![After placing second in their respective LDEs at the Capital District contest in early November, freshman Jesus Jaramillo-Gallegos and freshman Wyatt Pickett will compete at the Area XII LDE contest in Georgetown on Nov. 23. Jaramillo-Gallegos is competing in Greenhand Spanish Creed Speaking, while Pickett’s LDE is Greenhand Creed Speaking. “Honestly, [I’m excited for] just traveling around, maybe meeting more people,” Jaramillo-Gallegos said. “And [I’m] nervous about probably just not being able to define my weak areas. I feel like I did decent for my first time ever doing this. I just think it’s fun.”](https://cphswolfpack.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Navy-and-Yellow-Simple-Group-Project-Presentation-1200x675.png)
![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)
![Sitting at a desk past the rows of books laid out for the Book Fair, senior Kimberley Walters assists people in purchasing books and finding titles. The Book Fair is taking place Dec. 16 through Dec. 20, and is an annual event during which students and faculty have the opportunity to go and purchase books and other trinkets in the library. Kimberley said she encourages all to go to the Book Fair, even if they think they don’t like to read. “If you make reading something that is fun for you and you find the things that you like to read, it will never be a chore,” Walters said. “So [the Book Fair is] a good opportunity to find something that will respark your want to read [like] when you were a child and you went to the book fair and you loved the ‘I survived’ books. Maybe you'll find your ‘I survived’ books of your high school experience, and it'll re-spark that kind of love for reading that may have died out.”](https://cphswolfpack.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/Addie-L-47-1200x800.jpg)
![Smiling at the camera, sophomore Olivia Mahlmeister and seniors Samantha Jameson, Adhit Eswaramoorthi and Justin Khadavi celebrate completing first chamber in the Congress Meet. All four students advanced to the final chamber. “Out of the 20 kids in the final chamber, we had a seventh, ninth, 11th and 13th, and they took the top four to move on to state,” AP US History and Debate teacher Josh Marsh said. “[Even though] we didn't make state this year, all four of them moving on [and] placing is phenomenal.” Photo courtesy of Josh Marsh](https://cphswolfpack.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/2024-Regional-Congress-Team.jpg)
![Standing in front of a small audience, senior Kimberley Walters shares a social criticism poem titled “Pity the Nation” by Lawrence Felinghetti. Every month, sponsored by the poetry club, the library hosts a poetry reading. “I never thought I would be interested in [poetry readings] because I’m not the biggest poetry fan,” Walters said. “I think poetry is a very succinct way to express feelings and get a story across. Whereas lots of books have a span of a whole story, but it’s put in a lot of words. The power of poetry is that you can be so succinct within, and there’s a lot of power within the words that are used.”](https://cphswolfpack.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/KIM-1200x800.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)
![Holding the Grand Nationals trophies, drum majors Helashi Wijayawardhana, Abigail Pettey and Eddy Kim pose for a photo. The BOA Grand Nationals competition took place in Indianapolis on Nov. 14-17. “My favorite thing was just looking back at the field, and I was like, ‘Oh, crap. I know all of their names, I know who all of them are’,” Wijayawardahana said. “It's just insane to me that I was able to make so many connections. [Being a drum major] taught me how to build relationships with people who I’m not really that similar to, and how to juggle a ton of things all together.”
Photo courtesy of CPHS Band SmugMug](https://cphswolfpack.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/AJC.GrandNatsFinals-169-1200x801.jpg)
![Delicately placing the string to form the shape of a cornucopia, seniors Haley Burton and Avery Nelson create the November arrangement for the Flower of the Month Club. This club is led by Advanced Floral Design Students and provides a monthly arrangement to community members who subscribe to receive them. “I think flower of the month club is a really impactful way to show your loved ones ‘hey I really care about you,’ or even if they’re just for yourself, they’re a little pick-me-up throughout the month that [say] ‘I’m doing ok, and these flowers make my day a little bit brighter,” Nelson said. “I like giving people flowers because people value the flowers more and they value themselves more.”](https://cphswolfpack.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/Ava-Holmes-3-edit.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)
![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)
![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)
Women’s March Storms Texas Capitol
Marchers held up many different signs signaling their support for different ethnic groups, religions and female rights, but an extent of signs illustrated people’s feelings toward the new administration. “It’s important now more than ever to raise awareness that things are not perfect, that there is always more to do and more to fight for,” senior CW Ko said. “Planned Parenthood is at risk, environmental regulations are at risk, gay rights are at risk, and several civil liberties are at risk. Trump’s presidency poses a threat not just through legislation, but through his rhetoric, and we must not allow fear and division to become normalized.”
