![After placing second in their respective LDEs at the Capital District contest in early November, freshman Jesus Jaramillo-Gallegos and freshman Wyatt Pickett will compete at the Area XII LDE contest in Georgetown on Nov. 23. Jaramillo-Gallegos is competing in Greenhand Spanish Creed Speaking, while Pickett’s LDE is Greenhand Creed Speaking. “Honestly, [I’m excited for] just traveling around, maybe meeting more people,” Jaramillo-Gallegos said. “And [I’m] nervous about probably just not being able to define my weak areas. I feel like I did decent for my first time ever doing this. I just think it’s fun.”](https://cphswolfpack.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Navy-and-Yellow-Simple-Group-Project-Presentation-1200x675.png)
![Holding up T-wolves, the tour group poses for a picture in the Chinese classroom. Sophomore Lydia Ou, junior Phu Trung and senior Yushan Pan gave a tour to Taiwanese diplomat Andrea Yang on Nov. 8. “I was so excited when I heard I would get to give the tour because it’s a big deal,” Ou said. “She’s from the US embassy for Taiwan, so she’s really important. I’m so privileged [to get this opportunity] and I’m so excited.” Photo by Skyler King](https://cphswolfpack.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Main-Taiwan.jpg)
![Sitting at a desk past the rows of books laid out for the Book Fair, senior Kimberley Walters assists people in purchasing books and finding titles. The Book Fair is taking place Dec. 16 through Dec. 20, and is an annual event during which students and faculty have the opportunity to go and purchase books and other trinkets in the library. Kimberley said she encourages all to go to the Book Fair, even if they think they don’t like to read. “If you make reading something that is fun for you and you find the things that you like to read, it will never be a chore,” Walters said. “So [the Book Fair is] a good opportunity to find something that will respark your want to read [like] when you were a child and you went to the book fair and you loved the ‘I survived’ books. Maybe you'll find your ‘I survived’ books of your high school experience, and it'll re-spark that kind of love for reading that may have died out.”](https://cphswolfpack.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/Addie-L-47-1200x800.jpg)
![Smiling at the camera, sophomore Olivia Mahlmeister and seniors Samantha Jameson, Adhit Eswaramoorthi and Justin Khadavi celebrate completing first chamber in the Congress Meet. All four students advanced to the final chamber. “Out of the 20 kids in the final chamber, we had a seventh, ninth, 11th and 13th, and they took the top four to move on to state,” AP US History and Debate teacher Josh Marsh said. “[Even though] we didn't make state this year, all four of them moving on [and] placing is phenomenal.” Photo courtesy of Josh Marsh](https://cphswolfpack.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/2024-Regional-Congress-Team.jpg)
![Standing in front of a small audience, senior Kimberley Walters shares a social criticism poem titled “Pity the Nation” by Lawrence Felinghetti. Every month, sponsored by the poetry club, the library hosts a poetry reading. “I never thought I would be interested in [poetry readings] because I’m not the biggest poetry fan,” Walters said. “I think poetry is a very succinct way to express feelings and get a story across. Whereas lots of books have a span of a whole story, but it’s put in a lot of words. The power of poetry is that you can be so succinct within, and there’s a lot of power within the words that are used.”](https://cphswolfpack.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/KIM-1200x800.jpg)
![Smiling at the camera, Author Ehigbor Okosun, members of Page Turners, and other students reflect on the author's visit. “I thought the visit was great,” Senior Amia De Leon said. “It was interesting talking to her and [getting to know] her process and her thoughts and books in general. But I think the reason it went well [was that] people got to ask questions. I'm glad that she said so much in response to the questions and it wasn't just one and done. [The author’s responses] felt very articulate.”](https://cphswolfpack.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/Sebastian-5-1200x800.jpg)
![Holding the Grand Nationals trophies, drum majors Helashi Wijayawardhana, Abigail Pettey and Eddy Kim pose for a photo. The BOA Grand Nationals competition took place in Indianapolis on Nov. 14-17. “My favorite thing was just looking back at the field, and I was like, ‘Oh, crap. I know all of their names, I know who all of them are’,” Wijayawardahana said. “It's just insane to me that I was able to make so many connections. [Being a drum major] taught me how to build relationships with people who I’m not really that similar to, and how to juggle a ton of things all together.”
