![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)
Out For Blood
HOSA Sponsors Schoolwide Blood Drive
The van of We Are Blood, the primary blood donation organization in the Austin area, sits outside the school. According to senior and HOSA officer Jennifer Pham, the blood drive required coordinating with We Are Blood and the school. “Planning the blood drive required many months of planning and lots of communication with the company We Are Blood and the school,” Pham said. “For us to have a successful blood drive, there were lots of requirements that we had to meet. We had to have a certain amount of donors to even be considered.”
April 13, 2023
Just one donation can save three lives. That’s why HOSA organized the first schoolwide blood drive to take place since the COVID-19 pandemic on March 30, taking blood from a total of 55 donors.
The drive went from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. in the lecture hall and let anyone above the age of 17 with a minimum weight of 115 pounds and a signed parental consent form participate. According to senior and HOSA officer Jennifer Pham, the drive was meticulously planned with other organizations.
“Planning the blood drive required many months of planning and lots of communication with the company We Are Blood and the school,” Pham said. “For us to have a successful blood drive, there were lots of requirements that we had to meet. We had to have a certain amount of donors to even be considered.”
Once a donor was screened per blood donation guidelines, they were taken to one out of several desks in the room where stations were set up. Their arm was then sanitized while they received instructions for the process, which involved sticking a needle into the donor’s arm and letting the blood drain out into a small container. Afterwards, they were free to go, although a few donors did feel the side effects of having a relatively large amount of blood drain quickly.
“The side effects of donating blood are different for everyone,” Pham said. “When in the room, I saw some donors feeling faint and nauseous, while others were completely fine.”
All in all, the blood drive took blood from 55 donors, which Pham said was equal to 165 lives saved. According to Pham, the amount of demand for blood at any given time is extremely high, as the American Red Cross estimates that someone in the U.S. requires a blood transfusion every two seconds. Anything from injuries with significant blood loss sustained during a car crash or natural disaster to illnesses that cause anemia, like leukemia and kidney disease, require a blood transfusion.
“This year was our first time planning and bringing back the blood drive since COVID-19,” Pham said. “As a HOSA officer, our team wanted to help the community because blood is highly demanded every year.”
With a successful blood drive under their belt, Pham said HOSA wishes to establish a more regular, annual blood drive that students could participate in. A few tweaks, however, will be made to their original plan.
“During the blood drive, some people wanted to donate but didn’t know about it,” Pham said. “Something we could change is improving our advertising about the blood drive to more people at school so others are aware of the upcoming blood drive. Blood drives help people in need and people in the community [and save] the lives of others.”
![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)
