The student newspaper and broadcast of Cedar Park High School

The Wolfpack
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
Connecting Countries
November 18, 2024
Posing for a picture together, the Celebrities welcomed the Blue Belles to CPHS to learn the “Sister Kick” dance for the Nov. 1 halftime. This will be the first time the “Sister Kick” will be performed since the fall of 2015.. “It’s going to be really visual and cool because we start off with every other person and then we split into the two teams and then we make one long kick-line with everyone,” Assistant Director Katie Thompson said. “It’s been awhile since they’ve done it and I’m just so excited to see it back again.” Photo courtesy of CPHS Celebrities
Does This Ring a Belle?
November 1, 2024
Junior Sasha Ruteledge (right), and seniors Evan Schmitt, Seth Loudenslager, and Kaitlyn Moore gather around a photo of the Pope. Tony and Tina's Wedding is a loosely scripted long-form improv show, that takes place in the late 70's. "I think I always have something to say to someone, when I'm in character," Loudenslager said. "I always have a line that I can just improv, but I think sometimes it could be really hard to be able to place yourself physically in a place that you should be while a certain scene is going on. Sometimes you're not supposed to see a certain scene, sometimes you either forget about it, or you don't know. You have to be really careful about that. 
I find that to be kind of hard and tricky at times"
You’re Cordially Invited
October 31, 2024
Holding Hatch, the therapy dachshund, freshman Ameya Gollapudi participates in a Mental Health Monday activity on Oct. 21. During lunch on Monday, the Divine Canines organization brought in some therapy dogs for students to interact with to help brighten their days and improve mental health. “Students are under a lot of pressure,” Hatch’s owner Sarah Thomas said. “I think that the benefit of having a dog around, a calming presence, is really valuable. It just brightens up someone’s day to visit with a dog.” Photo by Alyssa Fox
Serving Up Paw-sitivity
October 22, 2024
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.”
The Race Against the Clock
October 11, 2024
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
Connecting Countries
November 18, 2024
Wearing a nervous look while sitting behind the wheel, sophomore Elizabeth Miller works on getting comfortable in the driver's seat. Although she doesn't have her permit yet, Miller is working to get one through Aceable, an online driver's education course. “I’ll learn to drive eventually because I want to be able to get myself places instead of having to depend on others,” Miller said. “It would be really cool to drive because then I could have more ‘me time’ and I could drive my friends and I wherever we want to go.”
Put It In Drive, Y’all
November 13, 2024
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.”
Diving Into Competition Season
November 8, 2024
Posing for a picture together, the Celebrities welcomed the Blue Belles to CPHS to learn the “Sister Kick” dance for the Nov. 1 halftime. This will be the first time the “Sister Kick” will be performed since the fall of 2015.. “It’s going to be really visual and cool because we start off with every other person and then we split into the two teams and then we make one long kick-line with everyone,” Assistant Director Katie Thompson said. “It’s been awhile since they’ve done it and I’m just so excited to see it back again.” Photo courtesy of CPHS Celebrities
Does This Ring a Belle?
November 1, 2024
Junior Sasha Ruteledge (right), and seniors Evan Schmitt, Seth Loudenslager, and Kaitlyn Moore gather around a photo of the Pope. Tony and Tina's Wedding is a loosely scripted long-form improv show, that takes place in the late 70's. "I think I always have something to say to someone, when I'm in character," Loudenslager said. "I always have a line that I can just improv, but I think sometimes it could be really hard to be able to place yourself physically in a place that you should be while a certain scene is going on. Sometimes you're not supposed to see a certain scene, sometimes you either forget about it, or you don't know. You have to be really careful about that. 
I find that to be kind of hard and tricky at times"
You’re Cordially Invited
October 31, 2024
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.”
The Need to Read
October 29, 2024
CPHS offers a chance to get to know new people and to improve chess skills with the Chess Club, who has meetings every Thursday during DEN in room 2025. The chess club members have the opportunity to improve their skills by playing with other members in competitions. Graphic by Sebastian Farias
