![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)
ESPN Who?
The (not-so) Real Rankings in College Football
September 3, 2019
The 2018 college football season brought a lot of fun games to watch, from Texas A&M and LSU’s record-breaking seven-overtime game ending in a score of 74-72, to Trevor Lawrence rolling over Alabama in the national championship. In 2019, the stakes are high, as the top 10 teams all have a shot at the college football playoff. Here are my pre-season top rankings for the 2019 season.
NOAH’S TOP 10 ANALYSIS
Clemson
Clemson has proven that they are one of the most dynamic teams in the country. This year, they are coming off of a National Title win against Alabama (44-16), who was also once known as the most powerful team in the NCAA. Clemson quarterback Trevor Lawrence is rumored as “the best college QB ever,” according to ESPN. He established the way that his team played all year, and plans to do the same this year. Clemson will be a fun team to watch this year as they opened their season with a big win over Georgia Tech, 52-14.
Alabama
Alabama has been a strong team for a while now, beginning in 2010 with their win against Texas in what was the BCS National Championship. Since then, Alabama has proven that they are a top contender, year in and year out. Alabama’s quarterback, Tua Tagovailoa, previewed his athleticism when he was a sophomore in the 2018 College Football Playoff Championship. He showed the world that he always comes to play, throwing a touchdown late in the game to beat Georgia. Alabama is expected to come out strong again this year, as I have them ranked number two. They pulled in their first victory over Duke, 42-3.
Oklahoma
Oklahoma is going to be an interesting team to watch this season. Transferring from Alabama, starting quarterback Jalen Hurts is going to be running the field after Heisman Trophy Winner Kyler Murray got drafted into the NFL. Bleacherreport, ESPN, and CBSSports all predict that Hurts will do just fine adjusting to a different playbook. Against USC in 2017, Jalen Hurts showed that he has the potential to run all over teams. Hurts is going to be calling the shots this year at Oklahoma, and it’s going to be a blast to watch. Oklahoma came out on top against Houston, 59-31.
Michigan
After finishing 10-3 in the 2018 season, Michigan is one of the more underrated teams in college football. This season, I could see Michigan getting into the College Football Playoff. They have multiple quarterbacks who can run the field, one of them being Shea Patterson, and Jim Harbaugh is one of the most dynamic coaches in all of the NCAA. Michigan is going to show out this year after defeating Middle Tennessee, 40-21.
LSU
LSU has been a team who plays in Alabama’s shadow, but Tiger fans are hoping for a good year. One of the craziest games of the 2018 season involved a stunning seven-overtime ending between LSU and Texas A&M, with A&M taking the win 74-72, the highest-scoring game in the 2018 season. Coming off of a 10-3 regular-season record and Fiesta Bowl upset over the only undefeated team in the NCAA, UCF, LSU is slated to have a solid season this year in 2019. LSU rolled over Georgia Southern, 55-3.
Ohio State
Ohio State seems to be a hit or miss team. They have had some of the best quarterbacks that the NCAA has ever seen, such as Cardale Jones, J.T. Barrett, and Braxton Miller, who now plays receiver for the Cleveland Browns. If you’ve seen the Netflix original series called “QB1,” you’ve heard Justin Fields’ name before. He takes the first snaps of the 2019 season, as former Ohio State QB Tate Martell transferred to Miami (FL) due to playing time needs. Fields is a very dynamic quarterback and he’s more than ready to show the world why he earned the starting spot at Ohio State. Fields and the Buckeyes beat Florida Atlantic, 45-21 in week one.
Georgia
Georgia has been chasing the natty for almost 30 years and it’s been a roller coaster to watch. Sometimes, they are obliterating opponents on the road, but other times, they’re losing to Texas in 2019 Sugar Bowl. Over the years, Georgia has slowly become more and more overrated, in my opinion. They had a good stint between 2015 and 2018, but going into the 2019 season, most of their talent has left to the NFL. This season will be interesting for Georgia to see how they can stack up with new faces on the field. The bulldogs gave Vanderbilt their first loss, 30-6.
Texas
Since their 2005 national title win over USC, Texas has been having a lot of struggles in recent years, but ever since Tom Herman took over in 2017, the Longhorns have slowly climbed their way back to the top. Former Westlake quarterback and current Texas quarterback Sam Ehlinger has been running over defenses ever since his first snap in a Texas uniform, making him a top contender for the Heisman Trophy. Coming off of a strong win against Georgia in the 2019 Sugar Bowl, Texas is expected to be a powerhouse out of the Big 12 in the 2019 season. They already have a strong start going into the biggest game of their season against LSU after beating Louisiana Tech, 45-14.
Florida
Thankfully for gator fans, this year they’re expected to be really good. They have created a lot of momentum rolling into the 2019 season, already with one win under their belt against Miami (FL). Technically, Florida has the best record in the NCAA at this point in time, but we’ll have to watch them and see if they can hold up their end of the SEC with a strong season.
Notre Dame
Notre Dame has always been a team who sits in the middle of the pack. Their showing in the College Football Playoff last season had a lot of people surprised, and while most people thought that they were going to roll over Clemson, they got beat, 30-3. Notre Dame is a team that has shown that they aren’t a good team to contend for the National Championship, in that they seem to fold under pressure. Notre Dame will remain to be a threat for top-ranked teams to look out for, but this year will be a good look into their competitive basis. They already have a 1-0 record, after beating Louisville, 35-17.
This season is going to be amazing to watch, so be sure to cheer on your teams and check out all of the games. We’ll see how my rankings stack up at the end of the season.
