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
Maggie Mass

Maggie Mass, staff reporter

Maggie Mass is a sophomore and first-year staff reporter. She started working with MacJ last year after taking digital media. Mass’ favorite part of journalism is taking photos. When she's not in Newspaper, Mass likes to spend time with her family, hang out with her friends and travel.

 

All content by Maggie Mass
The varsity team after their 1-0 win against Magnolia High School, which made them area champions.

Girls soccer makes historic 5A playoff run

JoJo Barnard, Shila Gill, Evelyn Jenkins, Chloe Lewcock, Maggie Mass, Maya Tackett, Priya Thoppil, and Francie Wilhelm
April 2, 2024
STUDENT VOICES HEARD: On Wednesday a panel of students held an open Q&A in the library as part of AISD’s Pride week, taking questions from students concerning personal matters, inquiries in the LGBTQIA community, and creating a safe space for students to have their questions answered. Senior Marshall Clifton, the panel’s moderator, was not expecting the large turnout. “I wasn’t expecting much based on our turnout from last year, but I’m happy with what we ended up having,” Clifton said. “I would definitely love to see more awareness and attendance in future years, but I’m really proud of us all.” As Clifton said, the intention of the panel was to raise awareness for the acceptance of the LGBTQIA students at McCallum. The panelists took questions from students wanting to learn more, and were able to answer with personal experiences. Majority of the questions pertained to how teachers and other students can make McCallum a more welcoming space for Queer students. “The attendees were incredibly lovely, and all very clearly wanted to learn,” Clifton said. “They asked some really awesome questions about what it’s like being part of the LGBTQ community at McCallum, and all of our panelists said that they’ve had a much more welcoming time here than where they were previously.” Tasked with answering a variety of questions, the panelists had to phrase their answers so the audience would take away the main points of the discussion. “The overwhelming answer was asking teachers to educate themselves and become more knowledgeable and welcoming to different queer identities,” Clifton said. “The panel did a very good job of answering questions.” Caption by Priya Thoppil.

[Photo] McCallum takes ‘PRIDE’ in LGBTQ community

Shila Gill, Chloe Lewcock, Beatrix Lozach, Priya Thoppil, and Francie Wilhelm
March 26, 2024
President and Vice-President of the McCallum Enviromental Knights club, Hazel Johnson and Ivy Christie, talk plans for the courtyard where their passion project Community garden will go.

Environmental Knights plan community garden

Maggie Mass, staff reporter
March 18, 2024
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[Photo] McCALLUM BLACK HISTORY MONTH ASSEMBLY DETAILS

February 19, 2024
TO THE BEAT OF THEIR OWN DRUM: Senior King Perez plays the drums with his band, Red River Trucking Co. at Thursday’s Battle of the Bands. The band had plans to play “Red River Line” as well as a new song they had been working on, “Road Dog Fever,” but later decided to add “12 Gauge Shotgun” and “Lawbreakin’ Man.” “We chose the first two because they’re newer and we feel like they’ve come together and are a good representation of us now,” Perez said. Perez shared that the band performed well overall and that the audience’s reaction was the best pay off. “My most memorable moment from that night was seeing everyone jumping off the stage and moshing,” he said. “It is always awesome seeing people enjoy our music in that way.” Caption by Gaby Esquivel.

Battle of the Bands offers mosh to be proud of

JoJo Barnard, Julia Copas, Gaby Esquivel, Shila Gill, Evelyn Jenkins, Chloe Lewcock, Helen Martin, Maggie Mass, Caroline Owen, Alice Scott, and Lanie Sepehri
January 24, 2024
Austin will experience the effects of an El Nino weather pattern, downgrading the chances of an icy winter

Forecast calls for a calmer winter overall

Maggie Mass, staff reporter
January 12, 2024
JULY 28—Blue Brigade wrapped up its annual Kiddie Clinic with a performance in the cafeteria on Friday July 28. Split into age groups from kindergarten to eighth grade, campers performed the choreography they learned from their Blue Brigade counselors throughout the week. According to junior lieutenant and former camper Smith Bohls, Kiddie Clinic allows kids of all ages to learn about drill teams, make new friends and learn fun dances. “Watching all of the kids do the dances they learned all week brings me so much happiness because they are all so excited and nervous,” Bohls said. “Their love for dancing is so energizing, and all of the kids look up to us and tell us how much they want to be like us in the future.” While Bohls said Kiddie Clinic was an exercise of patience, she found it rewarding to watch campers fall in love with dancing and make new friends. “The best part of Kiddie Clinic is watching the kids love the dances and tell you that they practiced at home the night before,” Bohls said. “It makes me happy when kids love to dance so much and are so excited to perform for all their parents.” Blue Brigade finished the Friday show with its first performance of “Blue Gray” as the 2023-2024 team. Watching her campers perform with confidence and smiles, Bohls felt inspired to bring all of her energy into the “Blue Gray” performance. “I look forward to it every year and so do the kids,” Bohls said. “Watching them look up to us gives me the motivation to do better on the team.” Caption by Ingrid Smith.

