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
FROM THE TRAVIS COUNTY JAIL: Seniors Marshall Clifton, Danielle Todd-Harris and August Krosta perform “Cell Block Tango” from “Chicago.” “Cell Block Tango” is the behind-bars ballad of six women accused of killing their significant others. After singing “Cell Block Tango” with choir friends, Krosta felt inspired to bring the song to Cabaret auditions. “Last year me and a couple of my friends would reenact it because we do a bunch of karaoke stuff in choir,” Krosta said. “I wanted to get all of them together because I thought itd be really fun. We didn’t actually think that wed be able to get in but kind of just wanted to put it all together and see what happens, but he really liked the idea.” Krosta said “Cell Block Tango” stood out in the setlist because of mood and murder. “The mood was different than a lot of the other numbers,” Krosta said. “It just had a different energy because were killing people on stage. My character actually didnt kill anyone on stage, but it was fun watching everyone else do it. Because the looks on peoples faces are like, ‘What in the world is going on right now?’” Junior Sam Kruck was one of the three male dancers “killed” during the performance. During a choreographed fall on the third night, he accidentally broke a chair. Kruck said faking his death was an “interesting” experience. “Ive never had to do it before, but I think Im an expert on it now,” Kruck said. Kruck’s second scene was a ballet number that occurred during Krosta’s French monologue. Krosta worked with a French teacher to learn the lines describing the male character’s disappearance. Krosta said the highlight of performing “Cell Block Tango” was the audience’s enthusiastic reaction. “As we finished they [the audience] started like screaming,” Krosta said. “It was super cool to have everyone cheer like that.” Caption by Ingrid Smith.

Choir harmonizes new changes into Cabaret

JoJo Barnard, Naomi Di-Capua, Gaby Esquivel, Shila Gill, Chloe Lewcock, Callen Romell, Lanie Sepehri, Ingrid Smith, and Francie Wilhelm
December 5, 2023
IN THE SPOTLIGHT: Junior Zalie Mann performs “I Love to Cry at Weddings,” an ensemble piece from the fall musical Sweet Charity, to prospective students during the Fine Arts Showcase on Wednesday, Nov. 8. The showcase is a compilation of performances and demonstrations from each fine arts strand offered at McCallum. This show is put on so that prospective students can see if they are interested in joining an academy or major. Sweet Charity originally ran the weekends of Sept. 28 and Oct. 8, but made a comeback for the Fine Arts Showcase. “[Being at the front in the spotlight] is my favorite part of the whole dance, so I was super happy to be on stage performing and smiling at the audience,” Mann said. Mann performed in both the musical theatre performance and dance excerpt “Ethereal,” a contemporary piece choreographed by the new dance director Terrance Carson, in the showcase. With also being a dance ambassador, Mann got to talk about what MAC dance is, her experience and answer any questions the aspiring arts majors and their parents may have. Caption by Maya Tackett.

McCallum shows off award-winning Fine Arts Academy programs to prospective Knights

JoJo Barnard, Gaby Esquivel, Sophie Leung-Lieu, Chloe Lewcock, Aubrey Macedo, Caroline Owen, Lanie Sepehri, Maya Tackett, Priya Thoppil, and Francie Wilhelm
November 28, 2023
MacJ does Boston

MacJ does Boston

Josie Mullan, Alice Scott, Ingrid Smith, and Dave Winter
November 14, 2023
CLEAN WINNERS: For senior William Viner and junior Isa Perez, finding the perfect group costume was an important feat. The duo contemplated a few different options for costumes until finally landing on soap and loofah. Viner took on the loofah role, while Perez dressed as soap, creating the duo costume. “We went to Spirit Halloween to find inspiration for our costume,” Viner said. “We fell in love with soap and loofah instantly.” The two dominated the hallways taking the opportunity to show off their costume to passersby. “We got bubbles to blow while we walked around,” Viner said. “And that tied it all together.” While it wasn’t the original intent to join the costume contest, Viner decided it was a no-brainer to enter. “I loved getting together the little accessories to go along with the costume,” Viner said. “We got matching earrings and headbands.” By entering the contest, the two not only got to show off their custom costumes, but won the award for best group costume. Caption by Chloe Lewcock.

McCallum embraces spooky season traditions

JoJo Barnard, Noah Braun, Naomi Di-Capua, Evelyn Jenkins, Eliza Jensen, Chloe Lewcock, Alice Scott, Lanie Sepehri, Maya Tackett, and Francie Wilhelm
November 7, 2023
KEEPING THE STREAK ALIVE: Senior Edward Bomba rings the bell after the Knights’ victory over Travis on Thursday while quarterbacks junior Luke Dunham and senior Jack McGinnis wait their turns. Bomba, a defensive end, suffered an injury earlier in the season but still supported his team from the sidelines. Even though the Knights have won the last 13 Battle of the Bell games, the Knights still see the Travis game as a rivalry game, and they wanted to keep their streak alive. “Their coach was saying he thought they were going to win, and we couldn’t let that Battle of the Bell 12-year win streak end,” Bomba said. “Their coach told us he wanted to keep [the rivalry game] going even if they went down to 4A. They obviously want another shot at us.” Going into the game, the team had the mentality of this being a rivalry game and that they needed to be prepared to go out and play their hardest. The Travis coach’s statement fueled their desire to win. “We wanted to do what we do best, which is playing more physical than our opponent and starting and finishing the game strong,” Bomba said. Caption by Callen Romell.

