![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)
![Students drew chalk art in honor of Veterans day. This is just one of many things the school does to show appreciation to veterans, and the art will remain in the courtyard as a reminder of all of the veterans who served their country. “On veteran’s day, I think it’s a great thing we do at school to honor people that served [who are] at our school or family members,” English teacher and cheer coach Nadira King said. “It makes me feel proud, and it makes me remember the [veterans].”](https://cphswolfpack.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Capture.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)
![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)
![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)
The green ball is a blur of motion, flying back and forth over the net. The atmosphere is ripe with anticipation as the players hit the ball back and forth. Spectators and coaches cheer on the players, hoping their team will win.
The tennis team won the district championship, 10-6, against Liberty Hill on Oct. 1. Seniors Mia Petty and Nolan Park are two of the four captains of the varsity tennis team. All of the captains have played on varsity for all four years of high school. Of the 24 players on the varsity team, 17 are seniors. Coach Ballenger said that the team’s experience has contributed to their success.
“[With so many players] being seniors, they have the experience of being in tough matches,” Ballenger said. “Several of them have been four-year starters, so they’ve had plenty of experience.”
It was the team’s first time winning districts in four years, and they previously lost to Liberty Hill in the regular season. Park said the loss made them more determined to win the championship.
“Winning district champs was a pretty awesome feeling,” Park said. “When we played [Liberty Hill again], we came out and really took care of business. We took them out and it was just a really awesome night. When we won, we did our school cheer and it was a fun drive home all the way back from Liberty Hill.”
With so many seniors playing, the stakes at districts were higher, according to Petty. Coach Ballenger said he thinks the seniors were motivated to finish their senior year on a high note.
“The kids worked so hard,” Ballenger said. “They didn’t give up, they fought and they were so focused. They made my job easy because they came out and did it on their own.”
After the game against Liberty Hill, the team won against Smithson Valley and San Antonio Southwest. However, they eventually lost to Alamo Heights in the regional quarterfinals, 10-6. Petty said that the team dynamic was very positive during the playoffs.
“Because it was our last year, we were all really excited and motivated to win,” Petty said. “We were all really encouraging each other and motivating each other to do the best we could.”
Ballenger said that he’s proud of how far the seniors have come. Even when they struggle, he said they are able to work hard and overcome obstacles.
“I’m really proud of how in the moments when they used to get down, instead they’re able to encourage each other,” Ballenger said. “It’s been nice to see them uplift [each other] in those moments. [Seeing them] coming close together as a team [has been great].”
The varsity team has only seven players that aren’t seniors. Petty said that because there are so many seniors on the team, there was a unique dynamic between the seniors and underclassmen.
“[The team dynamic is] definitely fun,” Petty said. “We try to get the underclassmen to be motivated and to be like us. We all started off as beginners in their position. They have a lot of promise and potential. Our team will still be really strong next year. We’re losing a lot of seniors but the underclassmen have it handled.”
Coach Ballenger said he’s looking forward to seeing the JV team step up and replace the seniors. Many of the JV players are sophomores and juniors who have played several years.
“I’m [looking at] JV right now and they’re working so hard,” Ballenger said. “I’ve had these little talks with them like ‘we’ve set the bar high and you’ve got to keep working’ and they will. They’re getting a lot better and we’ll just have to reload next year.”