From Backward Pawn to Mighty Queen
October 24, 2024
St​​anding in the library, members of Project Care pose for a photo. Founding members, Jen Nguyen, Ashley Blair and Annabelle Staples created Project Care as part of HOSA campaign. HOSA is a hands-on clinical experience that allows students to get a feel for what they want to do in the future. “We really have​​ a genuine passion for advocating for mental issues,” Nguyen said. “And we feel like it is an underserved topic that no one really addresses or doesn’t address deeply enough with school, regarding adolescents. It’s usually to get your sleep, eat, drink water.”
Raising Voices
September 24, 2024
Smiling, the Destination Imagination team poses for a picture together. The team placed seventh at global finals in Kansas City, Missouri in May. “This is the second time I’ve gone to global finals, and it’s always such a great experience,” sophomore Aryana Jahadi said. “I’m really happy and super privileged to have been able to experience it twice now. Being able to do better than last time and get seventh was an amazing feeling.”
A Creative Crew
September 19, 2024
Hands high in the air and cheering in front of the PAC, Varsity Winter Guard gives one last goodbye before they headed off to the Reid Arena in College Station where they would end up placing fourth at their state competition. Sophomore Tiffany Ly says state was an experience she’ll never forget. “I know that our team has put so much hard work into everything and it's just genuinely so cool to see the show put together,” Ly said. “But our staff and our chaperons really help put the show together as well, helping lift us up, bring stuff that we need and support from the band is also really great.”
Flags Up, Stanced Down, State Cup and State Bound
May 2, 2024
Wearing a nervous look while sitting behind the wheel, sophomore Elizabeth Miller works on getting comfortable in the driver's seat. Although she doesn't have her permit yet, Miller is working to get one through Aceable, an online driver's education course. “I’ll learn to drive eventually because I want to be able to get myself places instead of having to depend on others,” Miller said. “It would be really cool to drive because then I could have more ‘me time’ and I could drive my friends and I wherever we want to go.”
Put It In Drive, Y’all
November 13, 2024
Posing for a picture together, the Celebrities welcomed the Blue Belles to CPHS to learn the “Sister Kick” dance for the Nov. 1 halftime. This will be the first time the “Sister Kick” will be performed since the fall of 2015.. “It’s going to be really visual and cool because we start off with every other person and then we split into the two teams and then we make one long kick-line with everyone,” Assistant Director Katie Thompson said. “It’s been awhile since they’ve done it and I’m just so excited to see it back again.” Photo courtesy of CPHS Celebrities
Does This Ring a Belle?
November 1, 2024
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.”
The Need to Read
October 29, 2024
As part of the Behind the Ballot series, The Wolfpack and Wolfcast collaborated to cover the 2024 Leander Independent School District Board of Trustees elections. Each candidate was invited to an interview with juniors Jane Yermakov, Kyra Cox, Michael Moracchi and senior Rania Adil over the course of a week in October. The CPHS News staff came up with questions they felt were important to the students of CPHSGraphic by Ryan Green
Behind the Ballot: School Board Candidates
October 29, 2024
CPHS offers a chance to get to know new people and to improve chess skills with the Chess Club, who has meetings every Thursday during DEN in room 2025. The chess club members have the opportunity to improve their skills by playing with other members in competitions. Graphic by Sebastian Farias
From Backward Pawn to Mighty Queen
October 24, 2024
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.”
Breaking Barriers
October 23, 2024
Staring at her monitor, APUSH Teacher Ms. Anderson starts working on her next lesson to keep students engaged. "History is a lot more interesting when you're not bored." Anderson said. "It's also something that teaches you how to look at the world in different ways, and it teaches you how to think critically. It's more than just learning about facts and dates and stuff like that. It's about learning how life works around you, and when we come at history that way, and we invite kids to engage in that discussion in that thought process, and to see how even though this happened 100 and some years ago, it's still relevant."
