![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](https://cphswolfpack.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Main-Taiwan.jpg)
![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].”](https://cphswolfpack.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Capture.png)
![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)
![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)
Iriyana’s Got Talent
Junior Shares Experience on ‘America’s Got Talent’ and ‘ Madison McWilliams and the Boys of Summer Tour’
Reviewing the dance for SXSW, junior Iriyana Lipkin prepares for future shows. “This year, I am just looking forward to creating my own opportunities,” Lipkin said. “Whatever this year brings to me, I am excited to take it and run with it.”
February 5, 2019
Four a.m.
It is typically a time for sleeping, but for junior Iriyana Lipkin, 4 a.m. was once the end of a 10-hour rehearsal in preparation for “America’s Got Talent.”
On top of school work, being the digital content manager for The Wolfcast and making time to teach other kids how to dance, Lipkin has been able to travel across the country doing what she loves most: dancing.
Lipkin was contacted by local choreographer Kelsey Anderson to be a part of a team auditioning for “America’s Got Talent.” Once she joined, it was three days and two 10-hour rehearsals later that Lipkin and the team made it through two levels of the show, just by video submission and with the help of a talent agent.
“It was really exciting being scouted, because you always think, how did they find out about me,” Lipkin said. “It was pretty surreal, especially because we got to see all the cool sets they show on TV and at the same time, they were getting ready for the Oscars.”
Due to the amount of experience Lipkin has in the field, she was also able to travel with musician Madison McWilliams and the Boys of Summer Tour in the summer of 2018. Through this, Lipkin had the opportunity to perform at SXSW, open up for EchoSmith at the Tree Lighting Ceremony at the Hill Country Galleria and meet new dancers along the way.
“Traveling with Madison McWilliams and the Boys of Summer Tour was bittersweet, but it was super cool meeting different upcoming artist and internet famous people,” Lipkin said. “Meet and greets were really long and meeting random people was odd, but sometimes meeting them was so rewarding, seeing how excited they were to see us and the rest of the lineup. Performing was amazing and getting merchandise and traveling with my team was super fun.”
After Lipkin and the rest of her group left the tour after problems, such as rudeness from some of the other internet famous members and disorganized events, Lipkin said that she became more focused on school, where she helps The Wolfcast broadcast program by promoting content throughout various social media platforms. Outside of school, she teaches dance classes three times a week–one with ages ranging from seven to 35, and another for older dancers.
“I have the amazing job of teaching dance at a couple of dance studios throughout the week,” Lipkin said. “Sometimes these hours do get challenging since some classes end around nine, but by keeping up with work and not procrastinating, the workload is manageable.”
She said she enjoys being able to teach younger dancers how to perform and also wants to pass on her love for dancing both solo and with a group.
“Whether I perform solo or with other people, it’s nerve-wracking,” Lipkin said. “When I perform solo, it’s super fun that I can showcase my personal talents and uniqueness in my movement. But when I perform with groups, it’s also super fun doing your part for a bigger picture.”
Being a dancer for most of her life, Lipkin said that it is now a part of her identity and has allowed her to become involved with various projects around the nation, while also pushing her to become whoever she wants to be.
“Whether it is a big or small audience, or a camera, I love the aspect that I can become any persona I want,” Lipkin said. “Depending on the music and mood of the dance, I get to embody the music and become whoever I want in a sense.”
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![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-300x201.jpg)
