![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)
The Show Must Go On
Members of Color Guard Discuss Season, Competition Process
![Holding their flags, the color guard performs in the gym. Although the varsity team did not make it to finals this year, according to senior color guard member Bolt Gonzalez, the color guard was able to overcome many challenges, including virtual competitions.
“We are all [in] guard to learn new things and be challenged so we are happy with the progress we have made this year,” Gonzalez said. “It sucks a little not having in-person competitions and performing in a mask is difficult at times but we can still be together and, to me, that’s what counts.”](https://cphswolfpack.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/Colorguard.jpg)
Photo courtesy of Zoe Courtade
Holding their flags, the color guard performs in the gym. Although the varsity team did not make it to finals this year, according to senior color guard member Bolt Gonzalez, the color guard was able to overcome many challenges, including virtual competitions. “We are all [in] guard to learn new things and be challenged so we are happy with the progress we have made this year,” Gonzalez said. “It sucks a little not having in-person competitions and performing in a mask is difficult at times but we can still be together and, to me, that’s what counts.”
April 29, 2021
As the school year has progressed, many organizations and programs have found ways to overcome COVID-19 challenges and regulations, including the color guard. While the winter season has looked a little different this year, the color guard has continued to compete through virtual competitions.
Although students are still given the option to do school virtual or in-person, most of the color guard, including senior Bolt Gonzalez, attend the morning class, with everyone attending rehearsals in the afternoon.
“We are all [in] guard to learn new things and be challenged so we are happy with the progress we have made this year,” Gonzalez said. “It sucks a little not having in-person competitions and performing in a mask is difficult at times but we can still be together and, to me, that’s what counts.”
The color guard submitted their recorded performance for the semifinals to Winter Guard International Sports of the Arts (WGI) on March 29. WGI then scores each performance and decides which teams advance. However, there are no places for competition this year, teams are only aware if they advance or not.
On April 11, the color guard received the result for the virtual competition. While JV made the finals, varsity did not. Although guard captain Zoe Courtade said that she believes the challenges brought on by COVID took away from the overall color guard experience, all five leaders still worked to make the most of the winter season.
“Because our sport is very visual and hands-on learning, it was very hard to transfer to virtual and [try] to train to be competitive for the winter season,” Courtade said. “In a normal year, we all come together as a team to find motivation and grit but we had to get creative about how to involve virtual [students]. Thankfully, we have an amazing staff that has fought for us to have a season and come every day with new ideas and inspiring love for color guard.”
Courtade said that her favorite part of the season was the color guard’s final performance, which took place on April 10 in the gym.
“This year our very last performance was incredible,” Courtade said. “I couldn’t have asked for a better last fun to reflect all my four years in this program. Everything I tossed felt like it was in slow motion and I knew all of them were going to be great catch and I am so proud of my team for making this happen.
Despite the changes, Gonzalez said that she has still enjoyed Color Guard this year, especially spending time outside of practice with the other seniors on the team.
“It feels really good to spend so much energy working hard to make a show perfect and then to go eat dinner with those same people,” Gonzalez said. “[It] really builds a bond like family.”
![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)
