NSPA Portfolio of the Year winner Lucy Marco, Multimedia Journalist of the Year, honorable mention The final piece in my portfolio is a grid template display of all the students that made the cut for...

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I'll admit that being a co-online editor in chief for two years and a writer and reporter for The Shield was the most challenging endeavor I have ever taken on. I interviewed for the co-online editor position...

The Fine Arts Academy refused to go quietly into that long summer vacation night. Instead, both the McCallum Arts Center and the Fine Arts Building Theater were booked all weekend long. The choir...

Clutching a carbon fiber pole, she sprints down the field until she suddenly stabs the pole into a box at just the right angle and acceleration to fling herself over an 11-foot high crossbar without touching...

After a thorough review of your application for admission to [insert school here], the Committee of Admission has, with regret, made a final decision not to offer you a place in the Class of 2026. Maybe...

As she stands tall with a mallet in each hand, waiting for her cue to start playing her steel drum, junior Sabine Collins sports her red and yellow 2018 Special Olympics jacket. She doesn’t walk into...

English teacher Daniel Mayers places his hand over his heart to thank the crowd for making him feel special and appreciated. He said that much of his concert experience was a blur. “I thought, 'Wow this...

Dozens of students gathered around the outdoor stage during lunch the Thursday before Spring Break to hear live student band music, eat snacks, donate to Refugee Services of Texas and honor Mr. Myers during...

Music pounded throughout the MAC on Sunday night as months of work by student designers came to fruition in the annual fashion show. This year's theme was “Albums,” and each line showcased by student...

Tracy Atoo shoots a contested layup against Anderson on Dec. 10, 2021.

Senior Veronica Britton loves nature. She gardens, hikes, does yoga in the park, works on climate action, runs a plant Instagram account and is a hiking-sandal enthusiast. She also happens to love interacting...

Last Thursday, MacTheatre opened Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat on the McCallum Arts Center stage. “I feel like the show is going amazing,” junior Savanah Chavarria said. “I’m...

McCallum earned first place with a total of 112 points, nearly double the second-place score, in the National Scholastic Press Association 'Clips and Clicks' fall competition, for works in broadcast, design,...

Nov. 18, 2021 Although McCallum’s relative lack of renovations since it first opened for business in 1953 does mean the building has infrastructural issues, it also means that the nature and scenery...

The faculty voted Ms. Sorto the 2022 Teacher of the Year. The other finalists identified by the faculty were English department chair Diana Adamson and Spanish teacher and head boys varsity basketball...

The McCallum Youth Dance Company broke ground on "Breaking Ground" Friday night with the first of two 7 p.m. winter concert performances at the Austin ISD Performing Arts Center. The second performance...

Standardized admissions tests reward those who can afford the resources to maximize their scores, which makes the tests inherently inequitable.

2021 was a year of first for MacJournalism in the field of broadcast journalism.  For the first time we created broadcast stories that placed in the NSPA Broadcast Story of the Year competition, and we...

In the past few years, you may have noticed an increase in the popularity of secondhand clothing. From local vintage shops to Goodwill and Savers to online shops like eBay and Depop, there’s no question...

Nothing rings in the holiday season at McCallum more than season musical performed by the Mac Fine Arts Academy music programs. This year's performance took on added meaning after such festive events,...

“You are so loved!” “It’s not your fault!” “We believe you!” Amidst a crowd of hundreds of participating students, shouts like these could be heard in response to victims of sexual...

"My GPA is only a 4.1 right now, I really need to improve it this year.” While walking in the hallways, I heard these words muttered by a junior to her friend in front of me. My stomach did a backflip...

If you look only at the bottom line, Pink Week 2021 was an unqualified success. The fundraiser for the Breast Cancer Resource Center of Austin raised more than $2,000, the highest total since Cowles brought...

For a whole year, the band never heard a full audience clapping after their performance or the rich sound of their harmonies blending. As they resume normal marching band practices, the excitement and...

Ben Polega might be a little fish in a big pond, but at least he has a big furry companion at his side.   “I’m planning on bringing a white lab into campus coming soon -- coming attraction: Friday!” Freshman...

The cheer team, the Blue Brigade and the trainers made the just over 100-mile trip to Kerrville on Friday night to witness the football team rally in the second half to secure a 23-15 road victory over...

MacTheatre took a dive into the pineapple under the sea in their opening production of The SpongeBob Musical.  Director Josh Denning saw the overall vision of the musical from casting the actors, to...

Aug. 19 was World Photography Day. Inspired by a National Geographic Instagram series in which photographers selected a favorite photo by a peer, we asked our staff to pick a favorite photo from the MacJ...

The Taco Shack trophy has come back to Mac. After losing their sophomore year and their junior year, the football class of 2022 led the Knights to a 14-13 victory over the Anderson Trojans on Thursday...

The value of human interaction has completely changed over the past year and a half. Some people rejoice as we go back into in-person school, surprised by how energized they feel surrounded by their...

The Mac Band took a step toward their 2021-2022 competition season last Friday on the McCallum blacktop, premiering their UIL show at Bandapalooza for parents, students and alumni. Their marching show...

A water fountain erupted into flames in the McCallum field house weight room on Thursday July 15, the result of an electrical malfunction. Luckily, a passing neighbor quickly saw the smoke and alerted...

Since going virtual in March of 2020, McCallum has finally welcomed back the full student body to an in-person education experience. Between four classes, two of which had not attended Mac in-person before,...

When the McCallum Youth Dance Company took to the McCallum Arts Center stage on opening night, it was the first time they had performed together on that stage in more than a year. Why would a Fine Arts...

