![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)
What kind of music do you make?
JORDAN: We sound kind of like a big pot of sloppy, poppy, atmospheric, punk-jangle with whiney vocals.
How did you get your start?
JORDAN: I met Joe, the bassist, in 6th grade and I decided to be his drummer before I even had a drum set. However, it wasn’t until we met Logan a couple of years ago that we truly began to express ourselves. What began as choppy, two-chorded, garage-y trash turned into music that my bestest buds and I can be proud of.
JOE: I met Jordan in 6th grade and we were both into like Hippy stuff, you know? Like Jimi Hendrix and the Beatles and stuff. So he and I started jamming and writing songs which were all instrumental because we were both too scared to sing. Over the summer before ninth grade Jordan and I met Logan and we started jamming. We tried crappy blues metal at first, but we soon became crazier and more experimental. We have been evolving ever since.
LOGAN: I was inspired to be an artist when I met Jordan and Joe, they really influenced me to be the artist I am today.
What do you consider your first artistic breakthrough? How has your music evolved since then?
JORDAN: I suppose our first “breakthrough” was when we figured out how to record ourselves with my Mac with the help of a four track mixer. It allowed us to pass out demos and get gigs downtown.
LOGAN: The moment we started playing I realized we had something special. I guess that was my first silly little breakthrough.
JOE: Soul Discharge’s first breakthrough was our first album, Gringo. That was really the first time that we created something worthwhile that had songs that we actually enjoyed. Because it was our first stab at being musicians, it’s a fairly immature album and it lacks cohesiveness. Anyways, since then we have gotten more mature, more melodic, more meaningful, and generally better in my opinion.
What other artists have influenced you and how?
JOE: Well Jordan, Logan and I are into all sorts of diverse music and we try to incorporate things from various genres and carrying levels of energy and emotions. There are too many to name, but there are definitely a few that stick out in my mind. DNA is a New Wave band that basically broke down every rule of what could be considered music while being exciting and fun to listen to. I also like Tricky for similar reasons. He makes trip-hop which is a subgenre of hip-hop.
What other things do you do for fun besides make music?
JORDAN: I am in theatre class here at this school. I mostly do homework and hang out with my friends. I also do musical, and PNG.
JOE: I like to hang out with my girl, Bronwyn Carter, and my other friends. I enjoy other art like painting, movies, etc. And now I’m learning how to skateboard!
LOGAN: I love hanging out with my friends, reading, watching movies, and playing Gex 64 with Jordan.
What is your work process?
JORDAN: It usually begins with an idea that one of us has worked out. We flesh it out together, whether that be running through it as a band or by mending specific elements of the song. When the structure is solid and we are all on the same boat, we go record it. We set up the microphones on the separate tracks on Garage Band and kick off the pain-staking process of level setting. After like 35 torturous hours of that, we lay down the basis for the song. Over that, we over-dub guitars or violins or vocals or kazoos or burps or whatever we see fit. However this process may vary, depending on the type of the song we are doing. Over the time we have been playing together, we have learned how to adapt our writing style in different situations.
What advice would you give musicians who are just starting out?
JORDAN: Express yourself as honestly as you can, because the art that results will be unique.
LOGAN: Be yourself, be creative, have an open mind, and most importantly have fun!
Where do you see yourself in ten years?
JORDAN: Maybe I’ll be a recording engineer, and if not, definitely something in the music industry. I plan on being in a band until the day I die, without concerning myself with its popularity. I will always need to express myself through music.
JOE: I’m definitely going to be making music in various musical groups and making all the kinds of different art that I can make like painting, film, etc. Maybe I’ll be an audio engineer too and I’ll be recording other bands. I think I’ll be happy.
LOGAN: I have no idea. And I like it that way.
