![Lining the center of the room, several printing presses make copies of Community Impact’s latest newspaper. Junior Skyler King shadowed at Community Impact for her Career Investigation Day where she got a tour of the printing press and spoke with several employees including one of the head editors and a designer. “I really think [my favorite part] was talking to the designer,” King said. “Before I thought I really wanted to focus on just pure writing with journalism, but I thought what she did was maybe even cooler and it really made me rethink what I want to do, like if I want to do social media design, or graphic design or something like that.”](https://cphswolfpack.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/CI-edit.jpg)
![Lining in front of the Cedar Lake Courthouse where people of all ages enter to receive the final decisions of the crime they committed enters teenagers meant to be the last voice heard before their peers are convicted. Teen Court has meetings on Mondays, twice a month. “I originally did [Teen Court] for the service hours that it offered but stayed because of the connections,” Edwards said. ”The skills I’ve learned in public speaking and argumentation have helped me so much.”](https://cphswolfpack.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Teen-Court-1200x900.jpg)
![Holding up their ribbons, the Principles of Dance team poses for a picture. On March 12, the team participated in the Dance Educators Assessment of Learning (DEAL), where they earned a Division One rating. “For me, [a division one rating] shows the teamwork of our class and how we work together to dance,” freshman Sierra Thurber said. “[Participating in DEAL] benefits me because it teaches me a lot of skills and gives me a sense of determination in any type of category that I would go for in life.” Photo courtesy of Nikki Evans](https://cphswolfpack.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Dancers.jpg)
![Bringing her arm over her head and taking a quick breath, junior Lauren Lucas swims the final laps of the 500 freestyle at the regionals swimming competition on date. Lucas broke the school’s 18-year-old record for the 500 freestyle at regionals and again at state with a time of 4:58.63. “I’d had my eye on that 500 record since my freshman year, so I was really excited to see if I could get it at regionals or districts,” Lucas said. “ State is always a really fun experience and medaling for the first time was really great. It was a very very tight race, [so] I was a bit surprised [that I medaled]. [There were] a lot of fast girls at the meet in general, [and] it was like a dogfight back and forth, back and forth.” Photo by Kaydence Wilkinson](https://cphswolfpack.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Kaydence-2.7-23-edit-2.jpg)
![As the support team sits and poses for a photo in the cafeteria with the counseling team they eagerly wait to start their day. "We [all] seem to be a team, I get up every day and there's days where I don't want to go to work today, but I'm thankful that I have a job and I'm blessed to have what I have," Christopherson said. Photo Courtesy of Julie Weltens.](https://cphswolfpack.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/AF9E8470-10D7-4C91-BF28-EC8F86BAB66C-1200x852.jpeg)
![Officer Stephanie Cash is in her second year as an SRO at CPHS. “Seeing [students] grow over the years has been kind of cool,” Officer Cash said. “Freshmen that [are] all over the place and then in the next couple of years get a little more squared away and go to class and do work and start thinking about the future. Being a part of a student's growth is the best way to measure my success as an SRO.” Photo Courtesy of Cedar Park Police Department's PIO, Alicia Gallagher.](https://cphswolfpack.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/CPHS-SRO-900x1200.jpg)
![Taking a breath as he raises his arm up and out of the water, sophomore Kaden Padilla swims the 500 freestyle at the UIL state meet on Feb. 21-22. Padilla placed 10th overall and second in the consolation final in the event, dropping two seconds. “My family was there, so being able to drop time for them was really special,” Padilla said. “It was awesome [finding out I advanced to the consolation finals]. I wasn’t expecting it, and I was very surprised. My parents being there definitely made me a lot happier knowing they got to see me swim in finals.” Photo by Skyler King.](https://cphswolfpack.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/kaden-padilla.jpg)
![Three defenders try to stop senior point guard Hope Edwards before the ball leaves her hands. The girls basketball team faced Liberty Hill on Feb 21, losing 58-40. “[My season was] definitely bittersweet,” Edwards said. It's definitely sad [because] I'm gonna miss all my teammates, my coaches and just the whole CP environment.”](https://cphswolfpack.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/julia-128-1200x800.jpg)
![Backstage, junior Erica Mihealsick and Cara Allen are setting up for The One Act Play That Goes Wrong. "Originally, I wanted to be an actor, but then I didn't want to because I'd have to catch up [in skills] to the other kids. So I decided to join tech, and I've never looked back.”](https://cphswolfpack.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/P1010905-1200x675.jpg)
She’s been in every on-stage production in the theater department for three years straight. She takes every art class she can, and she gathers as many thespian points possible. Since 2019, junior Erica Mihealsick has taken up an interest in technical theater, improv comedy and various forms of design and decor.
Mihealsick wound up in her eighth-grade production of “Little Shop of Horrors” because of some romantic feelings, but said she did not end up with the kind of love she was expecting.
“The middle school was putting on a production of ‘Little Shop of Horrors,’”Mihealsick said. “And I thought the actor for one of the villains was hot. So I was like, ‘Being around actors wouldn’t be so bad.’ Originally, I wanted to be an actor, but then I didn’t want to because I’d have to catch up [in skills] to the other kids. So I decided to join tech, and I’ve never looked back.”
Theatre tech isn’t her only specialty; she has also been involved in Destination Imagination for five consecutive years and is a first-year member of Penguin National Guard (PNG).
“I started [Destination Imagination] before I even considered theater, and I did it because my friends said it would be fun,” Mihealsick said. “I was very reluctant because it sounded really un-fun. It’s basically just like building challenges and improv challenges with a lot of rules and stuff. But I did it for one day and I enjoyed it so much.”
Mihealsick said she plans to graduate with 300 thespian points in order to get a graduation stole. But, currently with only 65 points and counting, she has to resort to other measures on how to get her score up.
“The class of 2025 is the first year that’s going to be unaffected by COVID,” Mihealsick said. “So we have to reach the amount of points it was in previous years. My plan is to start a canned food drive and donate all of those cans to the thespian canned food drives in my name. So I’m basically going to pay for points. It’s one point for every five cans and cans are usually worth under a dollar. People are still donating, so it’s still a good thing. It’s just I get points out of it, and the food pantry gets more cans out of it. So I don’t see how any of this is selfish or wrong.”
Mihealsick said she has a pretty distinct vision of where she sees herself in the next five years.
“I see myself as probably a props artisan, people who make props for either theater or movies,” Mihealsick said. “Or maybe as a props manager or assistant on sets. My dream job would be a props manager because I’d get to interact with a lot of famous actors and travel around the world. Nothing could make me happier.”
Mihealsick said she is very prepared to put her dream job into action, she said, as she takes several art classes such as ceramics and welding in order to perfect her craft.
“I’ve never felt anxious about the [thespian] points just because I feel that in this world I will be able to do anything,” Mihealsick said. “I feel like I’m in a good spot to be able to get things done.”
