Alice Scott, co-editor-in-chief
Alice Scott is a junior in her third year on the Shield staff. Along with Evie Barnard, she’s serving as on of this year’s Co-Editors in Chief. Before joining the Shield, she managed the broadcast program KBTV at Kealing Middle School. Alice is excited to see the staff come together to create new stories and content for the year, and also enjoys the community that the newspaper provides. Outside of newspaper, Scott is a performance theater major who also enjoys film photography and spending time with friends.
![SUNNY CALIFORNIA: Principal Nichole Griffith poses with her wife Brenda and son Langston at the golden gate bridge in San Francisco.
For Griffith, Thanksgiving break is perfectly timed.
“Thanksgiving comes at just the right time every year when we all really need a mental break from school, and this year I was able to completely forget that I was a high school principal and just be on vacation with my family. I didn’t check my email which I needed to do. It was a nice refresher.
In their time in California, the group, along with Griffith’s mother, saw sights such as Alcatraz, took a cable car ride, rode a train and visited the science museum.
“San Francisco is a fun place to be but it is also a place that is special to our family,” Griffith said. “My wife lived there and really loves it. I always joke that she left her heart there and we have to go pick it up every once and a while.”
Most excited for the trip was Langston.
“[My son] loves travel. He gets so excited. He is a definite travel bug, which I don’t know where he gets that. But he loves travel, loves being around his grandparents. It was really great.”
The young adventurer got to lean his head out the window on the train, learn cards with his grandmother and explore all of the sea creatures at the aquarium.
Griffith was also thankful to miss the rainy weather in Austin.
“The weather was beautiful [in San Francisco],” Griffith said. “We missed all the rain in Texas. By the time we got back on Saturday it had passed. But it was sunny in San Francisco and super clear. We never didn’t have these beautiful expanses of light.”
Photo courtesy of Nichole Griffith. Reporting by Morgan Eye.](https://macshieldonline.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/FullSizeRender-900x675.jpeg)
![ROLL WITH THE PUNCHES: Seniors Mira Wagner and Tyler Mankinen duke it out during the first moments of the final round at the Cap City Marching Competition. The 2022 marching show “Seeing Stars” gets its name from its boxing theme, and according to Wagner, who represents the woodwinds section, the early fight scene “definitely sets the tone.”
“Right off the bat you see two people fighting so you know that this show is full of energy,” Wagner said.” “Even throughout the show the woodwinds and brass are ‘competing’ against each other which goes with the boxing theme.”
Mankinen, who represents the brass section, believes the fight scene is a crucial element in the marching show.
“[The fight scene] usually gets the crowd pumped up and draws the attention of the audience into the show,” Mankinen said. “The show is super unique and seeing the crowd react to an unconventional element of a marching show is really exciting.”
Caption and photo by Morgan Eye.](https://macshieldonline.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/img_5736_52385662511_o-900x600.jpg)
![SENIOR SEASON: Decked out in their jerseys, senior Parker Mitchell takes a photo of senior Sophia Kramer and friends before the first day of school in the senior parking lot. The night before, the class of ‘23 decorated their cars to show their senior pride going into their last year of high school. “It’s tradition for seniors to come and take [pictures] the morning before the first day of school,” Kramer said. “Being able to share that memory together is definitely bittersweet. I’m super excited for this year but I am anticipating all the lasts.” Reporting by Alice Scott.](https://macshieldonline.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/52288662181_5a1d0b7ef8_o-900x438.jpg)
![FIVE-STAR CAPTAIN: In One Night Only, the opening number of the spring show on Saturday night, Blue Brigade captain Charli Cevallos is front and center setting the mood and tempo for the number and entire show. Cevallos said the opening number of the spring show is always upbeat and fun and this year’s edition was no exception. Cevallos said she remembers the moment as one of pure adrenaline. “Since opener is the first dance, the excitement is running high and it’s such a great feeling to be performing our hard work for an audience.” As the photo suggests, the team was able to perform the number in sync even though it was a new dance choreographed exclusively for the spring show by first lieutenant Annabel Winter (left) and senior lieutenant Emily Garza. “Opener was our first spring show dance we learned,” Cevallos said, “and it came together super well. … [It was] definitely a team favorite.” Cevallos said her favorite part of the number was the very beginning when Winter (left) woke her up stage left from a deep sleep to start the show. “It’s so fun,” she said, “and the audience loved it.” For the first time in three years, that audience was in the MAC and at full capacity without pandemic restrictions.](https://macshieldonline.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/dsc04748_52025488192_o-900x600.jpg)
![JUMPING AROUND : As sophomore Finn Griffith (Joseph) performs “Joseph’s Coat,” Marshall Clifton (front and center) plays Gad, one of Joseph’s brothers. who holds up the coat during the song. Clifton’s role as a swing was to step in to perform if any actors were missing. “Getting this opportunity to hop in and out of different roles was amazing,” Clifton said. Joseph was his third musical. “I’m pretty new to musical theatre,” they said. ”While this was definitely a lot of work, I am so glad I [had] this opportunity.” Reporting by Cassidy Levin.](https://macshieldonline.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/51849012688_e19245d93d_c.jpg)
![CROWDSOURCING: Arwen Frederiksen (far left) walks down the hallway before school starts to re-familiarize themselves with the campus. “[The hallways] were definitely busier than I expected,” Frederiksen said. After almost a year and a half of virtual learning, Frederiksen expresses how they are simply happy to be around other people once again. “I haven’t seen a bunch of my just school friends in forever,” Frederiksen said. “It was great.” Reporting by Alysa Spiro.](https://macshieldonline.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/03-Alysa-900x598.jpg)
