The student newspaper and broadcast of Cedar Park High School

The Wolfpack
Posing with the gold ball trophy, the varsity volleyball team takes a picture after advancing to the UIL State Championship Title game. The team beat Georgetown 3-1 at The University of Mary Hardin Baylor on Nov. 19. “I couldn’t be more proud of the kids and everybody behind the scenes,” head coach Lori McLaughlin said. “Georgetown is an amazing team, so this is a hard win. We just continue to be fueled by our wins and the motivation we have to keep our season going.”
Black Reign: T-Wolves Advance to State Title Game
November 20, 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
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
Posing with the gold ball trophy, the varsity volleyball team takes a picture after advancing to the UIL State Championship Title game. The team beat Georgetown 3-1 at The University of Mary Hardin Baylor on Nov. 19. “I couldn’t be more proud of the kids and everybody behind the scenes,” head coach Lori McLaughlin said. “Georgetown is an amazing team, so this is a hard win. We just continue to be fueled by our wins and the motivation we have to keep our season going.”
Black Reign: T-Wolves Advance to State Title Game
November 20, 2024
Students drew chalk art in honor of Veterans day. This is just one of many things the school does to show appreciation to veterans, and the art will remain in the courtyard as a reminder of all of the veterans who served their country. “On veteran’s day, I think it’s a great thing we do at school to honor people that served [who are] at our school or family members,” English teacher and cheer coach Nadira King said. “It makes me feel proud, and it makes me remember the [veterans].”
Valuing Veterans
November 18, 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
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
Students drew chalk art in honor of Veterans day. This is just one of many things the school does to show appreciation to veterans, and the art will remain in the courtyard as a reminder of all of the veterans who served their country. “On veteran’s day, I think it’s a great thing we do at school to honor people that served [who are] at our school or family members,” English teacher and cheer coach Nadira King said. “It makes me feel proud, and it makes me remember the [veterans].”
Valuing Veterans
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
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
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
Posing with the gold ball trophy, the varsity volleyball team takes a picture after advancing to the UIL State Championship Title game. The team beat Georgetown 3-1 at The University of Mary Hardin Baylor on Nov. 19. “I couldn’t be more proud of the kids and everybody behind the scenes,” head coach Lori McLaughlin said. “Georgetown is an amazing team, so this is a hard win. We just continue to be fueled by our wins and the motivation we have to keep our season going.”
Black Reign: T-Wolves Advance to State Title Game
November 20, 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
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

Behind the Ballot: School Board Candidates

Find Interviews and Q&As Here
Jane Yermakov and Rania Adil
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 CPHS. Read the full transcripts below.

Please note:

  • The views and opinions expressed by the candidates are their own, and their claims were not verified by CPHS News. The CPHS News staff gave the candidates a platform to share their beliefs and experiences to allow students to make informed voting decisions.
  • The transcribed interviews below were done based on the recorded audio. Please email [email protected] if you find an error.
  • Special thanks to the candidates who gave their time to be interviewed. These interviews served an impactful learning experience for the high school students who worked on them, from scheduling interviews to handling technology issues, to developing questions and hosting people running for public office in a professional interview setting.

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About the Contributors
Jane Yermakov
Jane Yermakov, Assistant Editor
Jane is a junior and an assistant editor. She’s always excited to meet new people, give them a voice and put their stories into writing. She loves listening to all different types of music, reading and binge-watching nostalgic rom-coms. She loves to write about people and their unique stories. After graduation, she’s still not sure what she wants to do, but hopes to attend UT Austin. She’s obsessed with looking too deeply into movies, watching corny shows with her friends and she loves her dog.
Rania Adil
Rania Adil, Reporter
Rania is a senior and first-year reporter. While she's a member of various honor societies, Rania is also the PALS President, Architecture Club's Social Media Manager and Senior Representative in PTSA. Working part-time at the Enclave Senior Residency, she always advocates to better the lives of others, even if it's by simple conversation. Born in Iraq, she is fluent in Arabic and is learning Turkish to feed her obsession with the culture and the shows. After graduating, she hopes to go to the University of Texas at Austin to major in architecture. Rania loves photography, "La La Land," Finneas, reading and spending time with friends and family.