Fair allows students to share their favorite electives

Last Wednesday McCallum hosted the annual Expo Knight, but this year there was a slight twist. The elective fair, which students attended during fourth period and eighth-graders attended after school, made a comeback this year after a brief pandemic-induced hiatus. The fair enabled students and would-be student to sample all of the elective course offerings the school has to offer and students in those classes to show off why they have found those classes to be significant in their school experience. There were a lot of smiles and a lot of salesmanship, the perfect ingredients for a compelling, coverage-based Tuesday Top 10. We hope you enjoy it.

PART OF THE FAM: Holding up a McCallum Youth Dance Company T-shirt, junior Julia Rasp smiles alongside her dance “family” at Wednesday’s elective fair. Rasp, who has been a part of the fine arts program since Lamar, cherishes the bonds she has made throughout her years in the program.

“The Mac Dance community is great,” Rasp said. “I always look forward to that class and the people in it, and as corny as it sounds it’s kind of like a family.”

For Rasp, the fair posed as the perfect opportunity to introduce other students to a class she values so highly.

“I just wanted to show how much I really love and appreciate Mac Dance,” she said. “It’s really great, has taught me a lot and honestly has made my high school experience 10 times better. Just wanting to share that is what led me to participate in the elective fair.”

Caption by JoJo Barnard with reporting from Callen Romell. Photo by Dave Winter.

PLAYED LIKE A FIDDLE: Sophomores Maria Bulger and Ashton Ward play viola and violin at the orchestra booth for the Expo Knight last Wednesday. The two played various pieces from Vivaldi, Bach and Mendelson as students gathered around to hear.

“I’ve loved all the pieces we’ve played this year,” Bulger said. “They’re all very fun.”

With six years of playing viola under her belt, Bulger has had plenty of experience in orchestra.

“My favorite part of being in orchestra is all the very good people and the friends I’m surrounded with in that class,” she said.

Caption by Olivia Dungan. Photo by Dave Winter.

NEW FACES ON THE COURT: Freshman Maddy Martinez advocates for the volleyball team at its booth during Expo Knight. Martinez and the rest of the volleyball program were at the table recruiting new members.

“I’m really interested in getting new people in the program, but some people just think they have to win, and honestly that’s not a good mindset,” Martinez said. “It can be discouraging at times, but it’s such a good sport, and I love it. We love it.”

Martinez enjoyed talking to possible new members, with conversation made easy over a shared passion for volleyball.

“I love talking to people about the sport,” Martinez said. “And it’s the best feeling when you can tell somebody’s really interested.”

Caption by Carlo Hinsdale. Photo by Dave Winter.

MUSIC TO THEIR EARS: Seniors Sebastian Banks and Sydney Piper sit together with their guitars at the guitar booth. At Expo Knight the McCallum guitar program had a booth to help get new kids interested in the program.

“At the booth we had a poster with basic knowledge about the guitar program, such as different concerts we do and trips we go on,” Banks said.

The booth also had two people playing guitar to help attract students. Banks played his UIL piece as well as other songs that he has learned.

“I think the Expo Knight went well,” Banks said. “A lot of people saw our booth and thought that our poster was interesting.”

Caption by David Herring. Photo by Dave Winter.

SHOUTING FOR A SALVĒ. During last Wednesday’s elective fair, junior Elyza Bradsby welcomed students to the Latin booth with a grin. As a Latin 3 student, Bradsby wanted to share her love for the language and show how much she cares for the class.

“I definitely got way more into it than I thought I was going to,” Bradsby said. “At one point I was screaming my head off; it was really fun.”

Bradsby enjoyed being able to talk to people about the class and give more information on the details of the course.

“I think I’ve convinced a couple of people,” Bradsby said. “[My favorite thing is] how unserious it is. It’s so fun, the community is so great, and in my opinion it’s the easiest of the language classes.”

Caption by Callen Romell. Photo by Dave Winter.

BUILDING A LEGACY: Junior Grace Valdez represents the debate team to incoming freshmen who might be interested in taking the class or joining the club. Valdez made sure to explain the difference between both of them and what debate was about.

“[I explained] to both parents and students the two routes they could take: club or class, and what either one would look like” Valdez said “I would ask them if they liked arguing or speaking better, and I’d say most of the time they always said arguing which is what I like to think debate is all about.”

Something that came as a surprise to Valdez is how many middle-schoolers showed interest in the program.

“It was hard to get high-schoolers engaged because they seem to already know what they want to do in high school by this point, but the middle-schoolers were so much more wide-eyed about it all which I really appreciated.”

As one of the founders of this club, Valdez wanted to make sure that the debate team is well represented for it to keep going for the years to come.

“Our program is still starting out and as captain and one of the founders I’m trying to focus on creating a legacy for our speech and debate program so that it hopefully doesn’t fizzle out too soon, and we can keep debating long after our leadership team has graduated.”

Caption by Gaby Esquivel. Photo by Dave Winter.

KEEP CALM AND CHEER ON: At McCallum’s Expo Knight last Wednesday, clubs, classes and extracurriculars got the opportunity to create a booth and showcase what being involved in one of the many groups McCallum offers. Each booth demonstrated highlights of an elective class, why students should join and why being a part of the class would provide a memorable experience, as well as opportunities for prospective students to ask questions.

For senior Cheer co-captain Stella Shepard, getting to run the cheerleading booth was especially rewarding knowing that she could be talking to the future cheerleaders, even after she graduates.

