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
STRIKE A CHORD: Oliver Bennett works on his music theory book pages to learn what the new chords they are playing look like. He wrote C, F and G7 chords in the empty boxes above the chords. Bennett takes extra precautions to make sure online learning goes smoothly.  “'Hi, my name is Oliver Bennett. I’m in second period first piano' that’s what I say every time I start recording to avoid any confusion if I turn it in wrong," Bennett said. 

Times like these

Principles of Arts and AV students
December 1, 2020

As we near the end of the first semester, students share their experiences of what it's been like to learn online. BUST A MOVE: Sophomore Sofia Ramon works on smoothing the face of her latest clay...

Attendance at McCallum since the school opened for in-person instruction on Oct. 5 has been light. Classes have routinely had fewer than 10 students; most like Ms. Cerame's biology class shown here, have three or fewer.

Campus closures start trending in Central Texas

Samantha Powers, co-news editor, co-copy editor
November 21, 2020

As coronavirus cases in the state of Texas continue to rise and Austin enters Stage 4 in case counts, schools in Austin ISD and in neighboring Texas towns are temporarily shutting down in an effort to...

Perseverance is key for Mac musicians

Samantha Powers, co-news editor, co-copy editor
October 23, 2020

In pre-pandemic times, one stroll through the McCallum Fine Arts Building could tell you just how much McCallum students love to make music. Music of all kinds poured from the doors and windows: voices...

Carey West sits in her garage studio with her dog, Lily. Since quarantine has started, Ms. West has established her workspace in her hot but functional garage. Though it's not a perfect studio, she thinks it's important to relate with her students on the same level. "All of this is important that I mirror the same experience that the students are having," she said. Photo courtesy of Ms. West

Throwing pots virtually throws new challenges

Lucy Marco, online co-editor in chief
October 21, 2020

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...

Senior Helena Laing films her auditions for college musical theatre programs. Photo courtesy of Helena Laing.

All their homes are a stage

Samantha Powers, co-news editor, co-copy editor
October 19, 2020

In a time before the pandemic, students, parents, teachers and dedicated community members came in droves to see the biannual musicals at McCallum. The McCallum Arts Center was packed to the brim on show...

Students battle stress, fatigue, apathy as they adjust to virtual classes

Josie Bradsby, staff reporter
October 13, 2020

The online school year has started, and it is a stark change from the normal, in-person school. Compared to the relatively relaxed online courses of the spring semester, online leanring in the fall has...

TAKING A CLOSER LOOK: Nate Baugh earnestly peers at his first-grade friends during a Zoom call regarding rhyming words and syllables. The way Nate sees it, school just isn’t the same without seeing his friends in real life. “I wish my friends Griffyn and Caleb would zoom through the Zoom and out through my computer,” he said. “But I’m only left with this sausage!” Nate punctuated this sentence by holding up a piece of sausage from the kitchen and giggling so hard he nearly fell over. Photo by Madelynn Niles.

Kidding around about online school

Madelynn Niles, A&E editor
October 9, 2020

If third-grader Jackson Baugh was the host of his Zoom classes, he would mute everyone forever and ever and open the chat whenever he wanted.  “That would make online school much better,” he said,...

LISTENING IN: Freshman Sophie Leung-Lieu and her shaggy dog, Sun Tzu lay on the floor with their headphones in. Moments after this photo was taken, Sun Tzu rolled over and was not in the mood to be posing. “It was difficult to get a good photo where he was sitting up straight,” Leung-Lieu said. “He looked grumpy in every other picture we took.” In the end, Sophie and her pet companion got the right shot.

A Tuesday Top 10 throwback to the first week of school

Frances Arellano, Peyton Casey, Amaya Collier, Francesca Dietz, Autry Guequierre, Sophie Leung-Lieu, Sully Madres, Lucy Marco, Helen Martin, Sarah Mbaya, Liliana Rodriguez, Lanie Sepehri, Fatima Trejo, Javier Vela, Grace Vitale, and Francie Wilhelm
September 29, 2020

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...

VIRTUAL VOGUE: Senior Helena Laing poses in her first-day-of-school work space and with her Zoom view fashion. Laing’s proud mom, Desiree Lang, saw the opportunity to send in first-day pictures and answered the call. Ms. Lang describes the outfit of choice as “quarantine chic.” Of Helena’s first day, Lang said, “She thought it went really well and was impressed on how well teachers set it up for them.” Reporting by Alysa Spiro. Caption by Samantha Powers.

Knights capture first day of virtual school

Our Instagram followers
September 9, 2020

What is a journalism program supposed to do when the first day of school is online, and we can't be in your homes to document the big day in pictures? We asked for your help, and you delivered...

Load More Stories
Donate to The Shield Online
$150
$1000
Contributed
Our Goal

Menu
Activate Search
Home
Online learning chronicles