![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)
![Students drew chalk art in honor of Veterans day. This is just one of many things the school does to show appreciation to veterans, and the art will remain in the courtyard as a reminder of all of the veterans who served their country. “On veteran’s day, I think it’s a great thing we do at school to honor people that served [who are] at our school or family members,” English teacher and cheer coach Nadira King said. “It makes me feel proud, and it makes me remember the [veterans].”](https://cphswolfpack.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Capture.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)
![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)
![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)
It’s no secret that Hollywood’s take on Rick Riordan’s hit YA fantasy series “Percy Jackson & The Olympians” hasn’t been the most pleasant experience. The two-part movie series that came out in 2010 and 2013 starring 2010s heart-throb Logan Lerman was everything but accurate with the books, earning the disapproval from Riordan himself. So, when Disney came out with news that they were doing their own take on the book series, a more accurate one per say, the expectations were set high for the fifthgrade girl inside of me that read every book in less than a month.
The idea started out with a bang when the casting list revealed 14-year-old Walker Scobell was cast to play 12-year-old Percy, and Riordan was set to be a producer of the show. The anticipation kept building from there until the show was released on Dec. 19.
The first episode begins just as the books, with Percy struggling from school to school with bullies and his learning disabilities. Then, with some help from his beloved mother, the show jumps right to it and reveals Percy is a Demi-God and his father is actually the Greek God of the ocean, Poisiden. Oh, and his best friend Grover is half goat and a satyr sent to protect Percy.
One thing I liked about the show right off the bat was not only the accuracy, but also the pace. No shimmer and shine, just straight to the point of the plot. The ‘big secret’ is revealed by Sally Jackson, Percy’s mother, at the end of the first episode, which immediately gravitates you towards watching the second episode.
In the second and third episode, we see Percy’s life completely unravel as he loses his mom to the ‘Underworld’ with Hades, and he is thrown into Camp Half-Blood, a place where he is protected along with many other Demi-God children. There he meets Annabeth, daughter of Athena and Luke, son of Hermes. He faces issues of fitting in, once again, until he discovers and is claimed by the power of his father during an event of ‘Capture the Flag’. Then, it is revealed that Percy has been called upon to go on a quest to find Zeus’ lightning bolt as his father has been accused of the one stealing it, however he was falsely accused. If Percy doesn’t return the bolt by the summer solstice, war will break out among the innocent people.
With the help of his chosen companions, Annabeth and Grover, Percy embarks on a troubling quest throughout the rest of the series.
Now, I won’t spoil what happens the rest of the way in Percy’s journey, because I did enjoy the show and I believe you should watch it instead of reading about what happened. But, let’s just say he meets some friends and foes along the way, such as the stone-cold Medusa and his cousin Ares, as well as Luke’s father Hermes who is played by everyone’s favorite founding father, Lin-Manuel Miranda.
Overall, the show does a really good job of telling you the story as Rick Riordan intended for it to be told, but I do believe it was rushed at times. It felt as if there was obviously too much for an eight episode series, and the writers did not necessarily know how to pace it all. So the show probably would have benefited from being a 10 episode series rather than eight, but that’s not much of a complaint as much as a suggestion.
My only minor complaint against “Percy Jackson and the Olympians” is you could tell, at times, the acting was immature. It wasn’t always perfect, but I feel as though that is appropriate for a show that is supposed to be about middle schoolers rather than fully grown adults portraying teenagers in high school. Walker Scobell did a job well done portraying Percy, and he has captured the hearts of many teenage girls on the internet as well. Leah Jefferies, who played Annabeth, poured much emotion into her character and the on-screen chemistry with Scobell paid off. Besides the couple of dull moments, the acting and storytelling overall was really well done.
Overall, I give “Percy Jackson and the Olympians” 7.5 out of 10 stars. It was a little rushed, and the acting fell short a few times, but overall did justice to Riordan’s books. The show has already been renewed for a second season, which obviously means I recommend you should immediately watch the show, then read all the books in the series (maybe again if you already have) and then immediately start counting down the days for season two. Hopefully, a season that will deliver just as much as the first.