Ms. ‘Andor’-son
October 16, 2024
After one of the festivals held in Mbeya, senior Novali Elvelyck poses alongside two of her church leaders and a Tanzanian man. During her summer, Elvelyck traveled to Tanzania during a mission trip, organized by her church, to share the gospel. "There was a lot of dancing and singing and someone preached," Elvelyck said. "We got to dance and sit and listen with the kids and many of them were so curious and wanted to come up to us." Photo by Novali Elvelyck
A Gospel in the Tanzania Breeze
October 10, 2024
Smiling at the camera, assistant principal Jeremy Fry poses for the picture. Fry is new at Cedar Park this year. "I'm excited to be here. I'm excited because we have amazing kids here, and I live close to this area. I've been in this area since I got out of the Marine Corps in 2007, so this is my community, too," Fry said.
The New Guy, Fry
September 19, 2024
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
A Groundbreaking Adventure
September 11, 2024
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.”
Diving Into Competition Season
November 8, 2024
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.”
Racking Up Experience
October 23, 2024
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
A Call to the Course
October 16, 2024
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.”
The Race Against the Clock
October 11, 2024
Clutching the football, running back Trae Hill runs the ball past defenders. Hill broke free for a 50-yard touchdown at the homecoming game on Oct. 4. “I think it sparked us,” Hill said. “I feel like it gave us motivation, and it felt great.”
Coming Home to Victory
October 7, 2024
Think of your favorite animated movie. "Kung Fu Panda?" "Ratatouille?" Well, there exists such movies as, "Little Panda Fighter" and "Ratatoing" that try to ride off of the success of the original movies, and I will be reviewing these awful, animated disasters. Graphic by Sebastian Farias
The WORST Animated Knock-Offs of All Time
October 28, 2024
"Piece by Piece" is the Pharrell Williams biopic that is unfortunately underperforming in the box-office. Here is why you should go watch it. "Piece by Piece is an odd film, to say the least. It isn’t a traditional biopic or documentary, and I think that is why it works so well within the genre and context it is under. Using an animation medium to create the movie allows for more creativity and artistic expression for scenes and set pieces. The film is a combination of traditional documentary-style interviews, retellings, scripted segments and metaphorical dream-like sequences.
Something in the Water
October 24, 2024
The top three film adaptations of “Pride and Prejudice” that I would recommend are the 1995 BBC miniseries, the award-winning 2005 movie, and the Bollywood adaptation titled “Bride and Prejudice”. Whether you just want to see what the story is about and watch the 2005 movie, dive into the full five-and-a-half-hour miniseries, or dance along to the songs in “Bride and Prejudice”, you will thoroughly enjoy the experience.
Marrying Mr. Darcy
October 22, 2024
“Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story” was released on Sept. 19 on Netflix. The nine episode series depicted the well known case and trial of the Menedez brothers who killed their parents in their Beverly Hills home on Aug. 20, 1989.
Blame It On Ryan Murphy
October 15, 2024
Wrapping up the summer, Sabrina Carpenter released “Short n’ Sweet” on Aug. 23. While the album is pretty short, I think that the lyrics, sounds and structure of the album make it the sweetest album to listen to.
Please, Please, Please, Keep This On Repeat
October 9, 2024
Opinions regarding the candidates for the upcoming elections. Students show their take on both presidential and senate elections from their perspectives. As each election sets the ground for the next, these results shape our future as nation. If you are able to vote, do so and make an impact. Infographic made by Kasandra Reynoso.
Voice of the Future
November 5, 2024
The top three film adaptations of “Pride and Prejudice” that I would recommend are the 1995 BBC miniseries, the award-winning 2005 movie, and the Bollywood adaptation titled “Bride and Prejudice”. Whether you just want to see what the story is about and watch the 2005 movie, dive into the full five-and-a-half-hour miniseries, or dance along to the songs in “Bride and Prejudice”, you will thoroughly enjoy the experience.
Marrying Mr. Darcy
October 22, 2024
