![High-fiving a band member in the Alamodome in San Antonio, Head Director of Bands Christopher Yee celebrates the band’s fifth UIL state win with his students. The band faced several challenges this marching season due to the difficult show routine, but was able to come in first at the state contest. “Every year is different,” Yee said. “The show is different, the kids are different, the challenges are different and the competition is different. This [year] feels a little more special. Theyre all special, but this one is particularly special because it was so hard fought. Weve mentioned several times to the kids that they seem like theyre one of the happiest bands weve ever taught. Theyre just happy kids. This years student leadership team [also] stepped up more than normal. I think that theyre very talented. Because it was a hard show, they have a lot of skills and a lot of determination and grit.”](https://cphswolfpack.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/unnamed.jpg)
![Dressed as a cow, PALs member and junior Lynnea Bergman smiles at her friends with a face covered in whipped cream. The annual trunk or treat took place on Oct. 26 during which the PALs pie in the face activity was very popular, according to Bergman. “We were doing a pie in the face and cakewalk to get the kids to have fun,” Bergman said. “Some of the kids in the PALs [program were at the trunk or treat] and they got to pie us in the face. [My favorite memory] so far is probably getting pied in the face by a four year old. He went so hard and it was very funny.”](https://cphswolfpack.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/Trunk-or-Treat-Photo-Lilly-182-1200x800.png)
![Posing next to her 2015 Hyundai Sonata, junior and Celebrities Dance Team Second Lieutenant Sophie Poulsen holds up her license. Poulsen’s car was stolen on Aug. 28 from the school parking lot, and was missing for a day before police recovered it. “I was shocked,” Poulsen said. “I never expected, especially in Cedar Park, for my car to get stolen. I still don’t know who [stole my car], but I wish I knew. I don’t think the cops are going to figure it out, because there’s no point. It already happened. We’re probably never going to know. I feel like it was a student, but who knows? [Nevertheless], Cedar Park is not that [kind of place].”](https://cphswolfpack.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/View-recent-pho11tos.jpg)
![Taking a selfie with some of their castmates, including senior Aidan Cox, who plays Buddy the Elf, junior Brooke Ferguson shows off a sign presenting the arrival of “Elf. This year’s musical, “Elf” runs Dec. 1-3 in the CPHS PAC. “[Learning a new script is] always kind of a challenge,” Ferguson said. “You get a new cast and you get your own part. I’ve never worked closely with these people before. It’s a different environment and doing character work with someone new, trying to partner work and scene work is interesting. The script is good and it has a lot of jokes, it’ll be a lot of laughs.” Photo by Brooke Ferguson](https://cphswolfpack.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/IMG_2048-e1701374239425-1200x900.jpg)
![Dressed as “H-E-B Buddy,” senior Logan Hedges entertains shoppers during a shift at H-E-B. Hedges has fun on the job, as there’s significantly less pressure than other jobs he has had. “I [used to umpire] little league baseball, and it’s definitely less stressful,” Hedges said. “There’s not much [that can go wrong] scanning groceries. Making a bad call in baseball is so easy.”](https://cphswolfpack.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/BF3C2083-817E-4847-B673-1FEF973AB972.jpeg)
![One student talks about how attractive they imagine the main protagonist is, another describes the negative effects mental health can have on a student, and a third just blatantly states that she hates the ending of her book. The club Page Turners, led by President senior Ellie Knaggs, meets every Tuesday in the library and is a place for students to come and talk about books. “It’s just a place to come and bring so many ideas and opinions into play,” Knaggs said. “We have had some really great discussions in the past, sometimes it’s just talking about like ‘Oh yes, I love that trope’ or ‘this fictional couple is so cute.’ Sometimes the [author] talked about this really heavy topic like abuse or hunger or war and I think it’s something we should talk about and so we will.”](https://cphswolfpack.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/Copy-of-Copy-of-STRESS.png)
![Standing in the golden hour’s orange light, Irish music artist Hozier performs at Austin City Limits’ biggest venue. The annual music festival provides opportunities for attendees to both enjoy familiar artists and discover new ones. “I didn’t know Thirty Seconds to Mars [before I went to ACL], but I really love them now because the lead singer put on a great show,” sophomore Mykaela Tapia said. “He was inviting people up to the stage and at one point there were almost sixty people on stage. Matthew McConaughey was there too. [The lead singer] started off the show on a platform right below the roof and he jumped off that platform and I thought that was so cool. The concert was really hype. Even though I wasn’t familiar with the music, I still liked the performance.”](https://cphswolfpack.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/IMG_6042-1200x675.jpeg)
![Reciting their creed, the Celebrities drill team prepares to perform at Gupton stadium for the football team on a Friday night. The Celebrities’ creed is their tradition of spending a moment together before every performance. “It’s a tribute to our old director, and we [show our appreciation for her] by praying together that we all perform well for the crowd,” Woodard said. “It’s a way to bring up everyone’s spirits before a performance [so] I think it’s really important that we do it before every routine.”
