![Walking through the tunnel created by the cheerleaders and Celebrities, senior Frances Tran smiles as the soccer team is sent off during DEN for their playoff game against Rouse tonight. Tran said the wins against Smithson Valley and Alamo Heights gave the team a morale boost to take on the Raiders tonight. “I know we were not 100% confident in those games,” Tran said. “But, Rouse is a big opponent for sure. We’re definitely going into tonight with a lot of morale [because of the previous wins].”](https://cphswolfpack.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/frances-tran.jpg)
![Holding a bucket of materials in one hand and a roll of tape in another, anatomy and biology teacher Tyler Terry prepares for a lab. Terry said his proudest moments are when his students are happy to see him. “When I take my wife to a football game or something and a bunch of students want to say hi to me or they like to smile and wave and it just makes me feel good that the students are really kind and supportive of me,” Terry said. “[I’m also] proud when I see students perform really well in their extracurriculars because I can see how hard they’re working in my classes, [so] when I see that they’re also working so hard in other things. Like they’re winning band competitions or they’re getting awards for their theater productions, or I see them put on their choir shows, that’s like, wow, you guys are incredible.”](https://cphswolfpack.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Rags-6.png)
![Catching a ball, junior Alivia Robinson plays at the Cedar Park vs Glenn game. Having played since she was 5 years old, she is dedicated to softball and has committed to UTPB for softball. “When I got my offer it took me a very long time to decide where,” Robinson said. “Softball has always been my dream for college, and UTPB is my fit. When [I committed] I knew I was going to be loved and supported.”](https://cphswolfpack.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Lilly-Adams-3.13aliviaedit-901.jpg)
Aiming High
Girls Basketball Captain Receives Scholarship
Walking towards her family, senior varsity basketball captain, Takara Holst, smiles while holding her scholarship check on Jan. 23. Holst received the scholarship as part of the KVUE Scholar Athlete of the Month Program. “I was in complete shock,” Takara said. “The fact that not only KVUE, but also Ted Lorenz himself came to grant me a scholarship was just amazing.”
January 27, 2020
When the buzzer rang, Nixon shooting drills occurring in the competition gym stopped. Coach Ott entered and less than two minutes later, an ambush of people flooded the gym on Jan. 23.
One of them was Jeff Jones, sports anchor for KVUE. Following him was lead lawyer at Lorenz & Lorenz, Ted Lorenz, holding a giant check granting senior varsity basketball captain, Takara Holst, a $1,000 scholarship as part of the KVUE Scholar Athlete of the Month program.
“I was in complete shock,” Takara said. “The fact that not only KVUE, but also Ted Lorenz himself came to grant me the scholarship was just amazing.”
Teammates surrounded her and began to cheer as Lorenz handed Holst the check. Smiles were present in the gym as Jones began to interview her.
“I was so surprised when they started asking me questions,” Takara said. “I just said the first thing on my mind. Jokingly, I asked my dad once it was all over if what I said made sense in the interview because it took a minute to calm down.”
Takara’s parents were notified of the scholarship only a few days prior of the reveal, but her father, Joel Holst, said that it was very difficult to keep it a secret.
“My wife accidentally forwarded an email to Takara from one of the scout leaders who congratulated her for the award,” Holst said. “We quickly had to snatch her phone and delete the email before she read it.”
To have a chance at becoming the Scholar Athlete of the Month, candidates must be a senior in high school playing a varsity sport, have at least a 3.0 GPA, partake in an activity that gives back to their community and be nominated through KVUE’s website.
Past recipients have been nominated by one or two people, but Takara had several nominations, according to Jones, including multiple family friends, teachers, coaches and Scout leaders.
“I have nothing but thanks and appreciation for everyone who took the time to nominate me for this scholarship,” Takara said. “It truly feels amazing.”
Holst and the varsity girls basketball team are currently ranked tenth in the state and with a record of 25-3.
![Holding her dog, Nova, senior Ariana Balakrishnan poses for her senior pictures while Nova wears a bandana with her college decision. Balakrishnan applied to 18 colleges in total, but she decided on Columbia in the end. “Right before I clicked the button to open Columbia’s letter, I literally looked at the camera and go ‘This is just gonna really suck because I wanted it so bad,’ and I clicked it and all of a sudden you hear trumpets,” Balakrishnan said. “There’s a video that plays when you open it and I actually didn’t watch the video, I just watched the screen go black, because every day of December before ED [Early Decision] I would go on YouTube and watch the acceptance video to manifest it, so immediately when the screen went black, I started screaming and jumping up and down. And my parents in the video are like ‘What are you doing, where’s the letter,’ and I was just screaming ‘I got in, I got in.” I just started crying, and it just felt like everything in the world came together.”](https://cphswolfpack.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/ariana-2-300x217.jpg)
![Catching a ball, junior Alivia Robinson plays at the Cedar Park vs Glenn game. Having played since she was 5 years old, she is dedicated to softball and has committed to UTPB for softball. “When I got my offer it took me a very long time to decide where,” Robinson said. “Softball has always been my dream for college, and UTPB is my fit. When [I committed] I knew I was going to be loved and supported.”](https://cphswolfpack.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Lilly-Adams-3.13aliviaedit-901-600x400.jpg)
