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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

Francie Wilhelm

Francie Wilhelm, co-editor-in-chief

This is senior Francie Wilhelm’s third year on staff and she is so excited to come on as one of the editors-in-chief for the 2023-2024 school year. She’s passionate about writing breaking news stories, web design and Tuesday Top 10s. She never would have expected that journalism would consume hours and hours of her time in high school, but she’s grown to love it and can’t imagine a life without MacJ. One of Wilhelm's proudest moments as a journalist was competing at the journalism UIL area meet and winning an NSPA Online Pacemaker in the same day. 

Wilhelm also is the president of Science Center, a tutor in the Writing, History and Math Centers and an officer for NHS. You can most often find her procrastinating on college applications or listening to music.

All content by Francie Wilhelm
Senior captains Esme Barraz and Sam Shreves with their fellow senior starters Sam Cowles and Lily Hobbs. The quartet has played together since middle school and grown alongside the McCallum girls basketball program.

Finding the Fab Four

Francie Wilhelm, co-editor-in-chief
February 2, 2024
The portable air conditioning unit in Room 130, college and career counselor Camille Nix's classroom. Nix's room first experienced an outage over the summer when she reported back to work.

Air conditioning dysfunction persists

Francie Wilhelm, co-editor-in-chief
September 27, 2023

Francie Wilhelm: NSPA Designer of the Year Portfolio

Francie Wilhelm, co-news editor & co-online managing editor
May 31, 2023
After announcing her departure for Ann Richards at the end of June yesterday, principal Nicole Griffith focused today on celebrating the teachers who made valuable contributions this year, those who enjoyed milestones and those who are leaving McCallum at the end of the year.

Griffith to leave Mac, accepts ‘dream’ job at Ann Richards

Francie Wilhelm, co-news editor & co-online managing editor
May 26, 2023
Lily DaMommio

Lily DaMommio

Francie Wilhelm, co-news editor & co-online managing editor
May 1, 2023
Genesis Ritcherson

Genesis Ritcherson

Francie Wilhelm, co-news editor & co-online managing editor
May 1, 2023
Teagan Boyd

Teagan Boyd

Francie Wilhelm, co-news editor & co-online managing editor
May 1, 2023
An aerial map of Zilker Park with pins marking sites of major renovation proposed in the Zilker Park Vision Plan. For a more in-depth look at the Vision Plan overlayed on the park, visit https://www.designworkshop.com/zilker-park/.

‘Rewild’ or renovate?

Francie Wilhelm, co-news editor & co-online managing editor
April 1, 2023

Francie Wilhelm, online newspaper headline portfolio

Francie Wilhelm, online co-editor in chief
February 18, 2023
While climate change is an issue that affects all global citizens, for Texans, the impacts manifest in many different forms. From snap freezes, to flash floods and heat waves, climate change has made a mark on the weather, environment and day-to-day life that is almost impossible to ignore. Photos by Dave Winter, Ellen Fox and Alysa Spiro.

Climate change impacts Texas

Francie Wilhelm, co-news editor & co-online managing editor
January 22, 2023
Astrology may boil down to generalizations, but the guide of the night sky provides truths to the fans who look for it.

Worse than a Mercury retrograde

Francie Wilhelm, co-news editor & co-online managing editor
January 18, 2023
SOCK IT TO THEM: Sophomore point guard Emy Chen was a force to be reckoned offensively and defensively on Tuesday afternoon at DCG. Chen scored a team-high 22 points on 73 percent shooting and was responsible for a team-high eight steals. The Knights totaled 22 steals as a team in the game.

Knights start new year by caging Cougars at home

Francie Wilhelm, co-online managing editor
January 6, 2023
TxDot's proposed expansion plan would increase I-35 to a 20-lane highway in order to address traffic congestion. Independent organization Rethink35 believes that due to historic data, this plan would do more harm than good for Austin residents, commuters and the city environment at large.

Rethinking I-35

Francie Wilhelm, co-news editor & co-online managing editor
December 1, 2022
On Thursday and Friday, employees at the North Lamar Starbucks, left up the street from McCallum, went on strike as part of the nationwide "Red Day Rebellion" to protest how the corporation has responded to union demands to improve working conditions.

Starbucks workers go on strike

Francie Wilhelm, co-news editor & co-online managing editor
November 18, 2022
Wunz at the varsity tennis 2021 bi-district tournament.

[Photo] Wunz for the win

Camilla Vandegrift, staff reporter
October 16, 2022
GETTING IN THE SPIRIT: On Saturday, Aug. 20, the cheer team gathered at the Domain Northside for a cheer-off against the Anderson cheer squad. Freshman Vivian Medina thought the cheer-off helped prepare her for cheering at the Taco Shack football game. “The cheer-off help me feel out what it would be like to cheer in front of a crowd,” she said. “It helped me overcome some of my nerves and got me excited [for] the game.”

Despite narrowly losing the Domain cheer-off and the football game, Medina felt that this year’s Taco Shack was still a positive learning experience for the cheer team. “I was a little disappointed but I know there’s always next year. We know now what we can work on and what we can improve.” 

New kids on the pyramid

Francie Wilhelm, co-news, co-online managing editor
September 26, 2022
Construction equipment is now an everyday sight in the former fine arts parking lot. The parking lot was fenced off in August in anticipation of construction for a new dance studio, which is being funded by the 2017 bond.

Breaking down the bond

Francie Wilhelm, co-online managing editor, co-news editor
September 10, 2022
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Francie Wilhelm