2023: A year in review in photos

JoJo Barnard, Noah Braun, Amaya Collier, Chloe Lewcock, Gergő Major, Maggie Mass, Alice Scott, Lanie Sepehri, Ingrid Smith, Francie Wilhelm, and Dave Winter
January 10, 2024
ETHERIAL CONNECTIONS: While performing for middle school dancers last week, the McCallum youth Dance Company connected with younger dancers. Mac dancers opened the showcase with a piece called “Etherial” which was choreographed by Terrance Carson. Dancers leaped at the chance to form bonds with the Lamar dancers, the ones they may share a locker room with in a few years. Sophomore Corinne Hampton believes that talented dancers such as the Lamar Youth Dance Company dancers should have a group like the Mac dancers to look up to. “I think its really great that middle schoolers get excited about the communities they might be a part of.” The opportunity to be a part of the Youth dance company at Mac is something students from Lamar and beyond look forward to throughout middle school. Caption by Maggie Mass.

Artistic expression abounds

Gaby Esquivel, Carlo Hinsdale, Chloe Lewcock, Maggie Mass, Mira Patel, Alice Scott, Lanie Sepehri, and Francie Wilhelm
December 12, 2023
Alumnus takes Manhattan

Alumnus takes Manhattan

Maggie Mass and Sofia Saucedo
December 9, 2023
ONE FINAL HURRAH BEFORE THE TORCH IS PASSED DOWN: With the upcoming football season nearing a fast approach, the marching band is preparing its halftime segment for the games. While the first game isn’t until Thursday, the band took the opportunity to put on its annual Bandapalooza for family and friends. The events goal is simply to show off what the band has been working on and to give the community an early peek at whats to come. For senior Frank Montesinos, Bandapalooza is not only a fun experience but also a beneficial one.  “The showcase gives a perspective of how our rehearsals are run,” Montesinos said.  While the show itself is a whole marching band production, Montesinos is part of a saxophone quartet with a feature in the second movement of the show along with William Viner, Elliot Taylor and Aubrey Mitchell.  “It’s nice being able to show off our individual talent in such an exposed section,” Montesinos said.   One of Montesinos fellow quartet members, senior William Viner said it was worth all the hours of work he and his bandmates put in. “Bandapalooza is always the first performance we do for people,” Viner said. “It’s satisfying to finally get to put together a months work of heat and hard work.”  But given that he’s a senior, it also means that this was Viners last Bandapalooza.  “I thought I would be very sad in my last year,” Viner said, “but it’s honestly more sweet than bitter. I feel much stronger and more confident as a senior and a leader. It’s fun to pass the band torch down to new underclassmen.”  Viner said he is excited to pass the tradition on to younger high schoolers just as early band members passed it on to him. Caption by Chloe Lewcock.

MacBand reaches for the stars

JoJo Barnard, Julia Copas, Naomi Di-Capua, Chloe Lewcock, Maggie Mass, Alice Scott, Lanie Sepehri, Ingrid Smith, Lucas Walker, and Francie Wilhelm
August 22, 2023
The Banned Book Club takes a moment during a its weekly FIT meeting on March 21 to pose for a group photo in the library. The club discussed the first section of “The Poet X” which was selected by Black Pearl Books for banned book clubs across AISD.

[Photo] Banned Book Club fights censorship, fosters community, conversation … one book at a time

Ingrid Smith and Elena Ulack
April 12, 2023
FIREFIGHTERS FEEL THE HEAT: Kessler performs another car extraction while the sun beats down and reflects off exposed metal car pieces. As the skill day, which started at 7:30 a.m., progressed into the afternoon, the temperatures rose. “Once we were like six hours in, holding tools got really hard because the ‘Jaws of Life’ are super heavy,” Kessler said. “I got calluses on my hands even though I was wearing gloves. By the end of it, I could feel my arms and I thought they were going to fall off.” As tough as the work was, Kessler felt accomplished at the end of the long skill day. “Getting physical confirmation that you did it right from the actual firefighters, and they congratulate you and say you did a good job, it feels good because its a hard skill,” Kessler said. Caption by Maggie Mass.

