Simon Pietig, Thomas Pottebaum, and Brenden Vonnahme.