It can take several visits to CAVA over the span of months before finding the perfect variation of ingredients that make your CAVA order truly personalized and exactly to your liking. To save you the trouble of such a debacle, I’ve laid out my order for you. Yes, it is a modern, more youthful rendition of the typical CAVA order, mostly because I don’t like hummus or lentils or most vegetables, but you can always try it my way, and then build off of it as you wish.
CAVA: Kacey’s Way
October 17, 2024
“AITA for having a little snack? I (15M) ate my cousin (13M)...” Content farms are more common than you think, and have been around for a long time. However, this is a new age of content farming that is targeted for teens and young adults, rather than children. But what qualifies as a content farm? Content farms have garnered several stereotypes that can be used to identify one, being that they use automated tools, produce large amounts of low quality content and still gather a large audience.
Content Farms
October 11, 2024
Wrapping up the summer, Sabrina Carpenter released “Short n’ Sweet” on Aug. 23. While the album is pretty short, I think that the lyrics, sounds and structure of the album make it the sweetest album to listen to.
Please, Please, Please, Keep This On Repeat
October 9, 2024
The first part of season 4 of “Outer Banks” was released on Oct. 10 on Netflix. Five episodes introduced the main plot of this new season of treasure hunting. Graphic by Ingrid Bonner
Bring It On Home Season Four
October 31, 2024
Proudly displaying the Sweet Berry Farm logo and the ‘pumpkins for sale’ sign, a rusty truck sits in the middle of the pumpkin patch. This is one of many photo opportunities at Sweet Berry Farm for both children and adults alike.
Pumpkin to Talk About
October 30, 2024
Think of your favorite animated movie. "Kung Fu Panda?" "Ratatouille?" Well, there exists such movies as, "Little Panda Fighter" and "Ratatoing" that try to ride off of the success of the original movies, and I will be reviewing these awful, animated disasters. Graphic by Sebastian Farias
The WORST Animated Knock-Offs of All Time
October 28, 2024
"Piece by Piece" is the Pharrell Williams biopic that is unfortunately underperforming in the box-office. Here is why you should go watch it. "Piece by Piece is an odd film, to say the least. It isn’t a traditional biopic or documentary, and I think that is why it works so well within the genre and context it is under. Using an animation medium to create the movie allows for more creativity and artistic expression for scenes and set pieces. The film is a combination of traditional documentary-style interviews, retellings, scripted segments and metaphorical dream-like sequences.
Something in the Water
October 24, 2024
“Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story” was released on Sept. 19 on Netflix. The nine episode series depicted the well known case and trial of the Menedez brothers who killed their parents in their Beverly Hills home on Aug. 20, 1989.
Blame It On Ryan Murphy
October 15, 2024
Jonathan’s Corner
March 20, 2024
“Lethal Company” skyrocketed to the top of many video game charts. A game of exploring and surviving, the best part is obviously the emotes. Always before entering, a quick dance break is key to ensuring the trip will go just right.
New Game on The Block
February 7, 2024
Graphic by Stef Rios, Wolfpack Editor '20-'21
1989 (Taylor’s Version) (Caroline & Julia’s Opinion)
February 6, 2024
Dribbling down the court, faculty captain Mark Tibbetts faces the student team in a student faculty basketball game for Blue Santa. Tibbets teaches U.S. History and was elected Captain of the faculty team for the game on Dec. 8. “I thought it would be cool for the students to see their teachers on the court,” Tibbetts said. “Building relationships, trust and memories is very important. I think it’s important that a bond is there so students feel comfortable being able to let out any hardships with their teachers.” Photo by Arav Neroth, Tracks Yearbook Staff
Take This, Teach!
January 29, 2024
Graphic by Stef Rios, Wolfpack Editor '20-'21
Jonathan’s Corner
January 28, 2024
Jonathan’s Corner
March 20, 2024
Graphic by Stef Rios, Wolfpack Editor '20-'21
The Packchat 2-14-2024
February 15, 2024
Graphic by Stef Rios, Wolfpack Editor '20-'21
1989 (Taylor’s Version) (Caroline & Julia’s Opinion)
February 6, 2024
Graphic by Stef Rios, Wolfpack Editor '20-'21
The Packchat – Jan. 24
January 31, 2024
Graphic by Stef Rios, Wolfpack Editor '20-'21
Jonathan’s Corner
January 28, 2024
The student newspaper and broadcast of Cedar Park High School

