![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)
![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)
Penguin National Guard Dives Back Into Action
Students Start Up Penguin National Guard Once Again
Photo courtesy of Nicholas Coers
Junior Ethan Parks entertains the audience during the Penguin National Guard’s improv show on February 27.
March 26, 2019
PNG, also known as the Penguin National Guard, is a mash of colorful creativity along with quick thinking and sharp wit. This past December, students decided to bring the improv group back after it fell through last year.
“We really wanted to start it back up again because it’s a tradition, PNG has been around for 10 plus years, and it’s even mentioned in the ‘This is Cedar Park’ song,” senior Corbin Hopkins said. “It’s a great part of the school’s history and we didn’t want to watch it die and go away forever.”
Hopkins said that actually starting the club in the very middle of the year was difficult to do with all of the work it required.
“We have to finalize ourselves as a club even though this club requires auditions and commitment to get fundraiser papers,” Hopkins said. “We want to have the option to just donate whatever pocket money you want at every show, and that money will either go to the theatre department or to different charities we want to do shows for.”
While some students only see being funny as part of the club, Hopkins said that that isn’t completely what it is about.
“Improv isn’t just about being funny,” Hopkins said. “It’s about learning how to make a short story and keep people interested. Although, learning to be properly funny is a great skill to have, as so many don’t realize that it takes hard work to make people laugh.”
Senior Olivia Cantrell said that for her, PNG is a way for her and her friends to have fun, be creative and make people laugh, but that it also requires skill.
“Acting is not always easy,” Cantrell said. “You have to improvise. It strengthens your improv skills, which is just theatre speak for ‘thinking on your feet.’ You are also forced to work on a team so it definitely helps teamwork skills.”
Cantrell, who helped revive the club with Hopkins this year, said she loves PNG and was excited to start it up again.
“Corbin and I always loved going to PNG shows when we were in middle school, and when it disbanded we were both upset,” Cantrell said. “We decided we wanted to bring it back.”
With a crowd that fills theatre’s black box during their shows, Cantrell said that her favorite thing about the club is the community that it brings along with it.
“We are all different people with different strengths and weaknesses,” Cantrell said. “But together, we have so much fun.”
Their next show is on April 1 in the black box and is to start at 5:30 p.m. sharp. For updates on PNG’s shows and future dates, click here to visit their Twitter.
