Helen Martin, staff reporter
Helen Martin is a senior at McCallum, four-year veteran of the MacJ program and a third-year Shield staffer. Her favorite newspaper stories to write are profiles of all the interesting people at McCallum! In addition to newspaper, Martin is also on the Mac soccer team, a member of PALS and in Link Crew. In her free time, Martin enjoys playing with her dog, baking, reading and listening to music.
![A TURNING POINT IN BB SEASON: While Blue Brigade typically focuses on the spirited pom routines and kick lines at football games, according to sophomore Chloe Seckar-Martinez, the team’s Spring Show provides a unique opportunity for them to tune into a different style of dance. Seckar-Martinez takes the stage during the team’s contemporary dance “Turning Tables.”
The dance, since it differed from normal Blue Brigade style, was especially rewarding to perform and see succeed according to Seckar-Martinez.
“It’s like one of our only dances where we’re really more into the emotional side of it,” Seckar-Martinez said. “It was almost our first run to be able to just see how much our hard work had paid off.”
For Seckar-Martinez, the dance was especially unique because it was the second to last time she would be performing with seniors, and that moment would be memorable.
“It was meaningful because our seniors were able to have this show without feeling really sad,” Seckar-Martinez said. “This was our chance to do it [perform] with not as necessarily high of emotions since we didn’t know we were going to be able to dance it again.”
The contemporary dance was choreographed by assistant director Jamie Friedman. Her addition to the team was new this year, so the dance provided a special element for Blue Brigade in knowing how much she worked at improving the team, according to Seckar-Martinez.
“This was the first dance that we ever got choreographed by our assistant director for the first time, so that was really special,” Seckar-Martinez said. “To be able to do one of her pieces, especially at the show, since this is her first year was something very meaningful.
Seckar-Martinez said the dance created an emotional connection amongst those who performed it, given the emotions that came with it, and the amount of work that went into perfecting it for the stage.
“It was a very meaningful dance, and It was our chance to just have a lot of fun with it and just see what we can show the audience for the first time,” Seckar-Martinez said. “It may be something that no one’s heard of, or that no one’s seen.”
Caption by Chloe Lewcock.](https://macshieldonline.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/53683630702_5e1b7c5f85_o-1-e1714535632369-1200x777.jpg)
![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 it'd be really fun. We didn’t actually think that we'd 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 we're killing people on stage. My character actually didn't kill anyone on stage, but it was fun watching everyone else do it. Because the looks on people's 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.
“I've never had to do it before, but I think I'm 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.](https://macshieldonline.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/53376771133_081b8af1e3_o-1200x676.jpg)
![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.](https://macshieldonline.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/53289927433_5196a69d91_o-1-1200x675.jpg)
![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.](https://macshieldonline.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/53277180411_77436c5082_o-1200x675.jpg)
![PINK FOR PROM: Seniors Vaughn Vandegrift, Peter Wiseman, Max Yehaskel and Alex Gold sing and dance their hearts out at Saturday’s “Under the Knight Sky” prom. Yehaskel and Wiseman stood out in the sea of black and navy suits as the pair opted for bright pink with contrasting, yet coordinating, shirts and ties. While the style decision seemed big to onlookers, for Yehaskel it was a simple choice.
“I like pink, it’s a solid color,” he said. “It almost melted when I ironed it actually. It’s 100% polyester, and I got it from Kohl’s.”
Yehaskel enjoyed prom overall, except when it came to the royalty announcement.
“Someone stole prom queen from me,” he joked. “It was very tragic. But other than that, it was fun.”
As prom marks another milestone at the end of senior year, Yehaskel is ready to sit back, relax and enjoy his last few weeks as a Knight.
“My grades don’t matter anymore [and] after AP tests I’m done,” Yehaskel said. “I’m going to go nuts, and I’m going to start cooking more.”
Caption by Francie Wilhelm.](https://macshieldonline.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/g_m_0458_52847345379_o-900x600.jpg)
![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)
![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)
![Sophomore Gabi Alfarache (left) mid-bout. Having a good coach is important to success, and Alfrache has just that. Coming from Yale University to central Texas, Michael Kim became another father figure for Alfarache, “My ultimate role model is my coach [Kim]. He came from Korea to the United States when he was a teenager, and didn’t start fencing until college. He’s coached world champions, olympians, and even left his coaching position at Yale University to come coach in Texas. I really do think of him as my second father.”](https://macshieldonline.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/586587E8-F4BE-4135-9BAA-0FD8F0205275-1-e1638232353826-900x550.jpeg)
