![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)
Justin’s Sleeper Teams for 2020 MLB Season
Photo courtesy of Creative Commons
The baseball season, as all sporting events are around the world, is on hold. When it does start, the three teams to watch out for are the Angels, White Sox and Padres.
April 24, 2020
As the COVID-19 pandemic has swept across the globe, it has left uncertainty revolving sports, including bringing up the question of when the 2020 MLB Season will actually begin. The league is looking at possible ways to start the season later than expected. This offseason in baseball included big names going elsewhere such as to New York and Los Angeles, cheating accusation scandals in Houston, a new ballpark opening in Arlington and new uniforms in Milwaukee, San Diego, Arlington, Cincinnati, Minnesota and Arizona. It’s time to go to work for these three sleeper teams in 2020, whenever the season gets underway.
Los Angeles Angels
The Angels made a splash right off the bat this offseason with the acquisition of 3B Anthony Rendon, who played a huge part in the Nationals’ World Series run in 2019. Rendon now joins three-time MVP and reigning MVP Mike Trout in the Angels’ lineup, giving them another strong bat to compliment Trout. 1B Albert Pujols, though 40 years-old, still has some pop in his bat. He hit .244 last year with 23 HRs and 93 RBIs. Pujols, being the cleanup hitter, needs to have a stronger year at the plate; it’s too common of a theme for Trout to get on base and Pujols not being able to bring him home. Pujols will need to more than simply a home-run-or-strikeout kind of hitter this season. The Angels have two good options at 2B, with Tommy La Stella and Andrelton Simmons both having strong 2019 campaigns. SP/DH Shohei Ohtani was one of the more interesting stories of last season; he’s one of the first dual-threat baseball players since Babe Ruth. Unfortunately, his 2019 season was cut short for Tommy John Surgery, but he will be back this season. It was evident that the Angels needed pitching help last season, and Ohtani provided them with that help before his season was cut short. The combination of Trout, Rendon, Pujols and Ohtani will be one to watch for at the plate this season. Therefore, the Angels are a sleeper team to make the 2020 postseason.
Chicago White Sox
The White Sox finished at 72-89 in 2019, which was ten wins better than in 2018 when they finished 62-100. The Sox added C Yasmani Grandal this offseason, giving him a four-year, $73 million contract, the biggest deal in franchise history. Grandal hit .246 last season with Milwaukee, and provides another complimentary power hitter to 1B José Abreu and a strong bat that has been lacking the White Sox’ lineup for many years. The Sox also added DH Edwin Encarnación, giving them a somewhat reliable cleanup hitter. It’s no secret that Encarnación is past the prime of his career, as he now sits at 37 years old, but he is still an experienced veteran that will bode will for Chicago in the club house.The Sox also lacked starting pitching a season ago, but added both Gio González and Dallas Keuchel to address the need. González had a strong season last season with Milwaukee, posting a 3.50 ERA on the season. Keuchel went 8-8 in 2019 with a 3.75 ERA with the Braves. Both Keuchel and González will be two key pieces in 2019, as they join 25 year-old Lucas Giolito on the Sox pitching staff. Giolito posted a 14-9 record a season ago with a 3.41 ERA. The trio of Keuchel, Giolito and González will be a story to watch this season, and hopefully for the Sox, for seasons to come. The White Sox have always lived in the Cubs’ shadow in Chicago, but maybe this season, the Southside White Sox will get some love and the tide will turn.
San Diego Padres
Led by the combination of SS Fernando Tatis Jr and 3B Manny Machado, the Padres’ lineup looks solid. The youngster Tatis Jr had a great rookie season a year ago, hitting .317 on the year. Machado is still a very reliable 3rd baseman and hitter, and he will have to play well for the Padres to make a run in 2020. Another hitter to watch for is another youngster, Francisco Mejia. The catcher was acquired via a trade with Cleveland last season, and has shown flashes of being one of the top prospects in baseball, which he is. Mejia improved his batting average drastically last season, raising it from .185 in 2018 to .265 in 2019. If Mejia can get that batting average this season into the .280-.290 range, it will give the Padres a reliable hitter to compliment Tatis Jr and Machado. Their pitching staff, headlined by Garrett Richards and former Cedar Park Timberwolf Chris Paddack, is up and coming, however, it appears to be the weakest link on their roster. All in all, the Padres are the 2nd youngest team in baseball, and definitely a team to watch out for years down the road. In 2020, the Padres hope to take a step in the right direction and put on a show with their youngsters on the frontlines.
