![Senior Jett Mckinney stores all the clothes in his own room, with half of it stored in his closet along with his personal clothes, and the rest taking up space in his room.
“There’s been times [when] there’s so much clothing stored here and it gets overwhelming, so I end up having to sleep somewhere else in the house,” Mckinney said.](https://cphswolfpack.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/DSC_0951-1200x800.jpg)
![Broadcast, yearbook and newspaper combined for 66 Interscholastic League Press Conference awards this year. Yearbook won 43, newspaper won 14 and broadcast took home nine. “I think [the ILPC awards] are a great way to give the kids some acknowledgement for all of their hard work,” newspaper and yearbook adviser Paige Hert said. “They typically spend the year covering everyone else’s big moments, so it’s really cool for them to be celebrated so many times and in so many different ways.”](https://cphswolfpack.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/edited-ILPC.jpg)
![Looking down at his racket, junior Hasun Nguyen hits the green tennis ball. Hasun has played tennis since he was 9 years old, and he is on the varsity team. "I feel like it’s not really appreciated in America as much, but [tennis] is a really competitive and mentally challenging sport,” Nguyen said. “I’m really level-headed and can keep my cool during a match, and that helps me play a bit better under pressure.” Photo by Kyra Cox](https://cphswolfpack.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/hasun.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 her hair blows in the wind, senior Brianna Grandow runs the varsity girls 5K at the cross country district meet last Thursday. Grandow finished fourth in the event and led the varsity girls to regionals with a third place placement as a team. “I’m very excited [to go to regionals],” Grandow said. “I’m excited to race in Corpus Christi, and we get to go to the beach, so that’s really awesome.” Photo by Addison Bruce](https://cphswolfpack.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/brianna.jpg)
Several new traffic and public safety laws went into effect September 1, 2009, many of which affect Cedar Park students.
Previous laws, regarding the use of cell phones while driving, forbade minors from any cell phone use during the first six months of driving. The new law extends upon this one, disallowing cell phone use (talking or texting) for minors until age eighteen.
“I think it should be texting only that’s banned, because it requires two hands and your eyes,” Arizona Dabrusin, sophomore, said.
In addition, the other restrictions that originally only applied to minors during the first six months of licensure, have been extended to one full year. Such restrictions include limited night driving and transporting a limited number of passengers.
“I hate it because six months is long enough,” Jessi Gutierrez, freshman, said. “We already have to wait six months after we get our permit to get our license.”
House bill 2730 requires minors that apply for licensure after September 1 to take and pass a driving skills exam before receipt of their license, as opposed to the old system of receiving a license without being tested.
“I think it’s good to have someone watch how you drive before you’re licensed because some people get by knowing the facts but they can’t actually put those facts into action,” Savannah Lee, freshman, said.
The same law also requires that a provisional (minor’s) driver’s license or instruction permit expire on their eighteenth birthday, but removes the requirement that a provisional driver’s license or permit be renewed annually. It also raises the fee for those licenses to fifteen dollars instead of five dollars.
In addition, minors are required to have 34 hours of behind-the-wheel driving instruction instead of 14, but that law will not go into effect until May 1, 2010.
All drivers are now prohibited from using cell phones in school zones, unless they are employing a hands-free device or the vehicle is stopped. Fines may be up to 200 dollars, but cities or counties that want to enforce the law must post a sign at the beginning of each school zone to inform drivers of the law and warn them of the fine. Many cities, such as Houston, will not be able to enforce this law due to insufficient funds for the signs. LISD schools are in several cities and two counties, so policies will vary from school to school.
“It’ll probably be safer but it stinks because you don’t have a means of communication while you’re driving,” Brooke Wilkinson, freshman, said.
Other laws now in affect include HB 558, which allows minors to be charged with public intoxication, and another law requiring everyone to wear seatbelts, regardless of age or location in the vehicle.
Many students are upset about the restrictions, but the laws were put in place for public safety, and will hopefully benefit the Cedar Park community.
