![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)
![Taking a shot at the basketball hoop, senior point guard Drew O’Connor participates in a drill with Nabil Ismail during practice Oct. 30. O’Connor said he is excited to be a leader for his team this year. “It feels good to be a leader,” O’Connor said. “I think it’s fun because I just like helping others on the team with stuff. [Also], with it being my senior year, [I can] play with less pressure since it’s my last year, and playing with a lot of my friends is fun too.”](https://cphswolfpack.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/drew-oconnor.jpg)
They can feel chilly air as it wafts into the gym, faint yet still present. The choir of shoes squeaking on the court is like music to their ears and the rough feeling of the ball is unmistakable to their hands. Reminders flow through their heads as they dribble down the court. Pivot, don’t run, control your elbows, and most importantly, no matter what, take the shot.
With Fall League and scrimmages winding down, both the boys and girls basketball teams are beginning preparations for their first games of the season. The boys officially begin their season on Nov. 14 against Westwood, while the Lady Timberwolves will visit Austin High on Nov. 3. After a first round playoff loss last season to Wagner, following back to back state titles in 2021 and 2022, the girls basketball team is looking to make a deeper run in the playoffs this year.
“We played a team that ended up going to the state tournament, so they were really good,” senior guard Avery Allmer said. “But, the goal [for myself] this year is just to have a good time with my teammates and for us to grow as a team. This year, we have a lot of girls on varsity, so one of my goals is just to have a good time my senior year since I am not playing in college.”
The girls basketball team has a new head coach this year, Kami Williamson. Williamson has served as an assistant coach to the team for six years before the promotion, which Allmer has said has helped the team through the transition of coaches.
“[The coaching] has been pretty consistent to last year,” Allmer said. “We’ve been doing a lot of the same stuff, and we’re all pretty comfortable with her, so it’s not like she’s come in and done a 180 to everything. We love her and we all have faith and are trusting the process, we are just anxious to see how it’s going to be at our first game.”
Junior guard/forward Mariah Davis said she hopes she can welcome the underclassmen into the basketball community and enjoy playing with the program as a now upperclassmen leader.
“We have five new underclassmen on varsity this year,” Davis said. “So hopefully we can learn how to play together so we can play well next year as well.”
After going 8-6 in district last year, Allmer said the team is looking to beat a fellow LISD school who beat the Lady Timberwolves twice last year, both by a fewer than 10 point margin.
“I’m excited to play Glenn this year,” Allmer said. “They beat us both times last year, so I think we’re all just kind of excited to play them again because they’re very good. They have a new coach this year too, so we’re all just kind of nervous. But, if we could beat them it would be very affirming to ourselves and show us that we have a chance to be really good this year.”
Finishing with a 7-8 district record last season, the varsity boys basketball team just missed the playoffs. They tied for fourth in district, ultimately losing out the last playoff spot to Liberty Hill in the last game of the season.
“[This season] I hope we end up having a good chance at playoffs,” junior shooting guard Christian Faulkner said. “I [also] hope we end up in the top four by the end of district play. Our team chemistry has gone up way more. The team chemistry last year with the seniors was great, but it has improved a lot this year.”
The team worked on their chemistry and bond throughout the summer with open gym sessions.
“Majority of it was for fun,” senior shooting guard Carson Penland said. “But, with open gym, everyone would come together and hang out and get closer, which allowed us to [build] up a brotherhood [with each other].”
As a senior leader on the team, point guard Drew O’Connor, said he is looking forward to his role.
“It feels good to be a leader,” O’Connor said. “I think it’s fun because I just like helping others on the team with stuff. [Also], with it being my senior year, [I can] play with less pressure since it’s my last year, and playing with a lot of my friends is fun too.”
As for the girls, Allmer said she hopes to leave the athletic program as a whole with a changed environment for the underclassmen.
“I want to leave the impression that everybody is welcome here,” Allmer said. “Not just if you’re good, you can learn and get better, but also understand that not everyone is the best. [Players] should be understanding of that and give them a chance to get better. I just want them to know that if you work hard, you’ll be okay and you can do it. I just want everybody to feel that even if they are freshmen, they can still talk to [the upperclassmen], I don’t want to leave an environment that’s a one pack mindset, I want it to be like a whole actual family thing.”
