![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)
![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)
On October 25, CPHS hosted a pep rally for the game against Vandegrift sponsored by KISSFM featuring Tegan and Sara.
According to senior and varsity cheer captain, Tiffany Wong, every school in the Austin area is automatically entered into the contest.
“I found out about the contest while listening to the radio in my car,” Wong said. “We were actually the underdogs in the contest because the student body began voting two weeks into the contest.”
In order to get the word out, Wong worked closely with junior Monica Harkins who works as a producer for the Wolfcast.
“When Tiffany contacted me about the contest I researched all the rules and regulations so we could inform the student body as well as the community about the contest,” Harkins said.
Principal Barbara Spelman and administrative assistant Linda Paris helped a lot as well as they worked with Harkins and Wong to get the news out there and get it cleared by the district.
“We were able to get the contest out as well as opening up the website to allow students to vote cleared through the district,” Harkins said. “This made it easier for the student body to vote at school.”
It wasn’t just an effort between cheer and broadcasting; with the help of Ms. King and Mrs. Hexter they were able to make this a community wide effort to win the contest. According to Harkins, many students got their family members involved as well so it was an all around effort to make this possible.
The official winner of the contest was announced by KISSFM on Oct. 21.
“When I heard that we won I was ecstatic, I was at a redlight and started jumping up and down in my seat,” Harkins said. “I loved knowing that all my friends and community came together as a family to win the contest.”
The pep rally was held on Oct. 25, in the gym at 1:00 between A and B lunch.
