![Walking through the tunnel created by the cheerleaders and Celebrities, senior Frances Tran smiles as the soccer team is sent off during DEN for their playoff game against Rouse tonight. Tran said the wins against Smithson Valley and Alamo Heights gave the team a morale boost to take on the Raiders tonight. “I know we were not 100% confident in those games,” Tran said. “But, Rouse is a big opponent for sure. We’re definitely going into tonight with a lot of morale [because of the previous wins].”](https://cphswolfpack.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/frances-tran.jpg)
![Holding a bucket of materials in one hand and a roll of tape in another, anatomy and biology teacher Tyler Terry prepares for a lab. Terry said his proudest moments are when his students are happy to see him. “When I take my wife to a football game or something and a bunch of students want to say hi to me or they like to smile and wave and it just makes me feel good that the students are really kind and supportive of me,” Terry said. “[I’m also] proud when I see students perform really well in their extracurriculars because I can see how hard they’re working in my classes, [so] when I see that they’re also working so hard in other things. Like they’re winning band competitions or they’re getting awards for their theater productions, or I see them put on their choir shows, that’s like, wow, you guys are incredible.”](https://cphswolfpack.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Rags-6.png)
![Catching a ball, junior Alivia Robinson plays at the Cedar Park vs Glenn game. Having played since she was 5 years old, she is dedicated to softball and has committed to UTPB for softball. “When I got my offer it took me a very long time to decide where,” Robinson said. “Softball has always been my dream for college, and UTPB is my fit. When [I committed] I knew I was going to be loved and supported.”](https://cphswolfpack.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Lilly-Adams-3.13aliviaedit-901.jpg)
![Holding her dog, Nova, senior Ariana Balakrishnan poses for her senior pictures while Nova wears a bandana with her college decision. Balakrishnan applied to 18 colleges in total, but she decided on Columbia in the end. “Right before I clicked the button to open Columbia’s letter, I literally looked at the camera and go ‘This is just gonna really suck because I wanted it so bad,’ and I clicked it and all of a sudden you hear trumpets,” Balakrishnan said. “There’s a video that plays when you open it and I actually didn’t watch the video, I just watched the screen go black, because every day of December before ED [Early Decision] I would go on YouTube and watch the acceptance video to manifest it, so immediately when the screen went black, I started screaming and jumping up and down. And my parents in the video are like ‘What are you doing, where’s the letter,’ and I was just screaming ‘I got in, I got in.” I just started crying, and it just felt like everything in the world came together.”](https://cphswolfpack.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/ariana-2-300x217.jpg)
The cali-reggae band, Rebelution, will be making an appearance in Austin February 26 at 8:00 PM at Stubb’s. This band, who has taken over Cedar Park, is famous for their optimistic views on life and their easy going attitude. Live on the bright side of life is a view from the band that many students have adopted as their mantra. Their song, entitled The Bright Side of Life, was even a choice for the senior class song.
“[They’ve] made us more positive and nice [toward] each other,” Megan Havener, senior, said.
Many students will be attending this concert, and for some of them, it won’t be their first Rebelution encounter. For Havener, it will be her third time to see them in concert.
“I love how when we go see them, they’re not too stuck up to meet us,” Havener said. “Their music is the soundtrack to our summer. [Rebelution] is the main band that we all listen to.”
The band and cali-reggae music has become more and more popular throughout Cedar Park High School.
“The reggae genre is reaching out and is [becoming] more inviting,” Katie Love, junior, said.
Its positive spin on life is what most students love most about Rebelution’s music.
The band began in Santa Barbara, California, in 2004. They met at University of California at Santa Barbara and after playing local gigs all around town they independently released an EP. Soon the attendance at their shows increased so much that they decided to release a full-length album in 2006 called Courage to Grow. The album remained on the Billboard Top Reggae Album Chart for 36 weeks. This album put Rebelution on top of the Cali-Reggae scene. The band’s newest album, Bright Side of Life, released August 2009, made iTunes’ top three most downloaded albums and number 54 on the Billboard Hot 200.This album has an overall theme of encouragement, which many believe is a good influence on students. They sing about making a difference and about living they best way possible.
Not all of CPHS is raving about this band, however, some students disagree with some of the lyrics and mottos.
“I don’t like the crowd that follows [Rebelution],” Erik Stevens, junior, said.
While some of the lyrics by Rebelution make a reference to negative influences, they are mostly concerned with living life positively. However, it’s not just the debatable lyrics that cause these students to dislike the band.
“By listening to reggae [music] you’re just trying to be popular,” Stevens said .
Even if there is controversy about this style of music, the band, and cali-reggae genre, is making its mark on Cedar Park High School. More and more people are starting to get into this scene and some believe it is actually making a difference.
