![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)
![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)
![Smiling at the camera, the Varsity Tennis team celebrates winning districts. They played against Liberty Hill on Tuesday night and won with a final score of 10- 5. “We improved a lot even from the last game,” senior Blake Hillis said. “We lost against them the last time we played [Liberty Hill], but it was really close. It was just really important for us to win this match since it was the district finals. [When we won I felt] overwhelmingly happy, especially being there with my teammates and it being my senior year. It was just really great. It [felt] like a community.”](https://cphswolfpack.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/Tennis-Districts-e1728060882260.png)
Meet and Greet: Science Teachers
October 7, 2015
With the need to fill empty positions, the department has added more educators to its staff this year, including three new science teachers.
Ryan Rodriguez
The new Biology and Pre-AP Biology, Rodriguez recently graduated from UT with a Bachelors of Arts in Biology. He grew up in San Antonio and graduated from Southwest High School in 2010.
Q: Why do you like teaching Biology?
A: It’s a fun subject, it’s looking at life on a very small scale, I told all my students coming in that I hated science; when I started high school I hated science, but I had an awesome Biology teacher and awesome chemistry teacher and that’s what kinda swayed me, getting me to love science and learning it in college.
Q: What do you like so far about Cedar Park High School or the community in general?
A: I love the community that we have, my high school wasn’t very tight, you had your groups, band groups and everything. I was friends with everybody, but I love how it’s a tight knit group and all the involvement and support of the parents, I really love that. It’s a great school to be a part of. Great academics and athletics, it’s just a great place to be at.
Q: If you could have a superpower what would it be?
A: Flight, my superhero is Superman so I’d have to say flight.
Q: Do you have a favorite student already?
A: I have a few, but they’re right at the end of my day, one on A day and one on B day, which is great because when you’re a teacher, you teach the same thing, all day everyday and it gets repetitive, but one of them really wants to interact and wants to learn more, it’s not just that they’re funny, which they are, but they are taking a liking to the content, that’s what makes them my favorite students.
Nancy Matthias
She has recently moved down from Indiana due to her husband getting a new job in Austin. She is currently teaching AP Anatomy and Physiology in the S building.
Q: How do you like Cedar Park so far?
A: I really like it, the kids are very polite and very hardworking, they’re a lot different from my inner-city school that I came from. I love Friday Night Football, how everybody gets into it, the dancers and cheerleaders, lots of school spirit.
Q: If you could have any superpower what would it be?
A: I would like to read minds. Because then I would know if students understood what was going on, I’d have to ignore all the other thoughts, but that way I’d have a way to communicate with them in a better way.
Gabbi Fraychineaud (fray-sha-no)
She grew up in Illinois and graduated with a degree in Biology Secondary Education from Bradley University. After graduation, she started teaching and working towards her masters degree, after three years, she moved to Los Angeles and completed her M.Ed in Curriculum and Instruction.
Q: Why do you like teaching Biology?
A: I love teaching Biology because I feel it’s really applicable to life, you can talk about gross things and get away with it and have fun with it. I really like it because it is our lives and everything around us; we connect it to everything that happens in our daily adventures.
Q: If you could be an animal, what would you be?
A: An Elephant, because they’re the coolest animals. I think we could learn from them, for example, when there’s a herd and a calf is born, the herd will take in the calf and will accept it into their own families if the calf’s mother has passed. They won’t leave it to die.
Q: What extracurricular activities were you in in high school?
A: In high school, I ran track and field along with karate. I have a black belt, I had no choice, my dad wouldn’t let me quit until I had a black belt. I’m really glad though that he made me go through with it, I learned a lot from it, made good friends, and now I know how to defend myself.