The Wolfpack
The student newspaper and broadcast of Cedar Park High School

The Wolfpack
Rachana Kommineni

Rachana Kommineni, Reporter

Rachana is a senior and a second year reporter. She is involved in DECA, WISE, Spanish Club and theater. She has also done dance and theater since she was five. She hopes to major in data science and minor in theater at either Texas A&M or Northwestern University. She enjoys writing feature stories because she gets to learn different perspectives on certain topics and new things in general. She hopes to attend Northwestern to major in data science, and minor in theater. She loves Mike and Ike, taking sunset pictures, watching Spanish dramas on Netflix and listening to rap music.

All content by Rachana Kommineni
The Medical Reserves Corp Partnership team poses as they win fourth place at the state conference in Galveston. Junior Claudia Shen said that even though her team didn’t place, she still benefited from learning about the medical field along the way. “We were confident that we would get top five, so we were excited even though we didn’t place because our hard work paid off,” Shen said.

Born to Care

Rachana Kommineni, Reporter
May 24, 2022
The cast of “Something Rotten” perform “Will Power” at the Heller Awards on Apr. 14. As a stage manager, senior Emma Frith was back stage and felt emotional watching the cast perform. “It was so fun getting that experience and taking the cast back stage and watching the performance at the Heller Awards, and them having fun made me have fun. I was doing my job, like my part of the show.”

The Bigger Stage

Rachana Kommineni, Reporter
May 5, 2022
Senior Sabrina Blount poses for her soccer picture for Purdue. Blount said that she has always wanted to pursue soccer as a profession, and Purdue is the perfect place for that. “I fell in love with Purdue because of how nice people are, and I love the agriculture program, which is what I am majoring in,” Blount said.

Here’s the Kicker

Rachana Kommineni, Reporter
May 4, 2022
The Celebrities pose after finishing learning a very intense choreography. The Celebs learned a Hip Hop and contemporary routine while at their stay in Honolulu. “I really enjoyed that the teachers used their own style and let us make it our own, it was so much fun,” sophomore Brady Vacek said. “I really enjoyed the hip hop routine because it was kind of more down my alley, it was so fun and the vibe was great.”

Two Sides of the Hemisphere

Rachana Kommineni, Reporter
April 7, 2022
Senior and president of HOSA Aashna Ravi explains what Be the Match is and why HOSA is fundraising for it. Last year, they did fundraising for the Leukemia and Lymphoma society, but this is their first year doing it for Be the Match. “The HOSA trivia night is something we’ve done for the last two years, and it’s just a fun way of doing fundraising where the community can come together and test their knowledge,” Ravi said.

A Work of 36 Years

Rachana Kommineni, Reporter
March 22, 2022
Last year’s seniors take a selfie in the cafeteria at Prom-ish last year. Due to COVID-19, prom was hosted in the courtyard and cafeteria, but the STUCO committee hoped to change that with this year’s plans. “I am really excited for this year’s prom because we are doing it at a different venue than normal, and hope that the things we have planned will make it a night you will never forget,” Student Council co-head Ariana Balakrishnan said.

A Night Out of This World

Rachana Kommineni, Reporter
March 6, 2022
Above is one of my performances in Hutto High School during a dance recital in 2019, in which I tell a story from Indian mythology. Dance has always been a part of my life, and helped me gain self confidence as well as being able to learn more about my culture. By learning about it, other people could be more aware about the different traditions of Indian culture.

Conversation Between the Body and the Soul

Rachana Kommineni, Reporter
February 15, 2022
Posing with the photo prop, sophomores and color guard members Lily Dodds and Hope Gibbs smile at the audience at the Band Gold Ceremony on Jan. 26. Gibbs said that it was a really exciting experience to receive the medal because she had been waiting for it for a long time and it was really satisfying to finally receive it. "I was mostly just really proud of my team," Gibbs said. "I wouldn’t have gotten here without them and they all absolutely deserve their medals."

