FRIENDLY FIRE FOR A GOOD CAUSE: Senior Peer Assistance and Leadership program member Jude Masoni holds up his fellow PAL, senior David Herring, as a human shield to protect himself from the path of an incoming water balloon. Students paid $1 to throw a balloon at the PALS on Tuesday as part of the shooting PAL-ery, one of the Pink Week fundraisers intended to raise money for the Breast Cancer Resource Center of Central Texas, an Austin-based non-profit that provides personalized support to those affected by breast cancer. Year after year the PALS put on Pink Week in order to raise funds and awareness for the fight against breast cancer. The PALS put on a variety of different events the whole week at lunch in hopes of both bringing in profits and bringing an exciting week of fun to the McCallum community. Herring was made a target of the water balloon by his cross-country teammates. “I enjoyed seeing my teammates coming out to donate as I was telling them about it the week prior,” Herring said. “I was also just having fun on that nice day with my fellow PALS. Some of them that did the PAL-lery that day, like Jude, I’ve known since elementary school.” Photo by Beatrix Lozach.HALOES AND HISTORY: During today’s Black History Month hair-wrap demonstration organized by the Students of Color Club and its sponsor, Fine Arts Academy assistant Tonya Moore, freshmen Paityn Jones and Tegan Hahn, sophomores Noble Pierce and Cozbi Sims, juniors Brianna Miller, Trinity Ritcherson and Jendayi Innocent, librarian Jain Orr, ISS monitor Deborah Gardner, teacher assistants Paula Hockaday and Roberta Reed and several other willing volunteers got their hair (or heads) wrapped in a loving continuation of longstanding African-American and Afro-diasporic tradition. Moore explained why the head wrap demonstration was an important part of the school’s observance of Black History Month. “Black hair is our crown, and I want people to listen when you’re able to express what’s special about your culture,” Moore said. “Back during slavery, Sundays were the only day where they could wear head wraps, so that’s why they’re so colorful and vibrant. I remember my mom and my grandma wearing them, and I passed the tradition down to my daughters. I want students to learn more about Black culture. To embrace it. I feel like when people don’t understand, they shy away from it. I have a student from Dubai, and she would always tell me about the beautiful head-wraps her mother made, but she was scared to wear them here! She came to McCallum as a sophomore, and now, two years later, as a senior, she’s finally wearing them. The more we educate people, the more we feel comfortable. Any time we get an opportunity to share, it helps. I’ve worked at places where we didn’t do anything for Black History Month, and I feel that it’s important to have administrative support, like what we have from Mr. Baxa. Cultural literacy is so valuable. When people are exposed to new environments, they feel more comfortable, because that’s how the world really is.” Photo by Beatrix Lozach.Protesters participate in a pro-Isreal rally in downtown Austin on Oct 15, just eight days after the Palestinian militant group Hamas launched 5,000 rockets into Israeli territory. Hamas claimed responsibility for the attack, stating it was retaliation for generations of Palestinian subjugation under Israel. Photo by Beatrix Lozach.SPREADING THE JOY: Sophomore Chim Becker poses with sophomores Cozbi Sims and Lou Davidson while manning a table at the Hispanic Heritage treat day during lunch of Sept 28. Becker is a part of the Students of Color Club, who put together the activity to raise money for their club. “It [the stand] was really fun because McCallum has a lot of Latino kids,” Becker said. “And I think it was nice that I could share the stuff that I usually just have at home with people who have never tried it before.” Becker recognizes the importance of celebrating Hispanic heritage at Mac. “I think it’s important to celebrate,” Becker said. “Because our culture is awesome and super cool, and everybody should be able to learn about other cultures of the world.” Photo by Beatrix Lozach.Protesters participate in a pro-Palestine rally in downtown Austin on Oct. 15 just a week and a day after the militant group Hamas launched a terrorist attack on Israel. In the week following the attack and prior to the rally, Israel conducted Operation Phoenix, in which Israeli forces deluged the Gaza Strip with 6,000 bombs in six days, depriving the Gaza region of accessible, clean water and resulting in the deaths of 4,600 Gazans. The attacks that first week also left 14,200 injured, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry. Photo by Beatrix Lozach.
