![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)
![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)
![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)
Making An Impact
Student Uses HOSA Project to Create Awareness Of Alzheimer’s
Seniors Jackie Castillo and Shivesh Razdan pose for a picture during their DEN presentation over Alzheimers. Each year, Health Occupations Students of America, also known as HOSA create a project where groups of students strive to create a lasting effect on the community through their research. This year for the annual HOSA project, senior Layla Ismail decided to use her project to create awareness of Alzheimers, and the link between classical music and the disease. “I think that we as the youth of our community need to educate ourselves since we will be the generation taking care of our parents and relatives who will later develop Alzheimers,” Ismail said. “It’s important for people in high school to get involved with the Alzheimer’s community because it’s an extremely humbling experience. It allows you to realize how lucky you are to be exactly where you are in life currently.”
February 14, 2020
Each year, Health Occupations Students of America, also known as HOSA creates a project where groups of students strive to create a lasting effect on the community through their research. This year for the annual HOSA project, senior Layla Ismail decided to use her project to create awareness of Alzheimer’s, and the link between classical music and the disease.
According to Ismail, her own grandmother who was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s was her inspiration for the project.
“I noticed that when I played piano for her she calmed down,” Ismail said. “She became super serene and it made me want to research more about the link between classical music and Alzheimer”s.”
Ismail and her group worked on the project for a couple of months and said that throughout the process she realized the importance of it.
“I think that we as the youth of our community need to educate ourselves since we will be the generation taking care of our parents and relatives who will later develop Alzheimer’s,” Ismail said. “It’s important for people in high school to get involved with the Alzheimer’s community because it’s an extremely humbling experience. It allows you to realize how lucky you are to be exactly where you are in life currently.”
For part of their project, Ismail said that her group decided to play a concert for the residents at Cedar Ridge Memory Care Assisted Living Facility. She said that during the concert, she took note of the residents and their awareness.
“We had people playing various instruments such as the piano and bassoon- the residents really loved it and we were able to see our impact directly,” Ismail said. “I noticed that some residents were more aware of what was going on. One resident began to give me life advice and she told me that she had Alzheimer’s and remembered her husband saying that she would be happier in the home before he placed her there. The residents responded very emotionally to the music, some became reminded of earlier memories that they had associated with the sounds and it was such a meaningful moment for all of us.”
During DEN on Feb. 1, Ismail and her team conducted a presentation where students could learn more about Alzheimer’s.
“In the presentation, during DEN we used Kahoot to survey what our audience knew about Alzheimer’s,” Ismail said. “The presentation allowed us to communicate information that I think was very valuable to anyone who came and I believe that it will have a lasting impact on their lives. If they start volunteering, not only will the Alzheimer’s residents be gifted with the assistance, but the volunteers will learn so much. It will be a life changing experience. The feeling of giving back to the seniors in our community is very heartwarming.”
After her experience throughout the project, Ismail said she hopes this project has a lasting effect on the community.
“Hopefully one thing that all people in the Cedar Park community can take from the project is how lucky they are to be in good health and to appreciate the people in their lives.”
![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-300x201.jpg)