Fire Academy gets heated with ‘Jaws of Life’ exercise

Gergő Major, Maggie Mass, and Ingrid Smith
March 8, 2023
LIGHTS, CAMERA, FASHION: For her second McCallum Fashion show, sophomore Sadie Swinney interpreted the Reflections and Shadows theme as a way to show the beauty of Light vs. Dark, two polar opposites.  Swinneys design for Sophomore Lucy Gennrich, pictured above, showcased the light side of her collection  “Lucys look is supposed to be flowy and loose as well as white in order to convey that idea of the light side of light and dark.” Swinney said.  For Swinney, the fashion show is not only an opportunity to get to create new designs, but also a chance to see her ideas come to life on the runway. “The process can sometimes be long and hard, but I love seeing everything come together in the end..” Swinney said. “The models are everything and if you’re able to connect to the people you’re working with, it makes the process so fun.”  Swinney plans to continue spreading her ideas and visions, and pursue more opportunities like the fashion show in the future “I loved all my models this year and I’m so happy I got to work with them.” Swinney said. “I’ve been showing my work in various fashion shows since I was 8 years old, and I love watching my models walk the runway in my designs.” Caption by Chloe Lewcock. Photo by Maggie Mass.

[Photo] Fashion show ‘reflects’ artistic identities

JoJo Barnard, Morgan Eye, Chloe Lewcock, Helen Martin, Ingrid Smith, Elena Ulack, Francie Wilhelm, and Dave Winter
February 22, 2023
Swim team members watch their teammates at the district meet.

[Photo] Swim team places third at district

William Perkins, guest writer
February 1, 2023
WITH OR WITHOUT YOU: Freshman Samari Davis performs ‘With You’ with junior Henry Mayes (Pippin). The dance-heavy number is another one of the titular character’s fleeting attempts to find fulfillment in life. “Pippin realizes it’s time to live a little and is on a journey to find himself,” Davis said. “Within that journey, he starts to explore his sexuality, which leads to the song “With You.” The song starts off sweet and innocent with these girls slowly seducing him but later in the song more people join in the dance and it gets more and more intense until Pippin shuts it down.”  ‘With You’ in particular, relies heavily on choreography to tell the story of Pippin’s quest to build a meaningful life. “My favorite part of doing this show has probably been learning and performing the choreography,” Davis said. “Bob Fosse, who originally choreographed the show, is such an important person in the dance and musical theatre world so it’s very important for us that we portray his style in the best way.” Davis is one of many featured dancers and ensemble members that reappear throughout the show’s many numbers. “Throughout the show, my role along with everyone is just to help lead Pippin on his journey,” Davis said. Reporting by Alice Scott. Photo by Maggie Mass.

[Photo] Like its title character, ‘Pippin’ evolving with each act

JoJo Barnard, Chloe Lewcock, Gergő Major, Alice Scott, Ingrid Smith, and Francie Wilhelm
February 1, 2023
SHE’S COMMITTED: Surrounded by friends, family, and teammates in the Mac gym, senior Saraih Taylor officially signed Tuesday to play collegiate volleyball at Rust College, Although developing into a collegiate-level athlete has been a long and demanding process, Taylor knew it was all worth it when signing day rolled around. “It’s lots of crying and putting my body through a lot,” Taylor said. “Over the past year, I’ve had three concussions. I’m always having to push through that. And I’m always going from one practice to the next and not having time to hang out with friends or anything because I’m always busy. So it’s just really exciting to see all that hard work and time I put in actually pay off.” Taylor’s development as a volleyball player was just one piece of the puzzle. While her athletic recruiting process did involve lots of communicating with college coaches and attending showcases, it also called for a more personal search for the perfect school and community---which Taylor found at Rust. “It’s a Historically Black College, which I was always looking for because I’ve always been the only Black girl on most of my teams,” Taylor said. “They’ll know the struggles of being the only Black girl on the team, so we’ll all kind of know each others’ background, and we’ll all have something in common from the jump.” Even as a new recruit, Taylor feels bonded with the program and her future teammates. “I know that they’re basically gonna be my family,” Taylor said, “I met the girls, and they were like my big sisters automatically.” Taylor’s real family have been cheering her on throughout the commitment process as well, even sporting Sariah-themed T-shirts on signing day. “They were definitely super excited,” Taylor said. “They have supported me from when I started playing at the age of six until now. I think it’s really big for them to actually see me grow up in the volleyball world.” Taylor’s teammate since seventh grade, senior Rachel Nabhan, has also watched her grow up in the volleyball world. According to Nabhan, Taylor’s collegiate commitment is a testament to her determination throughout the years. “I know she’s a really hard worker, and it’s just really inspiring because I know each day she’s on the court, she’ll hustle,” Nabhan said. “And have you seen her serve?” Photos by Maggie Mass. Caption by Caroline Owen.

[Photo] Volleyball program savors its championship season

JoJo Barnard, Naomi Di-Capua, Morgan Eye, Jolie Gabriel, Caroline Owen, Ingrid Smith, Francie Wilhelm, and Dave Winter
November 8, 2022
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