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The Student News Site of McCallum High School

The Shield Online

The Student News Site of McCallum High School

The Shield Online

The Student News Site of McCallum High School

The Shield Online

Principal Andy Baxa speaks at a meeting with McCallum parents and an AISD police officer last year.
The steps for safety
Nate Williams, co-editor in chief • December 19, 2024
According to Education Week, since the TIMSS (Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study) started in 1995, US students scored below or at the lowest level at a higher percentage than ever before. Graphic by  Mira Patel.
Multiplying success
December 18, 2024
The moral high ground, Democrats have learned, does not equal the electoral high ground.
How to lose an election (and never die)
Noah Braun, web editor • December 17, 2024

On March 4, 1893, Grover Cleveland became the first U.S. president to serve two nonconsecutive terms in the White House. It’s 131 years later, and America finds itself in...

The state of Florida initiated the wave of cellphone bans in schools across the country with bill HB-379 which was sponsored by Republican Brad Yeager and received bipartisan support from the Florida House and Senate. The bill took effect last summer, July 1. 2023. 

Graphic by Mira Patel.
Ban the bans
November 22, 2024
Students wait in long lines during lunch on Oct. 18. Photos by Carlo Hinsdale.
A recipe for student stress
November 15, 2024
High school students deserve to be encouraged to vote no matter the year and have the support to easily register to vote.
Become a change maker
November 14, 2024
Before he was a U.S. Open champion in 1992, Tom Kite was a UIL 4A state golf champion at McCallum in 1967 and 1968. File photos from 1968 Knight yearbook.
Kite looks back on overall success as a golfer
Julia Copas and Callen Romell December 20, 2024

In the fourth episode of Friday Knight Lights, hosts Julia Copas and Callen Romell talked with class of 1968 alumnus Tom Kite about his amateur career, life as a professional...

Roy Clark on Austin City Limits.
PBS’s ACL showcasing Austin music
David Brock, staff reporter • December 5, 2024

KLRU has long been known for shows such as "The Body Human" and "Masterpiece Theatre." Until 1975, that is, when "Austin City Limits" began its first season. "Austin City...

In modern telecommunications, the use of satellites to bounce signals to receiving dishes all over the world is an inexpensive way to send sion signals over a great distance.
What’s a satellite?
November 14, 2024
Zuniga holds a copy of the Handmaid's Tale, donated to the Banned Book Club by Black Pearl Books, on Nov. 13.
A new chapter
Elizabeth Nation, staff reporter • December 12, 2024

Although librarian Mathew Zuniga may be new to McCallum, he is certainly not new to libraries. Ever since Zuniga fell in love with reading at a young age, he knew that he...

A variety of offerings from 85 Degrees Celsius: milk tea with boba, lemon cake, cheese roll and a "Mango Delight" mousse.
Flavor Profiles: 85 Degrees Celsius
Elizabeth Nation, staff reporter • December 20, 2024

A short distance from McCallum on Airport Boulevard sits 85 Degrees Celsius, a Taiwanese chain that offers a variety of breads, teas, coffee, and cakes. Despite opening six...

Director Nathan Thompson conducts the McCallum choir program at last year’s Masterworks concert. The masterworks concert this year on Dec. 12 will feature Kreek’s Requiem in C minor performed by the chamber orchestra, whole choir program, and brass band. Thompson recalls that last year, his favorite part was bringing all the elements together. “Last year, that standing ovation that everyone got after afterwards, and the silence that we were able to hold in the concert hall was a really, really cool moment, and it was one of the highlights of the year for me."
Making old traditions new
November 19, 2024
NEW CHALLENGE, NEW TEAM MEMBERS: Every season, VEX creates a new game that robotics team members are faced with and have to build a robot to compete in. This year’s game forces students to create a robot that is able to stack rings onto mobile goals in order to score points. The change in games each season is something that robotics teacher Audrea Moyers appreciates.

“One of the things that I like about VEX is that they have a new problem to solve every year,” she said. ¨Even though the equipment’s the same, they have to analyze the game, and they have to come up with solutions that are unique that year. They are using their knowledge from prior years, but they have to kind of redesign a problem.”

As returning teams were faced a new game, some new teams and members had to adapt to a uncommon playing field and game.

“Three of our four teams were competing for the first time this year, and they had very different experiences match to match, so I think they learned a lot,¨ she said. ¨It’s hard just watching a video online to know how it’s actually going to be in person, so they all learned a lot about what gameplay is like, how to work with an alliance partner [and] how to adapt during the day to changes.”
Robotics hosts VEX tournament
Lillian Gray and Wren Vanderford December 17, 2024

The McCallum robotics program hosted a Vex robotics tournament on Saturday Dec. 7, which drew in 27 teams, four of those were underclassmen teams from Mac—B, C, D and E. This...

SPENDING THANKSGIVING IN NATURE: Junior Elizabeth Falkin feeds deer who wander around her grandfather’s lakehouse on Lake Buchanan during Thanksgiving break. Falkin travels to her lakehouse during long breaks and spent six days there during this break. 

One thing that makes Falkin’s lakehouse special for her is the ability to feed the deer.

“There are a ton of deer up there, and we always keep tins of deer food so that we can feed them and see them more up close,” Falkin said. 

This trip also allowed Falkin the opportunity to see her cousins, who showed up to her family’s lakehouse on Thanksgiving without her knowing they were coming beforehand.

“I never get to see my baby cousins, so I loved going to the beach with them and sitting by the fire at night,” Falkin said. “I love the fire because I feel like I don’t have to worry about anything else like school for just a little while.”

Falkin has been going to the house for as long as she can remember and always enjoys the sense of serenity it brings.

“It is an amazing, isolated place that allows me to calm down and spend time with the people I care about as well as with nature,” Falkin said. 

Caption by Maya Tackett. Photo courtesy of Elizabeth Falkin.
All over for autumn
December 3, 2024
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At the Texas Tribune Festival this September, three Deans of journalism schools in universities around the U.S. sat down to discuss how their schools are addressing current issues in journalism, and how they are training future journalists. Rachel Davis Mersey serves as Interim Provost at the University of Texas at Austin and Chair of the School of Journalism and Media and is an expert on the influence of digital media on community-building and understanding the information needs of different audiences. Graciela Mochkofsky is Dean of the City University of New York’s Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism and is a contributing writer for The New Yorker, authoring seven nonfiction books. Jelani Cobb is Dean of the Columbia Journalism School, a staff writer at The New Yorker and received a Peabody Award for his 2020 PBS “Frontline” film “Whose Vote Counts?” In their discussion, Mersey, Mochkofsky and Cobb focused on three salient issues in journalism: the safety of student journalists, the role of social media in journalism and the relevance of journalism in today’s society. Video by Mira Patel.
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