Kacey Miller, Editor-in-Chief
Kacey is a senior and fourth year reporter. She loves learning about her fellow students and writing about their stories. In addition to being a staff member for The Wolfpack, she is a UIL journalism competitor, the Cedar Park FFA President and has two show lambs, named Cotton and Bugs, as well as a pig named Nellie (Oleson). If she’s not at the barn or practicing for her FFA contests, she’s probably doing homework. You can find her at every football game, either in the student section or on the sidelines taking pictures. Some of her favorite memories are from reading the Bible with her little sisters. She plans to attend college somewhere cold, but also doesn’t want to be too far away from her family. Her favorite animal is a bear and sometimes she wishes she could hibernate like one. Also, she believes that the Brachiosaurus is the best dinosaur.
![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)
![Smiling during the annual Decals with Dads, varsity starting quarterback and sophomore David Cooper and his dad Jim Cooper pose for a picture. During this varsity event, players and their dads get together to put new decals on their helmets. This year, in addition to being announced QB 1, David was also voted as one of six captains on the varsity team, a role that he had difficulty adjusting to as a younger player on varsity. “It was a struggle for me, being younger than everyone else and being a leader,” David said. “I wondered if [the team] would respect me, or if they would just see me as a younger person from a younger class. I think I've become a leader, [though] and let people know that even though I'm younger, I'm still going to lead them well.” Photo courtesy of Cedar Park Football SmugMug.](https://cphswolfpack.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/IMG_8493-1-1200x801.jpg)
![Smiling for a picture, senior identical twins Ethan and Drew O'Connor pose with a statue of a parrot mascot. The twins will both attend the University of Arkansas in the fall and major in business. “I didn't really mind going to different colleges, but we had the same [college] choices,” Ethan said. “We both liked Arkansas, and I don't mind him coming with me. If we can't get [a] rooming situation down, we're just going to do a quad together. Which I'm kind of down for a quad, because there is more room.” Photo courtesy of Drew O’Connor](https://cphswolfpack.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/IMG_7342-976x1200.jpg)
![Standing on the drum major’s platform, senior twin sisters Abby and Courtney McDanald pose for a picture. This fall, Abby will attend the University of Texas at Austin to study nursing and Courtney will major in theater education at Stephen F. Austin University. “I was definitely sad about [attending different universities] because we've been so close,” Abby said. “Being that far away from someone for a long time will be hard. We didn't do it on purpose, we just wanted different things in schools. It's definitely sad, but I think it'll make seeing her more special.” Photo courtesy of Abby McDanald](https://cphswolfpack.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/FullSizeRender-798x1200.jpg)
![FFA member and junior Max Adams will show his pigs and heifer at the Cedar Park Barn Show on Nov. 12. “When you think you have a good animal, and then you’re surrounded by a bunch of other [showmen with their animals], it will humble you really quick,” Adams said. “If I keep working and I do good [at shows], it makes me feel good about myself. I just like the competitiveness. It's fun taking care of [them]. Putting in a bunch of work and then not doing good upsets me a lot. It makes me want to do better.”](https://cphswolfpack.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/IMG_9790-1200x800.png)
![Posing next to her 2015 Hyundai Sonata, junior and Celebrities Dance Team Second Lieutenant Sophie Poulsen holds up her license. Poulsen’s car was stolen on Aug. 28 from the school parking lot, and was missing for a day before police recovered it. “I was shocked,” Poulsen said. “I never expected, especially in Cedar Park, for my car to get stolen. I still don’t know who [stole my car], but I wish I knew. I don’t think the cops are going to figure it out, because there’s no point. It already happened. We’re probably never going to know. I feel like it was a student, but who knows? [Nevertheless], Cedar Park is not that [kind of place].”](https://cphswolfpack.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/View-recent-pho11tos.jpg)
![Holding up the Timberwolf hand sign after performing Metal Shop at halftime, seniors Austin Waldbusser and Connor Daly pose with sophomore Andrew McCarthy.The three band members spent their summer with Dum Corps International, a non-profit that is known to be the highest level of marching band available. “One [of the reasons for joining] just watching [DCI Corps] shows and being kind of a band nerd about it in general was cool and being like ‘I want to do that’,” Daly said. “Then, one of the now alumni, went to march in the corp of The Phantom Regiment last year, and I was like well ‘I can do it, someone else I know can do it, may as well try it.’”](https://cphswolfpack.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/IMG_1190-1200x800.jpg)
