![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)
Senior Spotlight: Mallory Matthys
Photo by Chloe Hunter
May 10, 2018
A passion for healthcare has been a persistent throughout senior Mallory Matthys’ life. At an early age, she was exposed to the power of healthcare when her sister was born prematurely. She was born with meningitis and later developed pneumonia, which would cause her to stop breathing on multiple occasions.
“As a kid she was really sick and in and out of doctors offices and hospitals,” Matthys said. “And for me, just seeing that medical field dynamic, made me want to go into the medical field and help people like they helped my family.”
Throughout her four years at Cedar Park, Matthys has taken a variety of classes that have pointed her towards the medical field, such as pharmacology, medical terminology, Health Science Technology one and two, as well as becoming involved with Future Health Professionals club (also known as HOSA), where she has served as an officer for the past two years. In addition to her current role as president of HOSA, Matthys serves as the co-president of the service organization Music Eunited, as well as being a member of a plethora of other honor societies.
HST one and two have assisted Matthys in further defining her goals with the help of conventional classroom learning, hands on experience and shadowing. In the fall semester of HST two, students rotate through the hospital and were able to shadow the staff, and in the spring they become Certified Nursing Assistants and work in a local assisted living facility.
“Throughout my life I saw the medical field through the patient perspective, but in HOSA and HST I saw it through the healthcare professional aspect,” Matthys said. “It made me fully realize that I wanted to go into the medical field. It cemented my plans, especially when we went to the hospitals and I could see how all the nurses worked. I really liked what they did and their patient interaction.
Next fall, Matthys plans to attend Stephen F. Austin State University to study nursing.
“I am so excited to be able to touch the lives of other people and brighten their days, especially when they’re feeling not the greatest,” Matthys said. “I want to give back what I’ve been given. I want to pay it forwards.”
