A student walks into the entrance of the field, instantly greeted by rows of decorated tents and smiling faces. A buzz of excitement zips through the air as students crowd around each tent, discovering new organizations. A voice comes over the speakers, encouraging students and parents to take their seats as Meet the Timberwolves begins.
The annual event is to be held on Sept. 18 from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. at the high school stadium. Students and all members of the community are welcome to learn more about the people, clubs and organizations at the school. Senior Meg Allaka is a member of the swim team and has attended Meet the Timberwolves since her freshman year.
“I think Meet the Timberwolves is a good way for underclassmen and freshmen to see what Cedar Park is all about,” Allaka said. “It’s a good way to show our school spirit and show that we’re a community.”
As a member of the swim team, Allaka helps run the swim team booth where they sell school merchandise such as hoodies and t-shirts. Later in the event, she runs through the blow-up Timberwolf with the rest of her team to celebrate their sport.
“[Running the booth] is a lot of teamwork and listening to each other and communicating with each other,” Allaka said. “Last year it was raining, [so] we were just all getting wet and collectively trauma-bonding over the fact that it was raining, and it was really fun.”
Clubs and organizations have a chance to set up a booth and fundraise or simply provide information on their club and encourage students to join. There is no charge to attend and everyone is welcome, whether they are in an organization or not.
“There are clubs for everyone. Everyone has their own little niche and I think everyone’s niche can be accounted for at Meet the Timberwolves,” Allaka said. “I think it’s really fun to see everything, [and Meet the Timberwolves] is a good way to figure out which clubs you like and which clubs you can join.”
Junior Lily Sterling is a member of the Celebrities dance team and performs a dance routine with her team at Meet the Timberwolves. To prepare, the Celebrities begin rehearsing two to three weeks prior to Meet the Timberwolves, with practices before and after school.
“As a team, [Meet the Timberwolves] helps us get out into the community, and individually, it helps us get out of our comfort zone,” Sterling said. “Typically [we do] football games, pep rallies, competitions and some basketball games, but getting out into the community and doing a performance where the community is involved is very different and kind of mixes up our usual routine.”
Junior Reid Cummins, along with juniors Lulu Lynch and Kyra Cox, is part of the CPHS News broadcast program and is in charge of directing the pep rally portion of Meet the Timberwolves. To prepare for this event, they write a script together after talking to other departments, and they practice reading through the script on the football field while setting up the necessary technology.
“This year I’m excited for [Meet the Timberwolves] because with pep rallies, there’s not that much of a rehearsal process,” Cummins said. “You get your script, you read over it 10 minutes before the pep rally starts, and you kind of feel the energy and go off of that. It’s always the audience’s energy that really brings out your energy, and Meet the Timberwolves is no different.”
Last year, Meet the Timberwolves was cut short due to the rain, and the Celebrities were unable to perform everything they’d had planned. But even through the poor weather, Sterling said that she enjoyed seeing the students and members of the community.
“It was pouring down, and that was definitely a special memory because people were still there, hopeful that it was not going to get canceled even though the field was literally flooding,” Sterling said. “The community was still showing up, and I feel like that shows how excited everybody gets for Meet the Timberwolves.”
