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
LOVELY RITA: Senior designer Rita Hagerty was the lucky winner of the 2025 show. Hagerty participated in the show for her second year. “Rita has incredible dedication and her eye for detail is incredible," one of Hagerty's designer peers said. "I'm glad her hard work paid off.” Each designer put countless hours into the show, sacrificing sleep and free time for the opportunity to share their work with the community. For some of these young designers it may have been their first time participating, some say that the hardest part was finding the time to dedicate to the competition. “Of course, designing the clothes was challenging, but that's what I was expecting," first-year sophomore designer Tallulah McAuliffe said. "It was really hard to find the time to put it all together though. Between school, homework and friends. The show was always following me.” Caption by Isa Truan.

Braving the ‘Wilderness’ together

JoJo Barnard, Delaney Lavelle, Sienna Martens, Sophia Manos, Maggie Mass, Elizabeth Nation, Callen Romell, Maya Tackett, Priya Thoppil, Isa Truan, Camilla Vandegrift, Nate Williams, and Harriet Zettner
March 18, 2025
USING MUCH the same skills in gymnastics as he did for the cheerleader tryouts, Mark Pourmanafzadeh does a "Texas T" for the audience.

Powerful gymnasts will return next year

David Woodruff, co-sports editor
March 13, 2025
Mixing, match to patterns

Mixing, match to patterns

Georgia Zegub, staff reporter
February 28, 2025
Among the attendees at the PTA rally on Monday there were lots of proud parents, advocating for their students' schools and giving their children a voice. Two parents and PTA members, Jenny Rasco and Ashley Baker, were fighting for Timbercreek Elementary in Lewisville ISD.  “We wanted to advocate for our kids because they deserve better,” Rasco said. “We’re pushing for raising the basic allotment for students, and to make sure that Gov. Abbott knows that we don’t want the vouchers.”  Lots of parents view the vouchers to be harmful, not just within their inner circles but across the state.  “For me personally I don’t think my kids will be affected directly; however, vouchers don’t work for all the kids in Texas,” Rasco said. “Not every parent can come out here and advocate for that, and someone should, which is why we’re here. This shouldn’t be a political issue, it should be about the kids. It shouldn't be a right side or left side issue, just wanting the best for the future of our Texas kids.”  Baker and Rasco were both proud of how many people showed up to spread the word, just like them, and seeing government officials alongside them.  “The speakers were great, especially here in front of the Capitol,” Rasco said. “I’m happily relieved that all of the government isn’t supporting these vouchers we’re fighting against. It’s very comforting to know that there are people fighting with us. There’s a lot of people here, and it was a great turnout.”  Caption by Wren Vanderford. Reporting by Mira Patel and Sofia Saucedo.

Public school advocates descend on Capitol demanding more funding and assailing proposed vouchers

Lillian Gray and Wren Vanderford
February 26, 2025
THE FINAL SHOT: For senior Jaiden Booe Senior Knight was the single best moment of the entire district season. After nearly finishing undefeated the win against LASA, and the secured spot in the first round of UIL playoffs summed up Booe’s love for basketball all in one game. “[My favorite thing about playing] is making memories with the team because we are all about to graduate,” Booe said. “Just playing, having fun with the guys knowing it's the last home game at McCallum.” For Booe the pre-game ritual to the teams' basketball games was another highlight during his years on the team. “My favorite thing about playing is the pre-game shooting with my teammates in the back gym,” Booe said. “We practiced hard and made sure to have fun.” For Booe basketball ends in high school, however he plans on continuing his athletic endeavors at Kilgore College for football. Caption by Chloe Lewcock. Photo by Julia Copas

Senior Knights get royal sendoff

Shila Gill, Chloe Lewcock, Beatrix Lozach, Arwen Pelletier, Maya Tackett, Callen Romell, Fletcher Vandegrift, Nate Williams, and Josie Mullan
February 19, 2025
A NEW back was given to the deuce. "The signing of the Declaration of Independence" is the name of the painting on the rear. The front, however, is almost the same as ten years ago.

New money in circulation

unknown staffer
February 13, 2025
REACHING FOR THE STARS: Junior Zane Shieh sings an original song while playing the guitar with his band, Spiral Maze, at the Battle of the Bands last Thursday. He sings the long note of his band’s original song entitled “Reach,” a part of a new album coming soon. “This is my second year doing Battle of the Bands and with Spiral Maze,” Shieh said. “We had a pretty tight set, but I think it went really well, and the crowd liked us a good bit.” Shieh said his excitement toward playing at the Battle of the Bands this year was being able to showcase his band’s new music. “My favorite part was performing our new song, and playing for a bunch of my friends was super sick,” Shieh said. “It was stressful at first—like a little nervous—but it all cleared up right after the first song, and the atmosphere was very chill.” While it was not his band’s first time performing in front of a crowd, Shieh said he loves playing music at his own school and performing original music. “We’ve played at the Austin Rodeo two times and a few restaurants like Tamale House and Freddo’s ATX,” Shieh said. Shieh and his band will be back performing at school at the upcoming first annual McCallum Art Party fundraiser on Feb. 22. Caption by Nate Williams.

Battle of the Bands brings Mac musicians together

Shila Gill, Lillian Gray, Maggie Mass, Sophia Manos, Josie Mullan, Callen Romell, Sofia Saucedo, Priya Thoppil, Camilla Vandegrift, Wren Vanderford, and Nate Williams
February 12, 2025
Graphic of 3 highly populated districts ranked by average high school teacher salary per data from Dallas ISD and teacher.org. Graphic by Beatrix Lozach.

Mac faculty on Prop A

Beatrix Lozach, staff reporter
February 5, 2025
Failure of Democrats to appeal to immigrant voters cost them the election

Failure of Democrats to appeal to immigrant voters cost them the election

Beatrix Lozach, staff reporter
January 29, 2025
Outside the Trump inauguration rally at the Capitol One Arena, a fan celebrates with flags surrounding her, the day before the Inauguration. This photo was taken three hours before the rally actually began, so this person had already been waiting a long time, much of it in the rain. Photo accessed on the Flickr account of Victoria Pickering. Reposted here under a creative commons license.

Amid political tension, Donald Trump inaugurated for his second term

Priya Thoppil, news editor
January 23, 2025
Author Lisa Lerer, co-author of The Fall of Roe: The Rise of New America, expressed concern about the connection she has seen between efforts to restrict abortion access and other health-care subjects like in-vitro fertilization and gender-affirming care. Photo by Sofia Saucedo.

How will Republican control of White House, Congress affect abortion access?

Sofia Saucedo, social media specialist
January 14, 2025
Actor Jimmy Stewart, the star of black-and-white classics like Mr. Smith Goes to Washington and It's a Wonderful Life though colorizing Bedford Falls would be worse than it becoming Pottersville. Photo accessed on the JM L Flickr account. Reposted here under the terms of a creative commons license.

Computer adds color to movies

Michelle Banks, staff reporter
January 2, 2025
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