Crowned for a Fourth

Rachana Kommineni, Reporter
February 9, 2022
The Yerd Life: Back in School

The Yerd Life: Back in School

Rachana Kommineni, Reporter
January 21, 2022
Coaching the Cedar Park Bulldogs, a youth football team, senior Eric Skinner discusses the plays with the team. As part of his training company, Skinner Elite Training, Skinner develops the skills of the next generation of football players. “‘Next play’ mentality means if you make a mistake that’s okay,” Skinner said. “The play is over and move on. It’s not about if you make a mistake or not, it’s about how you react and recover from that one mistake.”

My Turf is Yours

Rachana Kommineni, Reporter
January 5, 2022
Holding up her computer, psychology club president and senior Naomi Stein speaks about how people in the military are classically conditioned to do their job without medical consequences at a club meeting in November. Stein said that she liked how everyone is able to collaboratively discuss the topics at hand, and learn more about others opinions on those matters along the way. “I like how everyone gets to learn more about others' perspectives, like their standpoint on nature vs nurture, which is a big topic in psychology,” Stein said.

Enter the Human Mind

Rachana Kommineni, Reporter
December 14, 2021
With green and white, senior Mckenna Lemons paints her picture of a splattered run over Plankton from ‘Spongebob’. She painted this in order to embrace her inner child even when she graduates high school and enters college. “I chose to paint Plankton because ‘Spongebob’ is one of my favorite shows,” Lemons said. “I felt that the splattered paint was humorous, as I would be parking on him every day, as if I ran over him.”

Painting Memories

Rachana Kommineni, Reporter
December 7, 2021
Senior Diego Salazar Lopez competes in the 50 yard butterfly on Nov. 5 at the Leander and Gateway Tri Meet, where he won fourth place out of 22 other boys. Salazar is one of the top swimmers in the boys division, and one of the qualifiers for the Texas Interscholastic Swim Coaches Association meet. "Since freshman year, it feels that I have received more respect than how I was my previous years, more trust in the team, and more relaxed," Lopez said. "I feel as though I have improved greatly each year. I’ve gotten faster and stronger physically, emotionally, and mentally."

Something Bigger Than Yourself

Rachana Kommineni, Reporter
November 23, 2021
Raising a pink pom, senior Sophia Franco helps lead the crowd in a chant during the Pink Out pep rally on Oct. 15. The pep rally was the first in-school pep rally since March of 2020 and was located on the football field to help with social distancing.

Where Ya From?

Rachana Kommineni, Reporter
November 16, 2021
Senior Kate Alex carefully places her burgundy daisy mum inside her carved pumpkin. According to Alex, throughout her journey in Floral Design, she has learned many things about floral which she didn’t know before, like how the arrangements were in different time periods and how to identify which colors look good together. “I am a very organized person, so throughout the class, I am able to learn how to pick and choose my flowers, so that they are in an orderly fashion,” Alex said.

Adding Colors to Your Life

Rachana Kommineni, Reporter
November 10, 2021
Rushing to get to class, senior Sophia Migchelbrink gives a tardy pass to a student. According to Migchelbrink, being a student aide for the front office lets her be in a quiet and friendly atmosphere, and she is able to get some exercise by walking around the school to deliver passes. “If you’re late you can come to the front of the attendance office and give us your last name or your student ID number and we type it into the computer which we can then pick if the tardy is excused or unexcused depending on why you are late,” Migchelbrink said. “Then we just print it out and give it to you to give to your teacher.”

Runs Like Clockwork

Rachana Kommineni, Reporter
November 8, 2021
Posing for senior pictures, senior Callie Hobbs shows her dedication to FFA with her District Officer jacket. Hobbs started FFA in the fall of 2016 when she was in seventh grade, and as a Junior FFA member, she raised show swine and went to shows around the county as well and around Texas. “I wanted to take pictures with my cattle to show off the livestock projects that I have spent months training, preparing, and showing,” Hobbs said. “These pictures serve as a way to look back on past memories and to give me a chance to see what my animals look like when the judge sees them from a different angle. Sometimes it is hard to know what to change or fix about my animal until I can see them from a different angle, but it’s hard to do that when I’m walking them so the pictures can help to show me what to improve.”

