![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)
Arrive Alive makes an impact on juniors
![Students participating in the activity were told to sit in a black car brought by Arrive Alive. The car was said to contribute to the full experience one would get if they were actually drinking and driving or texting while driving. People waiting in line got to see the student who was driving’s attempt on TVs placed outside the tent.
Junior Tommy Rima laughs as he attempts to drive straight while having blurred vision representing what his state of mind would be like if he did drive drunk stimulated by the goggles.
“[Arrive Alive] definitely was beneficial,” Rima said. “Learning about the dangers of drunk driving is something everyone really needs to hear about and I thought that touring each high school was a good idea on Arrive Alive's part.”](https://cphswolfpack.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/IMG_0548-900x600.jpg)
Students participating in the activity were told to sit in a black car brought by Arrive Alive. The car was said to contribute to the full experience one would get if they were actually drinking and driving or texting while driving. People waiting in line got to see the student who was driving’s attempt on TVs placed outside the tent. Junior Tommy Rima laughs as he attempts to drive straight while having blurred vision representing what his state of mind would be like if he did drive drunk stimulated by the goggles. “[Arrive Alive] definitely was beneficial,” Rima said. “Learning about the dangers of drunk driving is something everyone really needs to hear about and I thought that touring each high school was a good idea on Arrive Alive’s part.”
October 27, 2015
Eyes squinting as the student tries to look through his blurred vision. His hands grasp the steering wheel tightly as he tries to continue his path straight. For a moment, he thinks he has got it, he thinks he can do this. That’s when it happens, he crashes and dies.
On Oct. 16, juniors were taken out of English, Social Studies and Science classes to participate in a drunk driving and texting while driving seminar brought to Cedar Park by Arrive Alive. Arrive Alive, which is a seminar that tour schools all over the country informing students about the dangers of drinking and driving and texting while driving. They were contacted through one of our Assistant Principals Edwina Hayden.
“I wanted students to see firsthand how dangerous texting while driving and drunk driving are because one in four teen car accidents are due to texting while and driving,” Hayden said.
When juniors gathered around the hallway by the cheer gym, they watched interviews with parents who lost teens to drinking/texting while driving.
“Those who watched the video saw firsthand the horrors of accidents when either of these things [drunk driving and texting while driving] are present,” Hayden said.
One student, junior Emily Reed who saw the video, explains the content of the video and her thoughts on the brutal scene.
“To be honest the video was gruesome,” Reed said. “It was completely terrible to hear those parents talk about their deceased children because they did one terrible mistake.”
Because of the video’s contents, and several students’ inability to tolerate it, the video ceased to play after 6th period.
In addition to the video presentation, students got to have a stimulated experience. Each student had the opportunity to choose drinking while driving or texting while driving. Then, students who wished to participate would get a chance to sit in a car and wear goggles. The juniors were told then to grasp the steering wheel and to attempt to drive.
Junior Tommy Rima explained the hardship of driving under the influence and the effect it had on him.
“Well it certainly wasn’t easy and I crashed almost instantly, so it felt pretty hopeless,” Rima said. “My whole life I’ve heard how dangerous it is to drive under the influence, and doing a simulation that almost feels physical did help get the point across more than just hearing about it.”
According to Rima, what he thought was going to happen and what did happen were two totally different things.
“Before I tried driving I knew that it wouldn’t go well, and after it pretty much just reassured my knowledge about how dumb it is to drink and drive,” Rima said. “It was a fun experiment though and I enjoyed trying it.”
Junior Brandi Gaspard also explains how drinking and driving may seem easy, but is actually quite hard and dangerous.
“[During the simulated activity] it felt like I was out of control and it was kind of scary,” Gaspard said. “It made me realize how dangerous drinking and driving really is on a personal level rather than knowing the stats and seeing it happen. Before, I was low-key excited to try, but then after, [the simulated experience] I was like I’m never trying.”
During the texting while driving segment, students had to take their phones with them in the car and attempt to drive without crashing. Junior Maddie Meyer chose this portion of the seminar.
“It felt weird, I usually can multitask but with this I could not,” Meyer said. “It made me think about what could happen in real life with texting and driving.”
Meyer also informs us on the difference between her before and after experience and her thoughts on texting while driving in general.
“Before I was excited to see what my results would be, and after I felt more informed of the dangers and everything that can happen in just a moment,” Meyer said. “I also think that you shouldn’t text under any circumstance.”
Hayden, who brought Arrive Alive to the school, illuminates her thoughts on the overall experience.
“I like to think it was a hit,” Hayden said. “I hope we can bring more programs to the school to educate students.”
She was not the only one who enjoyed Arrive Alive; Rima also articulates his thoughts on his experience, through the eyes of a student.
“I particularly enjoyed the actual driving portion of the Arrive Alive tour, since it gave me a hands-on attempt at driving drunk,” Rima said.
Whether a student participated in the drinking and driving section or the texting and driving section, the conclusion is the same; driving with distractions and/or under the influence is against the law and can be hurtful to oneself and others.
“Drinking and driving is idiotic and dangerous, all you’re doing is putting yourself and others at risk,” Rima said. “I don’t get why people even think about trying it but I’m glad that others are doing their best to stop it.”
