![Broadcast, yearbook and newspaper combined for 66 Interscholastic League Press Conference awards this year. Yearbook won 43, newspaper won 14 and broadcast took home nine. “I think [the ILPC awards] are a great way to give the kids some acknowledgement for all of their hard work,” newspaper and yearbook adviser Paige Hert said. “They typically spend the year covering everyone else’s big moments, so it’s really cool for them to be celebrated so many times and in so many different ways.”](https://cphswolfpack.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/edited-ILPC.jpg)
![Looking down at his racket, junior Hasun Nguyen hits the green tennis ball. Hasun has played tennis since he was 9 years old, and he is on the varsity team. "I feel like it’s not really appreciated in America as much, but [tennis] is a really competitive and mentally challenging sport,” Nguyen said. “I’m really level-headed and can keep my cool during a match, and that helps me play a bit better under pressure.” Photo by Kyra Cox](https://cphswolfpack.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/hasun.jpg)
![Bringing her arm over her head and taking a quick breath, junior Lauren Lucas swims the final laps of the 500 freestyle at the regionals swimming competition on date. Lucas broke the school’s 18-year-old record for the 500 freestyle at regionals and again at state with a time of 4:58.63. “I’d had my eye on that 500 record since my freshman year, so I was really excited to see if I could get it at regionals or districts,” Lucas said. “ State is always a really fun experience and medaling for the first time was really great. It was a very very tight race, [so] I was a bit surprised [that I medaled]. [There were] a lot of fast girls at the meet in general, [and] it was like a dogfight back and forth, back and forth.” Photo by Kaydence Wilkinson](https://cphswolfpack.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Kaydence-2.7-23-edit-2.jpg)
![As her hair blows in the wind, senior Brianna Grandow runs the varsity girls 5K at the cross country district meet last Thursday. Grandow finished fourth in the event and led the varsity girls to regionals with a third place placement as a team. “I’m very excited [to go to regionals],” Grandow said. “I’m excited to race in Corpus Christi, and we get to go to the beach, so that’s really awesome.” Photo by Addison Bruce](https://cphswolfpack.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/brianna.jpg)
Long, skinny legs. Leathery wings. Beady eyes. I flinch away from these horrendous monstrosities as they hop through the hallways. They are in the walls. In the classrooms. Even in the sinks. Crickets are everywhere.
Whether the crickets are dead or alive, they infest the school during cricket season. Although they aren’t harmful, crickets are still pests that create noise and show up in places that aren’t very pleasant. For example, the bathroom sink.
I was having an uneventful day until I went to the bathroom. When I left the stall, I went to wash my hands at one of the sinks. I was about five seconds into washing my hands when I saw movement. There, right on the drain, was a gross, brown, writhing cricket, drowning in the water. How did it get there? I have no idea. All I know is that I’ll be checking bathroom sinks for the rest of my school career.
Why do we even have crickets this time of year? According to Reliant Pest Management, the high temperatures and elevated humidity levels contribute to cricket season. So while we are escaping the heat with air conditioning, the crickets are thriving out in the horrible heat.
So you’re probably wondering why crickets come inside the school when they love the hot weather. According to Accurate Pest Control, “crickets need plenty of moisture to survive.” Because of this, they are attracted to leaky faucets and pipes, and might end up giving you a heart attack when they show up in your sink.
I’m not the only one getting spooked by these hideous hoppers. Can you imagine a cricket jumping on your foot as you’re walking towards the school from the parking lot? It certainly spooked my friend. As she recounted the story, she told me that she hadn’t screamed that loud in a long time.
The crickets are not picky with their prey; they sometimes terrorize entire teams. The Celebrities dance team was ambushed by crickets during rehearsal. I can only imagine the kind of moves they started doing when the little monsters hopped onto their heads.
There is not much we can do to get rid of the crickets. They have infested the whole school. All we can do is try to avoid them. So here are my words of advice: keep your eyes peeled as you’re walking through the parking lot. Be aware of any pests that may jump into your hair. And most importantly, always check your sinks.