![Leaving his opponent on the ground after a quick and precise maneuver, sophomore running back Trae Hill sprints toward the end zone. The varsity football team will play against Round Rock High School tonight at 7:30 p.m. at Gupton Stadium. “[Being on varsity] made me work a lot harder,” Hill said. “It’s a lot more mental, [too]. People don’t understand that if you’re not in the right headspace, then you won’t be at your best. I hope we make a lot of memories [this season]. We’re confident and we practice hard for sure. We realize that we have a good team this year, [that] we have potential.”](https://cphswolfpack.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/Tylie-1871-1200x801.jpg)
![With his FFA blue corduroy jacket draped over his lap, Cedar Park FFA Chapter President Jackson Cox poses for his senior pictures. Cox will attend Stephen F. Austin State University this fall to study forestry with a concentration of wildlife to pursue a career as a game warden. “I like the position that game wardens have in the community as positive influences,” Cox said. “[They] lead people away from [making] bad decisions, promote conservation, and protect natural resources. I [want] to be a faithful steward of all that we're entrusted with by God and take care of the natural resources [He] has entrusted us with, [as well as] motivate others to take care of it.” (Photo courtesy of Jackson Cox)](https://cphswolfpack.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/USETHISONEJackson20Cox2028-900x600.jpg)
![Posing with her USA gold medal, junior Aahana Mulchandani holds the certificate verifying her place on Team USA Taekwondo team. Mulchandani will represent the team this April in the Dominican Republic for the Pan American Taekwondo Championships. “I'm really excited to go [to the Dominican Republic because] I've never been there,” Mulchandani said. “I'm a little bit nervous too, [but] I feel very honored to [compete] because I fought so hard [to make the team]. I have a very [good] shot [at winning] if I do my best. My coach would probably kill me if I didn’t.” (Photo Courtesy of Aahana Mulchandani)](https://cphswolfpack.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/unnamed-600x900.jpg)
![Raising his hand to ask a question, junior Jack Garrett pays attention to the lecture in his AP Seminar class. AP Seminar is the first course in the AP Capstone program, a two-year program where students learn how to analyze, conduct research and give presentations and write essays over their findings. “Both [classes] are centered around research,” AP Research student and junior Amanda Eklund said. “Seminar [teaches you] how to research, and [you] look at other people’s research and combine th[eir] ideas together [for a grade], while Research is conducting your own [experiment].” To learn more about this program and enroll in it for the 2023-2024 school year, contact AP Research teacher Lauren Brannan at Lauren.Madrid@leanderisd.org.](https://cphswolfpack.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/tyler-kukla-new-9-600x900.jpg)
![One of the few stick vehicles in the school parking lot, senior Alex Trebilco’s 1970 Ford Maverick is a restoration project he worked on with his dad. He and his father have worked on cars together for all of Trebilco’s life, and have several finished projects because of it. “[My favorite memory with my car is] honestly just cruising with my dad in his truck and my car,” Trebilco said. “Both of the [cars] are restored. He did the truck and we did the Maverick, so it’s cool to roll down in two cars that we made run together.”](https://cphswolfpack.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/Ford-Maverick.png)
![Kneeling down to keep them still for the picture, senior Lydia Vermillion hugs her FFA show lambs, Windsor and Royal. Vermillion has been a member of the FFA for two years and will be competing in FFA contests in both the fall and spring this year. “[My] lambs take up three to five hours of my day,” Vermillion said. “I am [also] an officer in [the Cedar Park FFA Chapter, which] includes going to officer meetings and regular meetings, and planning [those] meetings.” (Photo Courtesy of Lydia Vermillion)](https://cphswolfpack.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/Lydia-and-Her-Lambs-900x600.jpg)
![Stopping to smell the flowers, Estelle the guinea pig stands between two flower arrangements. English teacher Kim Vidrine has been bringing her guinea pig to school since the start of the last school year. "[Having Estelle at school has] been a lot of fun for me," Vidrine said. "I love having her here, and I like that she hears voices all day and sees people. A couple of weeks ago I posted [on Instagram] a book talk as if Estelle were doing it. I’m going to start using her Instagram page as a way to do book recommendations for followers." (Photo Courtesy of Kim Vidrine)](https://cphswolfpack.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/Estelle-with-Flowersf.jpg)