Lovin’ the Farm Life

Rachana Kommineni, Reporter
October 19, 2021
Rehearsing their lines, the cast of Carrie rehearses their musical scores on September 23rd. Carrie as well as many other shows will be going to fundraising for the Edinburg Festival performance. According to tech director Colin Falk, “The way that the season works is that a lot of our main shows are considered fundraisers, so all of the money we raise from ticket sales and concessions will go back into our budget for the next year,” Folk said. “Part of that budgeting is going towards the Fringe Festival, so naturally the more funds that we can raise with our tickets and the shows, the more money we have to help cut down the cost for everyone that's going.”

From Home to the Stage, 4626 Miles Away

Rachana Kommineni, Reporter
October 15, 2021
Concentrating hard on getting her Acarte perfect, freshman Alison Cooper prepares for her eight ballet body positions assessment. The team spent two class periods learning each of the dances and then learned and memorized the names so that they could do well on their test. "I love performing because I am able to make the audience happy, and it’s just a lot of fun when you perform because it is an automatic smile for me because most people are always having to force a smile," Cooper said. "Yes, it hurts once you stop performing and you can stop smiling and your cheeks start burning, but it is just natural because I am so happy when I am out on the stage and the lights are on me."

Let There Be Light

Rachana Kommineni, Reporter
September 27, 2021
Interns of Cohort C are signing off for the day are prepping for the days to come. They repeat this routine for the coming weeks.“Through this program, we want to show high school interns that it is okay to tackle things that you don’t know, and have skills that you can apply everywhere and anywhere in life,” Ajaluwa said. “Interns can take those skills and transfer those in different areas in their life.”

A Thousand People, One Goal

Rachana Kommineni, Reporter
September 6, 2021
Finally done with high school, senior Lilly McPherson can be seen tossing her graduation cap in the air. According to McPherson, changing schools was very difficult for her since she went to a private school and went from a class of 35 to around 500 people, so she said making it into tennis was a bit harder when she moved, since there were more people. "I took a break from tennis because I was scared I wouldn’t be good enough for making the team, but I got over my fear and tried out and I kept playing because it was the sport that I loved the most," McPherson said.

You Got Served

Rachana Kommineni, Reporter
May 26, 2021
Letterman jacket on and sunglasses on her head, junior Barbra Sylvester smiles for her first day of junior year. Barbra has dedicated most of her time to Key Club for the past two years and has recently earned recognition for her efforts. "The main idea of Key Club is volunteering," Sylvester said. "They provide service opportunities and give members the chance to help give back to the community."

Leadership Through Service

Rachana Kommineni, Reporter
May 21, 2021
Hadley listens to her podcast to ensure that everything is good to go before she uploads it. Davis said that they started the podcast during the pandemic as a way for them to connect with their friends and family who they don’t get to see or talk to too often. "We wanted them to feel like they are right there with us having a conversation," Davis said.

On the Air

Rachana Kommineni, Reporter
May 10, 2021
CPHS HOSA competitors hold up their awards for winning at the regional conference last February. Junior Aashna Ravi is one of the members who won regionals, therefore she moved on to state. "I think it was more of a surprise that we won because I was very focused on running for regional office, and also I knew I had made a couple of mistakes during the skills portion of my event," Ravi said. "Although I was definitely excited as the previous year I had also moved on to State, but was unable to compete to my fullest as I was sick the day of my competition."

The Heartbeat of the High School

Rachana Kommineni, Reporter
April 27, 2021
Next to the NCA trophy, the varsity cheer squad shows off their medals and NCA jackets. The team competed in the Game Day category against teams all over the country, ultimately placing first. "We felt so rewarded and happy that we finally had our reward for winning," senior captain Sofia Attaguile said.

Go Big or Go Home

Rachana Kommineni, Reporter
April 21, 2021
During DEN, the Black Student Union discuss what activities to plan for the month. They met up to discuss how they are going to recruit new members, since most of them are graduating this year. One of the members of the club, Junior Raniya Laneau, said that she is grateful for the meetings because she gets to talk about how to get scholarships for black students and college advice. "We just talked about the BLM protest that happened last year and we also talked about famous Black figures and what they contributed to the world," Laneau said.