Photo courtesy of Mia Caldwell](https://cphswolfpack.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/celebs-1200x800.jpg)
![Delbridge smiles with hands wide after a performance at Kelly Reeves Stadium for the Bands of America Austin Finals. “I can’t imagine my life without band,” Delbrdige said. “In 2020 it was the only thing that kept me going—playing my instrument and going into rehearsals. I really don’t want to lose that part of life. It’s kind of sad to leave [that passion] here, but I’d like to find it somewhere else even after I graduate high school.”
Photo courtesy of Lauren Delbridge](https://cphswolfpack.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/image_50379265-1200x900.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 didnt want to because Id have to catch up [in skills] to the other kids. So I decided to join tech, and Ive never looked back.”](https://cphswolfpack.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/P1010905-1200x675.jpg)
![FFA member and junior Max Adams will show his pigs and heifer at the Cedar Park Barn Show on Nov. 12. “When you think you have a good animal, and then you’re surrounded by a bunch of other [showmen with their animals], it will humble you really quick,” Adams said. “If I keep working and I do good [at shows], it makes me feel good about myself. I just like the competitiveness. Its fun taking care of [them]. Putting in a bunch of work and then not doing good upsets me a lot. It makes me want to do better.”](https://cphswolfpack.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/IMG_9790-1200x800.png)
![Dressed like cowgirls, juniors Margo Bonavitacola and Brooke Ferguson pose for a photo before a country versus country club football game. Bonavitacola is an exchange student from France that Ferguson’s family is hosting this year. “My first football game was really a dream because it’s really an American thing and everyone in France is dreaming about that,” Bonavitacola said. “It’s so cool [and] I love it so much. I just enjoy the things that are really normal because it’s different and it’s not the same culture so I enjoy it.”](https://cphswolfpack.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/Margoedit.jpg)
![Taking a shot at the basketball hoop, senior point guard Drew O’Connor participates in a drill with Nabil Ismail during practice Oct. 30. O’Connor said he is excited to be a leader for his team this year. “It feels good to be a leader,” O’Connor said. “I think it’s fun because I just like helping others on the team with stuff. [Also], with it being my senior year, [I can] play with less pressure since it’s my last year, and playing with a lot of my friends is fun too.”](https://cphswolfpack.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/drew-oconnor.jpg)
![After winning the Bi-District match against Smithson Valley, the varsity tennis team poses for a team picture. The team finished second overall in district, became Area Champions and advanced to the Regional Quarterfinals. “I’m just reminiscing and trying to hold onto all these matches [we’re playing] in the fall because fall season is always my favorite,” senior Gaby Coutts said. “The fall season is just primarily a team sport, so we’re all together at all times, which is what I love about tennis. I love being with my teammates, so I’m definitely holding onto all the memories we’re making, and I’m just really proud of everything we’ve been able to accomplish together.”](https://cphswolfpack.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/tennis.jpg)
![One of the few stick vehicles in the school parking lot, senior Alex Trebilco’s 1970 Ford Maverick is a restoration project he worked on with his dad. He and his father have worked on cars together for all of Trebilco’s life, and have several finished projects because of it. “[My favorite memory with my car is] honestly just cruising with my dad in his truck and my car,” Trebilco said. “Both of the [cars] are restored. He did the truck and we did the Maverick, so it’s cool to roll down in two cars that we made run together.”](https://cphswolfpack.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/Ford-Maverick.png)
The Cedar Park High School Timberwolf Band sent a select few to San Antonio this weekend to represent the state champion band. Sophomore Nello Kotyuk, juniors Austin Cernosek, Peter Menchu, Courtney Register, Johnny Theisen, and Anna Wessels, and senior Anthony Cortes performed with the Texas All-State Band at the Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center on Feb. 16 as a part of the 2013 Texas Music Educators Association.
Led by Steve Wessels, the seven students rose to the honor from the district, region and area levels of competition. The journey for the entire band began in the fall of 2012 and ended with yet another state championship title. The selected area students not only played a part in that process, but a new one as well.
“The experience connected me with other kids of my caliber that enjoy music as much as I do,” Theisen said. “The music is more fun but also more challenging.”
After the semester-long addition process, the seven Timberwolves found themselves a part of the 1,500 students that were selected from the 60,000 student pool. Individuals throughout the state are ranked and selected by a panel of judges. Next, the musicians advanced to area competition in which they competed against seven other sectors. Those ranked highest qualified for the All-State group.
“After better auditions, being in a higher group made the experience more fun,” Anna said.
Three days of rehearsals later, nationally-recognized conductors and educators led the selected student musicians in All-State performances.
“We were surrounded by the best musicians in the state,” Anna said. “Because of our energetic composer, we never got bored with the music.”
A few of the students were not new to the limelight. Cernosek, Theisen and Anna received the honor once in the past with the TMEA All-State organization. Returning to the stage, these students saw the opportunity to performing with elite musicians once again.
“I was more prepared and more experience than freshman year,” Cernosek said. “I had a lot better time than I did two years ago.”
Mr. Wessels has had experience with the TMEA as well. He is a member of the association of over 11,000 musicians in Austin. The group values itself upon excellent music education through school music teachers.
Front Row: Austin Cernosek, Courtney Regester, Peter Menchu
Back Row: Johnny Theisen, Anna Wessels, Anthony Cortes, Nello Kotyuk
Photo by Kerri Cernosek