UPDATE: This story has been updated on Saturday May 8 to show that after Friday's developments, Senate Bill 29 is much more likely to reach the House floor. On April 15, the Texas Senate passed Senate...

After months of strategic planning, the student council members and senior class sponsor Amy Smith put together the first, and hopefully last, COVID-safe prom on May 1. Prom night took place at Stubbs...

After not having a spring show in 2020 and after a 2020-2021 campaign that director Nancy Searle said was often characterized by frustrations, disappointments and cancellations, the Blue Brigade ended...

For students and teachers alike, the past 13 months have posed continuous challenges as we adjusted to and grew weary of our isolated and remote way of living and learning. For many teachers, their jobs...

IN FULL SWING: At McCallum's joint orchestra, band and choir performance of Carmina Burana in 2019, Kashdan conducts a movement of the cantana. This show sits at the top of Kashdan's favorite Mac performance...

Performers graced the newly-built outdoor stage for the first time with the McCallum musical Urinetown, rehearsed and performed entirely during the pandemic. The show ran from March 4 to March 7 and...

Part-time jobs were hard enough to balance with school before the pandemic. Now working students are putting their health at risk while also finding themselves responsible for protecting the health of...

As a teenager, I was told that COVID for me would be practically symptomless, but I can tell you now, that was not the case. Although I was never near the brink of death, there were times when it felt...

I didn't suffer the direct symptoms of the virus. Far worse, the virus triggered a life-threatening inflammation of multiple organs in my body.

The regional level of the Visual Arts Scholastic Event named 14 works from Mac visual artists as state qualifiers. Only 52 pieces from McCallum's region advanced to state level competition, and of that...

The swim team overcame some tough competition and an array of pandemic-related meet changes to post one of the best showings in team history at the UIL Region VII- 5A High School Swimming Championships...

Madi Baylor has been a swimmer for practically her whole life. It's no wonder then how much she has been shaped by the sport. Competitive swimming has taught her time management, a strong work ethic and...

Thanks to a new grant from the Lowe’s Heroes program, the outdoor stage at McCallum has gone from being a hopeful goal to a concrete reality. After the second meeting between the parents working on...

When I was a little girl, I used to build homes, wedding venues, schools, campgrounds, you name it, for the fairies at my Grandma’s house. After nearly 11 years of reveling in the fairy magic, writing...

For Carey West, successfully teaching her ceramics and sculpture classes virtually has taken a “herculean effort.” Not being able to walk around her studio, assisting students while they throw pots...

We had so much fun and got such a terrific response from our first First-Week-of-School gallery that we decided to do an encore for this week's #TuesdayTop10. We hope you enjoy viewing it as much as we...

You may have heard that the pandemic has been good for the environment, cleaning up the canals in Venice as one example and basically allowing the Earth to heal while the humans are all cooped up indoors....

For most of us, the coronavirus quarantine means a shuttered school, incredibly limited human interaction, and staying locked inside all day. But for junior Kenta Asazu, this pandemic meant crossing the...

Teenagers these days, so lazy, not a care in the world. Well, senior Sabri Amrani-Khaldi proves that stereotype to be doubly false. He sure isn’t lazy, and he cares a great deal about the world. He’s...

Jan. 28, 2020, at 10:03 p.m., this world met Cedric. With a pearly beige shell, big black eyes and long, luscious locks of vermilion, this egg will be my “baby” for the next week. For this week I’m...

Looking for a lifelong sport with long term benefits and ongoing challenges? Then give golf a swing. Even though practice is just beginning, the 2019-20 McCallum Knights golf team is off to a good start. “This...

It’s 5 o’clock on a Tuesday afternoon, and after a long day of school, you’re ready to chow down on some snacks. So you head over to the garden and grab a handful of kale and spinach. Not exactly...

Oxford saddle shoes? Check. Obnoxious skirts with petticoats and shirts buttoned all the way to the top? Yep. Never enough pearls and rhinestones? Yes ma’am. Ridiculously quaffed hair? Got it. If...

Every day, the Austin Independent School District feeds around 80,000 students. The process of feeding that many people is more complicated than Julia Child’s recipe for Boeuf Bourguignon and involves...

What’s something you can’t live without? OK yes, water, food, air, the essentials. But what about something you always carry with you? The first thing you wake up to in the morning? Or the last thing...

Four of the seven Mac outstanding performers at the Texas State Solo and Ensemble competition June 1 at UT were orchestra students. Orchestra director Ricky Pringle said it's rare for judges to name...

RAIDERS EDGE GIRLS VARSITY BY ONE POINT: The girls varsity basketball team lost a nailbiter on the road at Reagan Friday night by a final score of 30-29. The Knights hope to reverse their fortunes on Tuesday...

Forty-nine long years. That's about 17,885 days since McCallum’s Richard Whisennand began teaching. Whisennand or “Mr. Whiz” started teaching in 1969 but first came to McCallum in 1985, where...

VICIOUS VIOLAS: The viola section picks up the melody during the McCallum Orchestra’s winter performance, with Danali Jah, very concentrated on his part. The concert featured classical pieces as well...

VICIOUS VIOLAS: The viola section picks up the melody during the McCallum Orchestra’s winter performance, with Danali Jah, very concentrated on his part. The concert featured classical pieces as well...

ALL ABOUT THE ANGLE: First chair violinist, Ian Stripling, puts everything into his solo on Bach’s Double Violin Concerto in D Minor, while Anishka Wilner waits for her cue. After months and months of...