Despite the Scrooge-like specter of final exams, McCallum students and teachers found ways to be festive as the fall semester came to a close. On the Monday of Finals Week, some McCallum teachers confirmed that seasonal bling is their thing by competing in the fourth annual Tacky Sweater Contest. French teacher Melinda von Rosenberg captured the crown with security officer Georgia Pina a close second. Just when we thought the sweater contest was the holiday moment of the day, however, we had to ho-ho-hold on a moment, because the big guy himself–Santa Featherstone–paid a visit to 5600 Sunshine Drive on Monday between seventh and eighth periods. Students, teachers and even a certain cellphone-wielding security officer posed for seasonal selfies. On Tuesday, the National Honor Society reported the results of its annual Holiday Sock Drive. Talk about your holiday stockings. The drive solicited more than 550 pairs of socks, which will help keep homeless Austinites warm this winter. Congrats and thanks to all who participated. On Wednesday, a costume-clad Rocco the drug-detection dog got into the holiday spirit. We at The Shield wish all the Knights out there a joyous, restful and safe holiday season and the happiest and most prosperous of new years. See you Jan. 5.
![A PRIDE-FUL WEEK OF CELEBRATION:
As part of AISDs week-long celebration of PRIDE, students of the McCallum Spectrum Club worked to create a week full of activities, prizes and helping hands to support the schools LGBTQ+ community. The club is widely available for anyone to join, and specializes in creating a safe space for students to share and give advice. While Pride month itself isn’t until June, AISD designates one week in March to celebrate and commemorate the importance of this part of the student body.
As part of the week of festivities, the club held a booth in the front hall handing out pride stickers, pins and merch to passers by. For junior Zane Joly, the booth idea was brought up as a way for students to engage with one another, and connect with the community.
“I call out to people in the halls, ‘hey, do you want stickers?’” Joly said. “We just give out free pride stickers and sometimes other free pride merch to the students of Macallum because everybody likes pride stickers.”
While the week itself is packed with a variety of different activities, the overall goal is to bring students closer together and create a safer environment for self expression at McCallum.
“The idea for the student panel largely came from the black [history] student panel that is done during Black History Month,” Joly said. “And the idea for giving out free stuff was developed at Spectrum last year.”
Joly is not only a member of the Spectrum club, but also holds a leadership position giving them a more hands-on role with the projects and Pride Week activities.
“McCallum has a very high queer population,” Joly said. “I think Its nice that we get a chance to celebrate Pride because Pride Month is during the summer, and I think its just a nice thing for the community and getting to just celebrate it.”
While the merch table at lunch was only a small part of the numerous parts of McCallum’s Pride week, for Joly this small impact made all the difference.
“The purpose of Pride is to make people not feel alone and to make them feel safe,” Joly said. “The goal is [to make people] happy about a part of themselves that theyre often conditioned to not feel good about.”
Caption by Chloe Lewcock. Photo by Shila Gill.](https://macshieldonline.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/53597258192_6e7168d8ae_o-1-1200x676.jpg)
