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
WISHFUL WINDOW SHOPPING: Senior Mia Plemons observes the displays in the MAC during the 5x7 gallery night. Although not a member herself, Plemons feels a connection to the program through her friends and peers. “I have a lot of friends in art,” Plemons said. “And I’ve seen a lot of their work and it’s all really nice and beautiful, and I really enjoy seeing some of the nice pieces people have made.” Plemons didn’t manage to secure a piece of her own, but left impressed by all the ones she saw. “I didn’t [have a favorite], every piece of art I saw was just absolutely breathtaking,” Plemons said. “I think they should definitely do more things like this in the future. I think it’s definitely great for people in the art program to get their art out there and getting experience with making things that people buy.” Caption by Noah Braun. Photo by Lilah Lavigne.

Limited size, unlimited possibilities

Noah Braun, Shila Gill, Carlo Hinsdale, Evelyn Jenkins, Lilah Lavigne, Sophia Manos, Tallulah McAuliffe, Mira Patel, Priya Thoppil, Camilla Vandegrift, and Wren Vanderford
December 10, 2024
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

Noah Braun, Carlo Hinsdale, Delaney Lavelle, Beatrix Lozach, Chloe Lewcock, Riley Pita, Maya Tackett, Priya Thoppil, Nate Williams, and Josie Mullan
December 3, 2024

After four years on varsity, more than 1,200 kills, senior eyes next chapter of her volleyball career

Julia Copas and Callen Romell
November 28, 2024
For Margaret Dismukes Massad, the owner of Peter Pan Mini Golf and a McCallum graduate, the importance of Peter Pan Mini Golf goes beyond saving the business. As a child, some of her happiest memories are of observing her father, Glenn Dismukes, create the sculptures that still stand today at Peter Pan Mini-Golf in her backyard. “My favorite memories are just of my dad carving the figures,” Massad said. “We were the only kids with a dinosaur in the backyard.”

Keep Austin putting!

Elizabeth Nation, staff reporter
November 13, 2024
AS EASY AS PB&J: At the blindfold sandwich-making station, senior Zane Wiggins and Kai Talebi attempt to make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. The activity allowed students to experience the mundane task without sight. Wiggins found that the simple activity turned into a challenge in almost every aspect of the process. "It was pretty rough," he said. "My bread wasn’t put together properly, and I put my jelly right next to my plate and not on the plate, it was really difficult. I was expecting it to be easier than it was cause I'd made sandwiches all my life, and I thought 'I can do this from muscle memory,' but it was a lot harder than I thought, and it makes you not take your sight for granted. Access to your sight makes things so much easier." Since students participating are used to having full sight, it was difficult to adapt to the sudden loss of a sense. "I had to kind of guess where things were and the plate was moving a lot," he said. "Every time I would reach for the plate it would be in a different location, so I kind of had to feel around for everything." Along with that, Wiggins had to work together with Talebi to communicate to communicate which ingredient he needed next. "I had to share the peanut butter and the jelly with Kai, so we had to coordinate with each other on who gets what first," he said. "I knew Kai was right next to me, but it was hard to know where her hands were. We had to find each other's arm and make our way up to pass the ingredients." Caption by Lillian Gray.

Learning to see without sight

Lillian Gray and Wren Vanderford
November 12, 2024

Lentz reflects on successful season, looks forward

Julia Copas and Callen Romell
November 8, 2024
ONE LAST BATTLE CRY: Seniors Joe Colaleo and Theo Northcutt dressed as Mario and Waluigi cheer hard as they win their last senior battle cry. “I was very excited and happy because we had just won,” Colaleo said. “Now that I look back on it, it feels a little sad knowing I can’t go to another one.” Colaleo said although the moment was bittersweet, it’s also nice to know other things in life are coming up. Colaleo and his two friends said they dressed as Mario characters because it was a simple and fun costume idea. “I decided on the costume because it’s so iconic and recognizable,” Colaleo said. Caption by Josie Linton.

Students, faculty convene campus costume party

Julia Copas, Josie Linton, Sienna Martens, Katie Martin, Harper Maxwell, Elizabeth Nation, Mira Patel, Eva Sanchez, and Wren Vanderford
November 5, 2024
A CELEBRATION OF HISPANIC HERITAGE: Ballet Folklórico dancers Valeria Alcauter Robles (red), Carley Castro-Seiler (turquoise), Abi Peacock (black), Shirel Behar (green) and Mailyn Gil (periwinkle) perform this past weekend at the AISD Performing Arts Center, competing in AISD’s Fiesta for Hispanic Heritage Month. Gil has been a part of the club since her freshman year. Upon joining the group she had no idea what it was, but was inclined to join due to influences of her grandfather. “I joined because my grandfather loved the traditional dances and that it showcased all regions,” Gil said. “I wanted to honor him in a way, as well as learn more about my culture.” Competing in a small group ensemble during the Fiesta, Gil felt that the members as well as herself were very composed and performed their routine smoothly. “We were very comfortable in our pieces, enough to just get on stage and do what we did, and have fun,” Gil said. “The only difference between this performance and the past was that we had judges this time, so it was a little nerve wrecking since it was a competition.” Groups from different schools competed in a variety of categories, some being soloists, music groups, and bands. The groups each performed their pieces, and then the judges took 15 minutes at the end to go over scoring before they announced the winners. Gil said that even though the club did not win, they felt proud of their performance. “We were very positive and respectful, and even though we didn’t win we felt proud of our accomplishments,” Gil said. “I was proud of our newcomers because they learned everything so quickly and got the hang of it.” Caption by Priya Thoppil.

From the 15th to the 15th, nothing but food, festivities, fun, family, fellowship

Noah Braun, Carlo Hinsdale, Evelyn Jenkins, Sophia Manos, Maggie Mass, Tallulah McAuliffe, Piper Norfolk, Sofia Saucedo, Priya Thoppil, and Camilla Vandegrift
October 22, 2024
The change in the auto admit threshold looms over potential Class of 2026 UT applicants who meet the current threshold (top 6%) but not the new one (top 5%).

UT to limit automatic admissions rate to Top 5%

Daniela Di-Capua, staff reporter
October 15, 2024

Day of Dance debuts at Austin ISD PAC

Shayla Allen, Shila Gill, Lillian Gray, Josie Linton, Beatrix Lozach, Elizabeth Nation, Josie Linton, Beatrix Lozach, Vera Petrosky, Callen Romell, Eva Sanchez, Maya Tackett, David Winter, and Abigail Wood
October 8, 2024
The freshman A players who were on the court celebrate the last point of the Knights victory over Connally to start the Knight Freshman Tournament. After winning the first set, the Knights fell behind by 11 points in the second set before roaring back to complete the sweep of the Cougars. The Knights would go on to run the table defeating Manor Tech, St. Andrew's, LASA and Bowie to win the freshman tournament that McCallum Volleyball hosts for the first time ever.

Freshman A wins campus tournament, makes history

Daniela Di-Capua, Carson Duncan, Josie Linton, Sophia Manos, Sienna Martens, Josie Mullan, Elizabeth Nation, Sofia Saucedo, Maya Tackett, Priya Thoppil, Jasper Williams, and Dave Winter
October 5, 2024

Robinson talks about his past, present, future

Julia Copas and Callen Romell
October 4, 2024
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