![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)
Everyone looks at her as she gives out all of the information during the meeting. She has a carefully planned out to-do list to make sure she goes over every task each person must complete. She asks if anyone has any questions and a group of hands raise. She calls on one of them and prepares to listen and solve each of their problems.
Senior Alexis Standerfer is a congressional debate captain for the varsity debate team, president of the Science National Honor Society and National English Honor Society, vice president of HOSA, vice President of the student body, vice president of Student Council, member of the Rho Kappa Honor Society, member of the Mu Alpha Theta Honor Society, member of the National Honor Society, a HOSA practicum student, has earned a CCMA (Certified Clinical Medical Assistant) and is ranked 15th in the senior class. Not only have these leadership positions helped her learn vital leadership skills, but also helped her get into Emory University where she will major in biology and political science on the pre-med track.
“To balance all my responsibilities I keep a very organized Google Calendar that has all of my dates and assignments,” Standerfer said. “I use to-do lists with Google Keep where I track all of the assignments that I need to do, as well as my club responsibilities and then all my club dates and officer meetings in my Google Calendar. Every day I update the calendar to stay on top of all my responsibilities.”
These academic accolades were only possible because of the organization and the discipline she had for herself. Standerfer said that she balanced her academics and personal life by combining the two together. She completed her tasks or schoolwork by going to the library or studying with her friends, which made it easier to put her academics first while still having time for her personal life.
“The thing that keeps me motivated is knowing that all of these tasks and duties [are ones that] I signed up for, so if I don’t complete them then it’s on me, especially being the president of clubs,” Standerfer said. “If another officer doesn’t complete their responsibilities then it falls on me and if something falls apart in the club then it reflects badly on me as the leader of the club. That keeps me motivated to get everything done. I also enjoy school, so I don’t have trouble finding motivation.”
According to Standerfer, her future was yet another reason to become a leader in the school by involving herself in all of her extracurricular activities. She chose to become this leader in order to increase her chances of getting into a prestigious school but to also help her fellow classmates and get more involved with her community, and by helping those around her she was able to learn vital leadership skills for her future in the medical field.
“I have always trusted myself and knew that if I put my mind to something I could accomplish it,” Standerfer said. “I have learned that communication is the most important part of being a team leader not only for yourself, but the members of your team, especially when it comes to coordinating dates and who will be present for things. It is really important that that information is communicated in advance so you can make a plan. As a team leader, a lot of things start behind the scenes, [so I help with] making sure everything is communicated to everyone else so that everyone can work together as a team.”
Standerfer said she will use these communication skills she gained throughout high school in her future. She hopes to go to medical school and pursue research in Oncology to learn more about the research side of cancer.
“I have taken two college biology research courses over the summer,” Standerfer said. “That has prepared me to pursue research in college which is something I am really passionate about, as well as I’ve been licensed as a medical assistant, which means I will be able to start working and go straight into the clinical field to prepare me for medical school. I’m really interested in the research side of cancer and the genetic aspect behind it, so I want to explore into that and I hope to provide more to the understanding of cancer and how it works.”