February 2, 2017
People crowded throughout the city as women, men and children from all around the state gathered at the Austin capitol on Jan. 21. to march in honor of equal rights. The Women’s March was held the day after President Donald Trump was inaugurated into the White House and became the 45th President of the United States of America.
The Women’s March was an idea and movement founded by Theresa Shook via a single Facebook post. The post promoted ideas of equality, and it gained enough support that Shook created the march to celebrate these ideals.
While the march was based in Washington, hosting upwards of 100,000 people, Austin also had a large turn out, with about 40,000 people walking to the capitol, according to the Austin Police Department. Among the crowd were several CP students, including Senior CW Ko.
regardless of gender, race or sexuality,” Ko said. “The march represented a fight for civil rights and environmental protections, both of which I’m extremely passionate about.”
The march, according to Ko, was about 1.5 miles long, and people walked from downtown Austin to the capitol, where speeches were made by civil rights activists.
“Wendy Davis was one of the concluding speeches and her words about activism and the importance of feminism and diversity literally gave me goosebumps because it was so incredibly inspiring to be surrounded by people as far as you could see and listening to a speech about equality and voice in the heart of Texas,” Ko said.
Speeches were not the only thing that moved marchers, it was also the ambiance and the spirit of everyone there, according to Ko.
“The atmosphere was incredibly positive and powerful,” Ko said. “The streets were lined with people cheering us on and waving signs of their own, and people of all ages, genders, races, and sexualities were there with the same beliefs of equality. People everywhere were smiling and waving and giving us thumbs up and it was just incredibly powerful and inspiring.”
During the march, people celebrated with creating signs, wearing pink shirts and caps. Throughout the week after the march, social media was filled with people posing pictures with their signs and outfits made especially for the march.
“My favorite moment was marching with the crowd and seeing what everyone had on their posters and knowing that I was surrounded by people who share a common goal of making their voices heard,” senior Sophie Astronoto said. “My favorite sign was one that read “We All Can Do It” with illustrations of women of different racial, religious and cultural backgrounds because that was something that I could relate to personally. As an Asian American Muslim, I felt that it was incredibly inclusive and progressive.”
Public demonstration has increased since the inauguration of Trump, however this rally is one of the biggest so far, and is said to be one of the biggest protest marches after a presidential inauguration, according to Time. Junior Sydney Herrick also participated in the march.
“After the election, our nation has been in a very divided and fragile state,” Herrick said. “I think the march brought a lot of people together and provided the unity that was destroyed. I think the march sent a very clear message that we as women- and men and children stand together and fight for the rights we deserve.”
In the past, young adults have played huge parts in civil movements and redefining social boundaries, such as the anti-Vietnam movements imposed by students from Columbia university and when Little Rock introduced colored children into an all-white school. Students have played a role in our nation’s history and CP students are no exception. Though, according to Astronoto, it is not the age that should determine the role you play, but your education.
“I don’t think there should be a point specifying when you’re old enough to protest, but I definitely think that you should educate yourself before protesting,” Astronoto said. “We all have the right to our own opinion, but it is important to be well-read before partaking in political activism and fighting for what it is you believe in.”
Women, despite the name, were not the only people that marched. Fathers, sons and brothers from all over the city came in to support the march. Senior Joel James, while not at the march, did see the effect the march had on the world.
“I think any form of peaceful protest is useful in electing change,” James said. “It’s one of the few ways normal people can voice their opinions.”
The march moved thousands of women, men and children around the world, including marches in Europe, Asia and even Antarctica. Participants were asked by different media outlets that covered the event to ask: #whyImarched, and why they wanted to make a difference.
“I marched in part for the experience, but mostly in part for standing up for something that I believe in,” Herrick said. “Instead of complaining about issues surrounding women’s rights, I actually got out and made a difference. I was a part of something greater than myself and it was wild to be surrounded by so many other men and women who shared by same values and beliefs. It was really powerful.”