African American Heritage Club to Black Student Union

Rachana Kommineni, Reporter
April 12, 2021
Stepping out into the mat, sophomore Erika Peterson prepares for her wrestling match for the district tournament last year. Peterson was hoping to pass district and then go to regionals, however because of the pandemic the 2019-2020 season was cut short. "I was pretty excited to go to regionals," Peterson said. "I was glad that COVID hadn't knocked down my motivation to practice hard and succeed."

Ready to Rumble?

Rachana Kommineni, Reporter
March 11, 2021
Senior Caden Teliha is proudly shows off his achievement in being named All-State with the TMEA Texas Choir for four years in a row. Through his involvement in the choir, Taliha said he has discovered a lot about music and singing like sight-reading and music theory. "I’ve learned so much from choir," Teliha said. "Choir has been such a big part of my life that has taught me too many things to count and I am so thankful for that."

A Note-able Performer

Rachana Kommineni, Reporter
March 3, 2021
Junior Nathan Inman makes a snowman with his family. Despite it being really cold, Inman said that it was worth going outside because Texans might not experience this again. "It was so nice to experience creating a snowman, and enjoying the snow here in Austin, instead of traveling somewhere like New York for the snow," Inman said.

Let it snow! Let it snow! Let it snow!

Rachana Kommineni, Reporter
January 27, 2021
Sophomore Ben McDanald invests all his emotions into portraying the role of Connor. He chose that particular scene because it showed a variety of emotions which captures the character at his finest. "It showed a giant character change in Conor when he finally accepts that his mom is going to die, and we can see him become emotionally vulnerable for the first time," McDanald said.

From Home to the Stage

Rachana Kommineni, Reporter
December 18, 2020
Google classroom has been a very helpful tool during online schooling. It helps me keep track of my work, helps me to be organized and is easier to see the due dates for all of my assignments.

From School to Home

Rachana Kommineni, Reporter
December 15, 2020
Members of the environmental club have fun saving the environment in small ways such as cleaning up trash at parks. This time, the club went to Milburn Park. "It was a fun way to get to know other people from different schools," junior Arina Gart said. "I felt [like a] part of the school and satisfied in going a different way than everyone else."

Putting Sustainability Into Practice

Rachana Kommineni, Reporter
December 14, 2020
The UT Observatory is one of the trips that WISE went to to learn more about space. They explored the UT campus and for the first time, they saw Jupiter through a telescope. "It was really cool to see Jupiter through the telescope while it was moving," Goje said.

Uncovering the Passion

Rachana Kommineni, Reporter
December 10, 2020
During one of her classes, Mobile Maker teacher, Cheri Whalen, clicks through one of her iPads. In addition to 30 MacBook Pros, the Mobile Makers course also received 30 of the newest generation iPads. "We had to use Macs because this program is being partnered with Apple," Whalen said.

From Lenovos to Macs: CS Teacher Brings Innovative Tech Program to CPHS

Rachana Kommineni, Reporter
November 23, 2020
Bryan Stevenson explores how African-Americans are often left unprotected and defenseless by the justice system in “Just Mercy,” a 2014 bestseller.

Book Review: “Just Mercy”

Rachana Kommineni, Reporter
November 19, 2020
With carefully painted covers, sophomore Claire Poulter showcases some of her favorite greeting cards she made since she began her business. Poulter started Elizabeth Illustrations at the beginning of quarantine because she had a lot of time on her hands and wanted to do something that she was passionate about. "All of my vinyls are commissioned pieces so most of them are designs that people come up with themselves," Poulter said. "Whereas cards are almost all my own designs, unless someone orders a custom one, in which case I paint whatever I want. And I’ll look for inspiration anywhere really, but a lot of my favorite cards have come from my friends and families ideas."

An Artist at Work

Rachana Kommineni, Reporter
September 30, 2020
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Rachana Kommineni