![The cross country team poses for the camera after finishing the district meet. The varsity boys, JV boys and JV girls all placed third and the varsity girls placed fourth. “Coach put in the right training for us for this season, so I think we will be peaking this week and the next couple of weeks,” varsity runner and junior Nathan Kukla said. “The chances of making it to state are very high, but we don’t settle for the lowest and there is always going to be that chance, so [we] race for the best.”](https://cphswolfpack.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/Heidi-831-1200x900.jpg)
![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)
![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)
![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)
![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)
![Standing proud, varsity senior athletes Rafael Escobar, Griffin Jacobs, Jakob Martin, and juniors Jackson Springer and Jack Morris pose with their newly earned medals. The varsity team finished third out of 14 teams on Sept. 25. “The team's primary goal is to win the district championship,” head coach Cody Price said. "We're confident that with our action plan in place, we can accomplish this mission. [For the next tournament], our preparation involves assessing our strengths and weaknesses, celebrating milestones and creating individual development plans." Photo courtesy of Cody Price](https://cphswolfpack.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/golf.jpg)
HOSA Advances to Internationals After Five Years
Members Compete in HOSA, Share Personal Experience
Photo courtesy of Kristin Knight
At HOSA’s State Conference, freshman Aashna Ravi and senior Kristin Knight pose before their competitions with junior Christina Laskaris who served as courtesy core. Of the competitors, Knight advanced to Internationals which are being held on June 19-22 in Orlando, Florida.
April 15, 2019
After two HOSA members competed at State on March 28-30, one of those members, senior Kristin Knight, advanced to Internationals (ILC) which is being held on June 19 through 22 in Orlando, Florida. This is the first time that HOSA is going to ILC since 2014.
HOSA, which stands for Health Occupations Students of America, is a national student organization dedicated to future health professionals, or those interested in learning more about it. Knight, the president of HOSA, advanced to Internationals for competing in Clinical Nursing. In her event, she went through a testing portion and then competed in “clinical skills,” which required her to learn, practice and perform skills to mimic a clinical setting.
“Competition was amazing, as it was my first time competing at the state level for HOSA and it exceeded my expectations,” Knight said. “I met several kids from around the state and I had a chance to get to know some of the kids I competed against. After I completed the skills portion of my event, I wasn’t feeling very confident, and I was so shocked to see my name on the screen for second place in Clinical Nursing at the Grand Awards Ceremony.”
As a first-year member, freshman Aashna Ravi competed in Home Health Aide, and advanced to the State competition. Her event required her to first pass a test, then perform skills that the judges chose at the competition, such as taking someone’s pulse or temperature. She said her favorite part about competing was meeting other contestants.
“Competition was very nerve-racking while still being a lot of fun,” Ravi said. “It was interesting to be going to a conference with other kids who were interested and passionate in the same things I was. Advancing to State was a big accomplishment for me as a freshman and I am really grateful for the opportunity to compete once again in a couple of weeks. It also means a lot because I get to go to State along with some of the people who really helped me grow this year in HOSA like Kristin Knight and Mrs. Beall.”
Junior Sruthi Keerthipati has been in HOSA for three years, and said she has learned better communication and time management skills through the organization. This year she competed in Epidemiology, which required her to take a multiple choice test that dealt with the history of diseases and preventive measures against disease outbreaks.
“What I enjoy most about HOSA is the environment and all the medical activities we participate in with people who also want to go into the medical field,” Keerthipati said. “Competing was not so stressful for me since it was a multiple choice test online. I was honestly very shocked when I advanced to State but I’ve been so grateful for this opportunity.”
