![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)
![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)
![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)
Closing The Curtain
Thespian President Leaves Home In Theatre
Troupe 6289’s Thespian president, senior Carson Burke, speaks to fellow thespians before rehearsals. “I decided to run for president because I appreciated what the department had done for me,” Burke said. “I knew how much I loved everyone there, and I knew that I wanted to give something back to them. Organizing things seemed like the best way to do that.”
May 15, 2019
Five years and six shows later, Thespian Troupe 6289’s president, senior Carson Burke, is closing the final curtain of his theatre career as he gets ready to start his new chapter in college.
Burke, who first joined the theatre program in eighth grade, said he entered it for the people.
“Everyone is very nice and welcoming and it creates a really pleasant environment to be a part of,” Burke said. “I know that whatever is going on in my life, I have a community of people who love me and will help me out, which is something that most people don’t even know is possible to have. I have seen seven classes of wonderful, talented people come through our department and I’m grateful that I get to count myself among them.”
Although Burke is the current president, he said that he started from the bottom. Since his first show, “The Bourgeois Gentleman,” in the seventh grade, Burke said that he has improved his skills and has become more confident.
“I did lights and I had no idea how to do anything and was very nervous,” Burke said. “Now I feel very confident in my abilities and know that whatever needs doing for a show, I can take care of it.”
Burke was elected to become troupe 6289’s president this year, which he said he ran for to give back to the department.
“I decided to run for president because I appreciated what the department had done for me,” Burke said. “I knew how much I loved everyone there, and I knew that I wanted to give something back to them. Organizing things seemed like the best way to do that.”
After high school, Burke plans on attending The University of Texas at Dallas to study psychology. According to Burke, even though he will be leaving this theatre community once he graduates, he wants to find an organization that means just as much to him.
“For me, it was never about the shows,” Burke said. “It was about all of the lovely people I got to be around while I was in the shows. In college, I’m going to make sure I find an organization that cares for me as much as I care for it. I know how important that is now because of our theatre department.”
