![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)
![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)
Haunting House of Torment back for its 13th season
Kristen Kelly performs a move called the bone break while working as a zombie nurse at The House of Torment. “My favorite part was getting in costume and makeup each night,” Kelly said. “The makeup artists always wanted to try something different, so we rarely looked the same night to night.”
October 29, 2015
Looking for something fun to do this Halloween? Austin’s famed haunted house, House of Torment has returned for its 13th season for more thrills, scares, and good times. After all what could be more Halloween-esq than having dozens of monsters chase you around?
“Running around in the dark with scary guys popping out was really terrifying and fun,” Senior Jordan Teliha said. “I don’t usually get freaked out in haunted houses, but by the end I was screaming my head off.”
The house, or rather houses change in theme and scream each year, this year’s consist of the Dead End District, Hex of Harvest, and The Laughterhouse. The three part attraction has gotten the attention of Discovery Channel, The Huffington Post, Buzzfeed, and the Travel Channel.
“The detail that they put into the attraction is incredible,” senior Kike Esparza said. “Walking through the house you never know what is coming next because it is all dark.”
Not only do you get to see three houses full of monsters, but if you go with a group you get to see the crazy reactions The House of Torment brings out in them.
“I apparently get weirdly polite when I’m scared,” junior Cindy Orr said. “Every time someone would scare me, I’d say something like ‘excuse me’ to them. Once this guy whispered in my ear “I’m gonna slice your throat.” My response? ‘Oh-h… Thank you…’”
Some students, such as Kristen Kelly got the opportunity to go behind the scenes and work at The House of Torment.
“House of Torment was probably one of the coolest first jobs someone can have,” senior Kristen Kelly said. “The experience was very fun and every single night was different, so I never knew what I was getting into when the house opened each night.”
With a behind the scenes look at how the houses work, one has to wonder what it’s like to know the people behind all those scary masks and ghoulish outfits.
“Most people stay in character the entire night and never return to their normal posture or voice until the house closes, but we all still have fun”, Kelly said. “During breaks all of the monsters stay in character, but still crack jokes and talk about life with one another.”
From twisted pumpkin men, to clowns with chainsaws, The House of Torment promises not to disappoint.
Interested in going? The house is located on 523 E Highland Mall Blvd. Tickets are sold online and can be bought in singles, or group amounts. The house is open from Sept. 18- Nov. 7th with special blackout events Nov. 13-14, the house will also open for Valentine’s day, sure to satisfy all your thrill and chill needs.
![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)
