![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)
A Journey’s Impact
Senior Volunteers In Rwanda, Reflects On Experiences
Photo Courtesy of Faith Elliot
Senior Faith Elliott smiles along with three Rwandan children in the village of Kageyo, Rwanda. Elliott volunteers with a group called Africa New Life in Rwanda and said that the trip impacts her every year. “What surprises me the most about the people there is how the Rwandans can have so little and still be filled with joy. This year was different than the last because I already knew what to expect and saw a lot of old friends there, it was like I was going back home.”
January 2, 2020
It is usual for high school students to want to spend their free time sleeping in, hanging out with friends, or maybe even binging Netflix. But there are the rare few who want to spend their free time helping others in a completely foreign place.
Senior Faith Elliott recently started a project called Project Friendship. The project receives homemade bracelets as a donation, which Elliott takes back to a village in Rwanda.
“I started the project so I could bring something thoughtful to the children of Kageyo,” Elliott said. “I started Project Friends in September and my favorite part about it is seeing the children’s faces when I give them the bracelets.”
According to Elliott, her mom had been to Rwanda before and loved it so much that she wanted to bring the whole family. And after her first trip, Elliott knew she needed to go back.
“I went back because on my first trip I fell in love with how beautiful the country is and how amazing the people in the country are,” Elliott said. “What surprises me the most about the people there is how the Rwandans can have so little and still be filled with joy. This year was different than the last because I already knew what to expect and saw a lot of old friends there, it was like I was going back home.”
Elliott said that she spent her time in the country with a ministry called Africa New Life. During her stay, Elliott was volunteering and getting to know the Rwandans.
“During my time in Rwanda I was creating gardens to help communities be more self sustaining,” Elliott said. “My favorite parts of Rwanda were speaking the language with the locals and visiting my sponsored children.”
While Elliott loves the language, she said that it can still be challenging.
“I try very hard to learn the language and pronounce everything correctly,” Elliott said. “It is a language only spoken in Rwanda and it helps me make friends and get to know people easier. When they see you making that effort to communicate with them and learn from them, they really open up.”
According to Elliott, every time she leaves Rwanda she becomes sad.
“When I leave I always feel like I am missing something until I go back again,” Elliott said. “This year it was especially hard to say goodbye.”
After high school, Elliott said she is planning to spend the fall in Rwanda.
“The plan is to spend the fall in Rwanda and get a year of college done at Austin Community College between the summer and the spring,” Elliott said. “I don’t really have a backup right now so I’m just trusting God with the process. If something prevents me from going this fall then I will trust that he has other plans for me.”
Reflecting back on her time, Elliott said that each trip impacts her, and that on her visit next fall she plans to be doing an internship with a photographer named Serrah, who she had met through Africa New Life.
“Serrah was working with Africa New Life as well and was taking pictures in the village we were at so he traveled with us,” Elliott said.” He and I got along really well and he invited me to intern with him after hearing that I wanted to spend time abroad in Rwanda. The trip impacts me each year by refreshing my spirit and reminding me of why I love photography and traveling,”
