![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)
![After winning the Bi-District match against Smithson Valley, the varsity tennis team poses for a team picture. The team finished second overall in district, became Area Champions and advanced to the Regional Quarterfinals. “I’m just reminiscing and trying to hold onto all these matches [we’re playing] in the fall because fall season is always my favorite,” senior Gaby Coutts said. “The fall season is just primarily a team sport, so we’re all together at all times, which is what I love about tennis. I love being with my teammates, so I’m definitely holding onto all the memories we’re making, and I’m just really proud of everything we’ve been able to accomplish together.”](https://cphswolfpack.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/tennis.jpg)
The tension hangs thick in the air as the whole team sits on the benches nervously. Legs bouncing, nails and lips being chewed on, but no one is as nervous as the one on the court. The one who determines the cheers or the tears, the one whose match hangs in the balance of a win or a loss. It’s all on the line, and with a quick breath and swing of the racket, they knew it was time to deliver the win.
For the 12th year in a row, the varsity tennis team has made playoffs. With a win against Southwest Legacy High School, the team advanced to the Regional Quarterfinals Monday.
“Personally, this is the best season I’ve ever had in my whole high school career,” senior Julie Richter said. “I think this is the furthest I’ve ever gone in the playoffs. We’ve only made it to Bi-District the past three years, so we’re doing really well. We’ve just been growing and learning as a team and for me it’s really cool to see people younger than me love the sport that I do and grow with me.”
The team finished second in district after a loss against Leander in district finals. Despite the loss, senior Gaby Coutts said the team was still excited for the chance at a playoff run.
“[It] was really heartbreaking [losing to Leander], and there was a lot of emotion going on the court,” Coutts said. “Even though we didn’t win district champs, I’m still really proud of us for moving on to playoffs. It’s a super big deal, I’m really proud of us for that.”
Before facing Leander for the district title, the team played Liberty Hill in the semi-final match. Both Coutts and Richter said it was a big match for the team due to the fact they fell 9-10 to the Panthers earlier in the season. Junior Ethan Nyugen played the final match of the night, which determined if the team advanced or not.
“I was really nervous,” Nyugen said. “I was cramping up and everyone was just watching me. [But] my coach was there, and that really helped me [during the match]. He was just there helping me go through this, and my team was also cheering me on too, which was really nice.”
The fall season, or sometimes referred to as team season, primarily involves team matches, meaning the players participate in both singles and doubles matches. Richter said the fall season allows players to prepare for the individuality the spring season brings on.
“Getting ready in the fall, it gets you ready for supporting yourself in the spring,” Richter said. “We all get split up at different sights. You could be the only person at your sight on your team, and you just have to mentally get through it. Team season really prepares you to be there for yourself, and it gets you ready skill wise as well.”
For Nyugen, he said he feels the fall season has brought improvement on the court, as well as off the court.
“Fundamentally my whole game has improved,” Nyugen said. “I feel like I’ve gotten so much ground on the court. Just my intelligence on the court has gotten better. This season [has also] really helped me build teamwork with other people and really showed me what I need to work on as a teammate myself with stuff like communication.”
The team is currently practicing to figure out the best lineup for the next match. Coutts said as important as the lineup is, the most important preparation is the mental prep before a match.
“We really have to mentally prepare ourselves, because I feel like 90% of tennis is the mental side,” Coutts said. “You have to be so mentally strong out on the court, and no matter how many points you lose, no matter how down you are, you still have to keep fighting and keep trying. Even if the player is a match point against you. You just have to keep the energy high and just mentally prepare yourself for any circumstance that could possibly happen.”
The team will face Alamo Heights on Monday in a must-win match in order to advance to Regional Semifinals.
“I’m just reminiscing and trying to hold onto all these matches [we’re playing] in the fall because fall season is always my favorite,” Coutts said. “The fall season is just primarily a team sport, we’re all together at all times, which is what I love about tennis. I love being with my teammates so I’m definitely holding onto all the memories we’re making, and I’m just really proud of everything we’ve been able to accomplish together.”
