Josie Mullan, co-web managing editor
Josie Mullan is a senior at McCallum and the co-web managing editor of The Shield. She enjoys photography and is primarily interested in photographing volleyball and football. She is excited to start off the year covering Taco Shack, and to continue writing personal features and opinion pieces. As a previous member of the staff, Josie is also looking forward to meeting all the new faces joining staff and getting the opportunity to work with them. Aside from newspaper, Josie is also involved with the PALS program at McCallum. Outside of school, Josie enjoys traveling, thrifting, baking, hiking, as well as listening to music.
![THE FINAL SHOT: For senior Jaiden Booe Senior Knight was the single best moment of the entire district season. After nearly finishing undefeated the win against LASA, and the secured spot in the first round of UIL playoffs summed up Booe’s love for basketball all in one game.
“[My favorite thing about playing] is making memories with the team because we are all about to graduate,” Booe said. “Just playing, having fun with the guys knowing it's the last home game at McCallum.”
For Booe the pre-game ritual to the teams' basketball games was another highlight during his years on the team.
“My favorite thing about playing is the pre-game shooting with my teammates in the back gym,” Booe said. “We practiced hard and made sure to have fun.”
For Booe basketball ends in high school, however he plans on continuing his athletic endeavors at Kilgore College for football.
Caption by Chloe Lewcock. Photo by Julia Copas](https://macshieldonline.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/54323212454_26626336b8_o_54325974869_o-1200x675.jpg)
![READY FOR THE CHALLENGE: Junior defensive end Nehemiah Trejo listens intently to head coach Thomas Gammerdinger's instructions for the team's next offensive possession against Anderson. Trejo praised the coaching staff for its work leading up to game.
“Our coaches did an excellent job preparing us for this game,” Trejo said. “They spent a lot of time game planning and reviewing our strategies. We saw many of the things we expected, and we came into the game focused and ready to give it our all.”
Trejo praised Coach Gammerdinger for his role in adapting during the game.
“Coach G was great at addressing what was working for us, correcting mistakes and improving communication,” Trejo said. “He reminded us that our defense had the capability to hold them back and make crucial stops.”
As for the game’s outcome, Trejo noted it was an intense fight but did not come as a surprise.
“It went exactly as we anticipated,” Trejo said. “Anderson came out with a strong offense, and it turned into a shootout between who could score more and who could get the most stops. We showed in the third quarter that we weren’t giving up and fought hard throughout [the game].”
Caption by Tristen Diaz. Photo by TC Brosnan.](https://macshieldonline.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/53969271626_31e4eaaa3f_o-1200x800.jpg)
![Knight ace Natalie Myrick pitched a great game in defeat, striking out 11, walking none and allowing zero earned runs and only four hits. Her teammate Lila Brotherton said she had command of all her pitches including an intimidating fastball. "Natalie is an amazing pitcher and did a really good job at that game," Brotherton said. "I’m not sure who is the faster pitcher [her or LASA starter Rose Harrelson], but it is definitely a close match."](https://macshieldonline.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/Possible-Immersive-Softball-Photo-2-1200x769.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)
![SPREADING THE JOY: Sophomore Chim Becker poses with sophomores Cozbi Sims and Lou Davidson while manning a table at the Hispanic Heritage treat day during lunch of Sept 28. Becker is a part of the students of color alliance, who put together the activity to raise money for their club.
“It [the stand] was really fun because McCallum has a lot of latino kids,” Becker said. “And I think it was nice that I could share the stuff that I usually just have at home with people who have never tried it before.”
Becker recognizes the importance of celebrating Hispanic heritage at Mac.
“I think it's important to celebrate,” Becker said. “Because our culture is awesome and super cool, and everybody should be able to learn about other cultures of the world.”
Caption by JoJo Barnard.](https://macshieldonline.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/53221601352_4127a81c41_o-1200x675.jpg)