Mac wins big against school rivals

JoJo Barnard, Julia Copas, Shila Gill, Chloe Lewcock, Helen Martin, Callen Romell, Alice Scott, Lanie Sepehri, Maya Tackett, Priya Thoppil, and Camilla Vandegrift
October 31, 2023
FOOTLOOSE AT LAST: Senior Asher Kay rocks out on the dance floor at the homecoming dance, put on by Student Council. Since the tradition of a homecoming dance fell out of practice after 2019 due to low attendance rates, this was Kay’s first time attending one in all of his four years. Kay felt that the mystery surrounding what the dance would be like added to his experience. “As a senior it was fun to have at least one homecoming,” Kay said. “Since we had never had one before, and since I haven’t really been to any school dances, I didn’t know what to expect, but when I got there it was cool to see everyone having fun. Hopefully it was a success so they keep doing it and start a new sort of tradition at McCallum.” Though his first and last homecoming dance has passed, Kay hopes the future classes will continue to put on the dance. “I think they should keep doing it because it’s a good opportunity for people who may not be super social to talk to new people and have a fun experience outside of school,” Kay said. “But also, it’s good to keep [doing] it because it seemed to be a fun time for everyone.” Kay enjoyed the dance floor and seeing his peers dressed up in HOCO finery, but noted his favorite part was the photo booth.  “It was fun with my friends to get photos since it was the only HOCO we’ve been to, so we might as well have something to remember it by,” Kay said. Caption by Lanie Sepehri.

Mac marks homecoming with old, new traditions

JoJo Barnard, Chloe Lewcock, Callen Romell, Lanie Sepehri, Francie Wilhelm, Gaby Esquivel, Olivia Dungan, Aubrey Macedo, Katie Martin, Helen Martin, and Evelyn Jenkins
October 24, 2023
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 alliance, 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 its 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.” Caption by JoJo Barnard.

Mac celebrates Hispanic Heritage Month

JoJo Barnard, Shila Gill, Evelyn Jenkins, Chloe Lewcock, Beatrix Lozach, Josie Mullan, and Alice Scott
October 17, 2023
WATER BALLOONS AND SMILES: 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 pallery that day, like Jude, I’ve known since elementary school.” Caption by Chloe Lewcock with reporting by JoJo Barnard.

Pink Week soars to new fund-raising heights

Sutton Banning, JoJo Barnard, Olivia Dungan, Carlo Hinsdale, Chloe Lewcock, Beatrix Lozach, Helen Martin, and Olin Michalovic
October 10, 2023
VICTORIOUS VITTORIO: Senior Henry Mayes (Vittorio) carries senior Sydney Safarik (Charity) home from dinner, marking the beginning of their apartment scene. According to Mayes, this is a turning point in the characters relationships. “The scene prior, Charity pretends to faint in order to get into Vittorio’s arms, hence why I am carrying her in this photo,” Mayes said. “This photo marks the beginning of when Vittorio and Charity begin to learn more about who each other is as individuals.” Mayes particularly enjoyed developing Vittorio as a character because of his complex background. “Creating Vittorio has been a lot of fun,” Mayes said. “He’s a famous Italian actor who grapples with his attachment to his girlfriend, Ursula, when he becomes interested in Charity. Vittorio is highly egotistical and constantly seeks the spotlight.” Caption by Alice Scott.

‘Sweet Charity’ comes to life on stage

JoJo Barnard, Eliza Jensen, Chloe Lewcock, Helen Martin, Callen Romell, Alice Scott, and Priya Thoppil
October 3, 2023
GAME GETS INTENSE: The crowd watches intently as junior co-captain Greta Carlson rears up for a spike during the third set of an intense varsity matchup with Ann Richards last Friday evening. Despite displaying an impressive level of prowess befitting of her position, Carlson and her comrades ultimately took home the first district loss for the varsity girls volleyball team since 2021, Despite the defeat, she is confident that with better coordination, future success is all but assured. “I think we’re fully capable of beating Ann Richards,” Carlson said. “I think that Friday was just an off night for everybody.” Caption by Noah Braun.

A great volleyball night with a sad ending

JoJo Barnard, Noah Braun, Julia Copas, Evelyn Jenkins, Chloe Seckar-Martinez, Priya Thoppil, Camilla Vandegrift, and Francie Wilhelm
September 26, 2023
SCOTTS FREE: At the Fourth Annual McCallum Quinceañera on Saturday in the cafeteria, freshman Adrina Scott dances with her family and friends. “At quinceañeras they have a dance for you with your dad, and then a dance for you and your mom,” Scott said. With two daughters participating, Scott’s parents had to figure out how to split their time between their daughters. “My friend’s parents also have two girls,” Scott said. “Obviously you can’t dance with your dad at the same time as your sister. So, we all kind of just got together and all danced together.” For Scott, the quinceañera was a result of lots of preparation at hard work. “There was a lot of practice that we had to do during lunches and during fit,” Scott said. “Sometimes that would get a little stressful because you know, it’s lunch. You kind of want to hand with friends, but I think it all worked out really well.” Part of the preparations that Scott loved was getting to try on the dresses. “Basically all the dresses that we had were rentals,” Scott said. “We had to go try on the dresses, and it was fun to have that experience to go get the dress and try it on. You just felt so special.” The McCallum Quinceañera is an important memory of Scott’s life. “I think it’s just such a fun tradition in the Hispanic culture,” Scott said. “I got to dance with my family which was special.” Caption by Kate Boyle.

Shield staff nominated for 20 NSPA awards

Evie Barnard, JoJo Barnard, Gergő Major, Caroline Owen, Charlie Partheymuller, Alice Scott, Lanie Sepehri, Ingrid Smith, and Nate Williams
September 19, 2023
That 70th Show (and Tell)

That 70th Show (and Tell)

Julia Copas, staff reporter
September 12, 2023
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