![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)
![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)
![Smiling at the camera, the Varsity Tennis team celebrates winning districts. They played against Liberty Hill on Tuesday night and won with a final score of 10- 5. “We improved a lot even from the last game,” senior Blake Hillis said. “We lost against them the last time we played [Liberty Hill], but it was really close. It was just really important for us to win this match since it was the district finals. [When we won I felt] overwhelmingly happy, especially being there with my teammates and it being my senior year. It was just really great. It [felt] like a community.”](https://cphswolfpack.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/Tennis-Districts-e1728060882260.png)
SXSW Offers Music, Art at Annual Festival
April 21, 2017
The city of Austin was crammed to its max over spring break while it hosted the annual South by Southwest festival, where people from across the globe came to enjoy music, famous public speakers and a variety of conferences.
South by Southwest (SXSW) can be a confusing festival to navigate, with six different types of activities to participate in during the festival, including a gaming conference, film festival screenings and a comedy festival.
The highlight of SXSW for most was the wide mixture of bands and music genres presented at the festival, with over 20 different types of music and over one-thousand music performers in Austin during spring break. Junior Eric Melendez attended this year’s SXSW festival and participated in some of the music venues the festival had to offer included many rappers. Melendez was able to attend performances by OT Genasis, Gucci Mane and lil Yatchy, and has some suggestions for those who are interested in similar performances during future SXSW festivals.
“If you are interested in the rap stuff, then the platinum pass is best for you,” Melendez said.
The platinum pass was the highest pass the festival had to offer. The platinum pass is used for beating the crowds of SXSW to attend the most popular venues at the festival. Melendez accounts his experience with the pass.
“I had a platinum pass so [the crowd] wasn’t as bad,” Melendez said.
Art galleries and many variety of arts and artists were also popular events during the festival. SXSW had a wide range of different artist and art styles, all the way from printer Cleon Peterson to surreal artist David Lynch. Teacher Leslie Lippe attended a few of these art galleries during the festival.
“I went to the Austin Convention Center and the flatstock poster art show is there,” Lippe said, “It’s artists that do poster art from all over the world that come to town and show their work.”
Along with plenty of popular, paid-for events that take up most of the festival, SXSW also offers a way for people to enjoy the festivities in downtown Austin without emptying their wallets by including a selection of events and activities for the general public to participate in completely for free. Sophomore Jordan Deyo attended events hosted by Waterloo records where she participated in a completely free music venue that included many different bands and music genres.
“There were a lot of sponsor booths giving out free stuff,” Deyo said. “‘Monster’ was giving out free drinks and people were giving out stickers and lots of cool stuff. I only spent $20 the entire day and that was on food.”
The annual SXSW festival at Austin has a plethora of events, venues and conferences to enjoy, ranging from free music festivals all the way to art venues and galleries.
“I think [SXSW] is a wonderful opportunity for the local community and the worldwide community to see the different talent from around the world and emerging artists from around the world,” Lippe said.