Photo courtesy of CPHS Band SmugMug](https://cphswolfpack.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/AJC.GrandNatsFinals-169-1200x801.jpg)
![Delicately placing the string to form the shape of a cornucopia, seniors Haley Burton and Avery Nelson create the November arrangement for the Flower of the Month Club. This club is led by Advanced Floral Design Students and provides a monthly arrangement to community members who subscribe to receive them. “I think flower of the month club is a really impactful way to show your loved ones ‘hey I really care about you,’ or even if they’re just for yourself, they’re a little pick-me-up throughout the month that [say] ‘I’m doing ok, and these flowers make my day a little bit brighter,” Nelson said. “I like giving people flowers because people value the flowers more and they value themselves more.”](https://cphswolfpack.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/Ava-Holmes-3-edit.jpg)
![Standing in front of the field at a freshman football game, cheerleader freshman Jacob Gaudreau along with teammate freshman Bella Gibson pose for a photo during halftime of game. “[Cheer has] definitely given me a much more outgoing personality,” Gaudreau said. “I used to be very introverted, so it's definitely made me more extroverted towards people.”](https://cphswolfpack.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/Ingrid-204-1200x800.jpg)
![Holding a wooden pizza toy, senior Taylor Peterson plays with small children in Bucaramanga, Colombia. During the summer, Peterson traveled to Colombia to help build an elementary school that only had two classrooms but five or six grades with one teacher. “We add[ed] two more classrooms,” Peterson said. “It’s kind of hard when you have two or three grades in one classroom and you only have one teacher. It’s very hard to actually get some beneficial learning. [The extra classrooms will give the students] a better quality of education because they’ll actually have a place specific for their learning.” Photo by Taylor Peterson](https://cphswolfpack.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/Taylor-P.png)
![Sucking in a breath of air, freshman Lily Pope competes in the 200 yard individual medley. On Oct. 25, the swim team competed in the AISD Swim Invitational. Overall, the girls team took second place and the boys team came in eleventh. “My favorite stroke is butterfly because I do the best in that stroke,” Pope said. “I feel like [butterfly] can test how [your ability] to convince yourself to keep going. The hardest part of swimming is convincing yourself to stay strong and keep pushing during a hard race [when] everything is tired.”](https://cphswolfpack.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/POPE-1200x804.jpg)
![Swinging with his arm extended, senior Nolan Park hits the ball smoothly over the net and to the opponent’s side. Park is one of four varsity tennis captains and helped the team win district championships. “Winning district champs was a pretty awesome feeling,” Park said. “We had lost to Liberty Hill a couple of weeks before, but when we played them [again], we came out and really took care of business. We took them out and it was just a really awesome night.”](https://cphswolfpack.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/Kassidy-419.jpg)
![On Jan. 30, CP Night will be held to aid incoming freshmen with course selection. “While we focus a lot on incoming 9th graders, we encourage all of our grade levels to come out because we’ll highlight ACC, advanced programs, [and] all of our extracurricular options,” Colman said. “Anyone who is still struggling with a decision about what to do [or] how to progress [have the option] to pick and choose.”](https://cphswolfpack.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/CP-NIGHT.png)
Taking the next step and transitioning from middle to high school can be stressful, but with the aid of Cedar Park High School’s counselors, assistant principals and staff, students as well as parents are able to understand what high school looks like and become accustomed with the programs within Cedar Park.
CP Night will be hosted this year on Jan. 30 from 6-8 p.m. in the library, lecture hall, cafeteria and PAC. Geared towards incoming freshmen, the event is an opportunity for students to learn about all that Cedar Park has to offer and what is available to them.
“CP Night is a way for our incoming families to get a chance to be on campus, meet the staff, hear about our programs, get to visit the CTE classroom,” lead counselor Sarah Cable said. “[That] is a big thing especially when they’re trying to decide what pathways and elective classes that they want to take, and ask questions about athletics and band so that they know what to prepare for and what to expect. It helps that transition from middle school to high school because they’re not just showing up here the first time on the first day of school. They have multiple opportunities to be on campus and have exposure, and start feeling like a Timberwolf.”
While CP Night stands for Cedar Park Night, there is also a double meaning of Course Planning Night. The entire focus of the event is for students to learn about all the courses available to them and the programs that CPHS contains.
“I think the most important [thing] is getting to learn about all the stuff,” Dean of Instruction Jennifer Colman said. “There’s so much that goes with choosing your classes but also preparing for college or postsecondary options. Getting the information available is always [useful for the future].”
Going into the 2024-2025 school year, Cedar Park will experience a lot of zoning changes. Many students that went to middle schools such as Henry Middle School and Running Brushy Middle School will now be attending Cedar Park High School. This transition is likely to feel worrisome for many, however, with CP Night, these students have the opportunity to get a first glance at what their high school will be like.
“With our transfer kids it’s important for them to feel familiar with the campus and start to feel a little more at home,” College and Career Transition Coordinator Chriss Hexter said. “For some of our parents this will be the first opportunity they have to see the inside of Cedar Park High School. That’ll help them feel a little more [in] the Cedar Park community.”
All students have the opportunity to learn about advanced courses and what college credit looks like in high school. With college courses taken through Austin Community College or Advanced Placement programs that offer college credit, students have a plethora of options available when it comes to getting a head start on their future.
“While we focus a lot on incoming ninth graders, we encourage all of our grade levels to come out because we’ll highlight ACC, advanced programs, [and] all of our extracurricular options,” Colman said. “Anyone who is still struggling with a decision about what to do [or] how to progress [have the option] to pick and choose.”
Career and technical education programs are highlighted throughout the night. What programs such as ROTC, culinary arts, health science and more have to offer are explained to students. For many students, this will be the first time they get to hear about these programs in high school and start thinking about what extracurriculars they want to partake in as well as what programs peak their interest.
“I think it’s important to come on campus and see staff and see the building because when all you do is have a paper choice sheet, that’s just words, but when you meet the people and you see the classrooms and you see what they accomplish in those programs it’s a very different feeling, you can know if it feels right or [if] it doesn’t,” Cable said. “When they get to see what’s going on in the room they’re like ‘yeah, that’s really what I want to do’ and it gives them an opportunity to do that before they pick out the classes.”