“Being able to try and recruit new members to our team and tell people about us was the best part of running the booth,” Shepard said. “We got to tell students about the environment of the cheer team and encourage them to join.”

Expo Knight was aimed at easing stress around choice sheets, choosing classes for the upcoming school year and providing insight from students who experienced a class, what it would be like.

“This was a good opportunity to recruit because the whole school went through the fair and a lot of the incoming freshmen came to see what McCallum had to offer,” Shepard said. “I hope to have an impact on showing that anyone can really do Cheer, you just have to start somewhere.”

Sophomore Larkin Long, senior Hannah Van Houten and Shepard ran the booth hoping to gain new cheerleaders and grow the team for the future.

“It’s important because we have to make up for the seniors that are leaving, and we are also planning to have a bigger team next year, so there will be even more spots open,” Long said. “We have to be really welcoming and encourage people to try out and the Expo Knight is the easiest spot to get information on tryouts and ask questions directly to current cheerleaders.”

Caption by Chloe Lewcock. Photo by Dave Winter.

IT’LL BE LIT: Juniors Sylvie Powell, Piper Depujadas and sophomore Cate Bradley welcome aspiring students to participate in Excalibur: a student-run literary magazine that features student writing and art.

“[Excalibur] is almost all student-led, so it’s a really leadership building experience,” Powell said. “It’s really fun to look through it and especially designing the pages and coordinating that with the content.”

Depujadas and Powell explained the importance of getting new members to grow the program and keep the magazine running.

“Ms. Wood wants freshmen to come in so that we can pass the torch down, and they can grow with the class,” Powell said.

Caption by Josie Mullan. Photo by Dave Winter.

SHOOT YOUR SHOT: Senior Rowan Lee explains the Audio Visual Production program to a student. The AV Program was one of the many electives trying to recruit students at the Expo Knight. To bring appeal to the elective, the AV students set up two cameras with one of them recording to show the quality of the camera. The booth also had a computer displaying one of Lee’s films.

“I think that the computer that was showing a fight scene was what drew people in,” Lee said.

When students came up to the booth, the AV crew told them how the class was formatted over the course of high school and what they would learn by taking it.

Caption by David Herring. Photo by Dave Winter.

FULL-CIRCLE THROW-MENT: Representing advanced ceramics classes, senior Sofia Rios wheel throws a vase at Expo Knight. Rios said she talked with prospective students about what the ceramics program offers, prerequisites and ways ceramics can overlap with other interests.

“I work at a ceramics studio, as a teacher, so I felt really in my element discussing the various processes involved in ceramics and just how valuable this class is to those who want to explore ceramics, and art in general, even while still in high school,” Rios said. “Throwing in front of people is intimidating, but I enjoy it because it gives me a chance to explore forms while getting a lot of input, plus I’m always more comfortable being at the wheel and letting my pieces speak for me.”

According to Rios, students gathered around the wheel and engaged in the ceramics demonstration.

“Students were really interested in what I was doing, trying to figure out why someone covered in mud would be using a blowtorch or what form I was going to make next,” Rios said. “I even started taking a few requests as the night went on. There were students who were in ceramics talking to their friends about the program and were excited that they could explain how throwing works with a demonstration going on, as throwing is hard to grasp, especially your first time on the wheel.”

For Rios, the highlight of the night was telling students and parents about the visual arts major and seeing their enthusiastic responses.

“When I brought up the fact that I’m in the ceramics industry outside of school, the kids lit up since they also wanted to enter their respective fields and I’m a realistic version of transitioning to a professional setting,” Rios said. “As the parents asked more questions about my studio, a lot of them realized that they’ve gone there before and remember how ceramics has been prevalent and can become a professional outlet for their children.”

Rios remembers coming to Expo Knight as an eighth grader and leaving determined to learn the art of wheel throwing. Now a senior, she said it was fulfilling to provide a similar experience for future Knights.

“In middle school, we just didn’t have the resources to throw, so it showed me what the visual arts program could give me that I would’ve otherwise missed out on,” Rios said. “I remember when I was in eighth grade coming to Expo Knight and seeing these two AP 3D students wheel-throwing and being in awe of what they were able to do so effortlessly. This is the first year since then that we’ve been able to have someone throwing in the gym, so it was great to have this full-circle moment in my senior year.”

Caption by Ingrid Smith. Photo by Dave Winter.

A BITTER-SWEET GOODBYE: Seniors Morgan Eye, Lanie Sepheri, Alice Scott and Naomi Di-Capua pose for a photo at the booth representing the Shield, the McCallum student newspaper. Di-Capua particularly enjoyed being helpful around the fair.

“My favorite part of the night was answering questions and talking to all the kids who are planning on coming to McCallum,” Di-Capua said. “It was really nice to share all my favorite things about the school with them.”

Di-Capua didn’t spend her night solely at the Mac Journalism booth. As a Fine Arts Academy Ambassador she also led choir tours, and switched between both duties throughout the night.

“I expected the job to be stressful, but I actually really enjoyed it,” Di-Capua said. “Staying busy helped me not just sit there, and I was able to meet and help so many people.”

As this is her final semester at McCallum, the fair served as a full circle moment for Di-Capua. By helping incoming freshmen find what courses suit them, she was able to wish the school a bittersweet goodbye.

“While the night was really fulfilling, it was also kind of sad as I remember that this chapter of my life is ending,” she said.

Caption by JoJo Barnard. Photo by Dave Winter.