Mac shield vol 65 issuu 5

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shield McCallum High School / 5600 Sunshine / Austin, TX 78756 Volume 65 / Issue 5 / April 27, 2018

IN NEWS

They’ve had enough.

In wake of Parkland, Fla., shooting, hundreds of Mac students, thousands from Austin rally for gun control page 14

Nationwide, teachers are striking for better pay.

While that won’t happen in Texas, it doesn’t mean that your teachers feel they earn a fair wage. page 4

IN OPINION

Gun control won’t happen overnight, which is why administration is right on LOCK program to keep students safe. page 21

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inside

Spring Student-Directed Dance Concert @ MAC @ 7 p.m.

State VASE competition @ San Marcos High School Prom @ the Blanton @ 7 p.m.

Winter Guard Showcase in the MAC @ 7 p.m.

Algebra, Biology and U.S. History STAAR EOC Testing Spanish Lit and Culture AP test @ 8 a.m.

Spanish Lang and Culture AP test @ 8 a.m., Art History, Physics I AP tests @ noon STAAR Testing continues English Lit and Comp @ 8 a.m., Physics II AP tests @ noon Guitar program final concert in the MAC @ 7 p.m.

Government AP test @ 8 a.m.

Band spring concert in the MAC @ 7 p.m.

United States History AP test @ 8 a.m.

April/May

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the date

TABLE OF CONTENTS: The view of downtown Manhattan from the Staten Island Ferry. Read the full account of Macjournalism’s trip to the Big Apple on

page 08.

Photo by Max Rhodes.

COVER: Crockett students Najai Mckenzie Robinson and Robert Spong drop to their knees at Wooldridge Park raising their arms and screaming, “Don’t Shoot!” before marching to the Capitol at the National Student Walkout to protest gun violence on April 20. To read more about student walkout in Austin, please see

page 14.

Photo by Madison Olsen.

Chamber Guitar Recording Concert in the MAC @ 7 p.m.

Biology, Music Theory AP tests @ 8 a.m.

Knights of Steel Spring Concert in the MAC @ 7 p.m.

the issue

feature

13 14

Take this meticulously researched quiz to find out what kind of prom-goer you are.

On the anniversary of the Columbine shooting students across AISD walked out of class to advocate for stronger gun-control laws.

sports

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Across the United States, teachers are walking out to protest low wages. Here’s why Texas teachers aren’t joining them.

Knights shine at the Greater Austin High School Theatre Musical Awards Night on April 18.

a&e

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Football isn’t the only contact sport that MAC kids play—just ask these girls about their time in the rink.

Nationally recognized cyclist Eli Husted speaks on his recovering, training following a serious March accident.

opinion

Aubrey Brown has danced her way through McCallum and is ready for the next stage (and the next spotlight) in her career at UT.

21

In its short time at McCallum, the LOCK program has had an impact on students and teachers.

But is it the right policy?

Our picks for May: explore Bull Creek, check out a UT baseball or softball game and grab a bite at Chi’lantro.

22

After traveling to South Africa and Botswana, Shield editor reflects on the beauty, progress she saw there.

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The view out of the radio lab window after the room was emptied by the SROs is a bleak one. Photo and photo illustration by Joseph Cardenas.

Once the original journalism room and a dark room, former radio lab to become new SRO office CHARLIE HOLDEN co-editor in chief

There’s a door in the main hall, just across from the cafeteria and a few steps from the main office that always stays closed. On the door is a small, brass plaque that reads in flowing script, “The Shield.” Behind this door is a room that has served many purposes— most recently, it was the MAC radio lab—but that purpose is about to change once again as it is refitted to be the new headquarters of the school resource officers, or SROs. Room 134 is the photojournalism, newspaper and yearbook classroom. When you walk in the door, it looks like any other computer lab, but when you walk to the back, you will see a door leading into a crowded, ratinfested storage room. The radio lab and this storage room used to be a single classroom that originally was the journalism room. But that was long before Rhonda Moore, the journalism teacher and publications adviser from 2000 to 2015, came to McCallum.

Then the room was transformed again.

“It was a wet darkroom,” Moore said. “In the photojournalism class, I taught [students] how to develop and print pictures. Even when we made the switch to digital, I still used the room to teach my kids how to develop film.”

It was a dark room until AV teacher Ken Rogers decided he needed a space for his brand new radio club in the winter of 2011. Interest in dark room photography was dwindling due to modernization and increased reliance on digital cameras in the field of journalism, so Moore agreed to divide the space. Room 134 continued to be the main journalism classroom while the old classroom-converted-darkroom was split into a radio lab and a storage room.

The wall went up and the window that now looks into the hub of the main hall was installed just before winter break in 2011.

The radio began its broadcasts by the following spring, and there was a radio class by

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the 2014-15 school year.

“We had a lot of kids involved in the program in 2015,” former radio sponsor and AV teacher Ken Rogers said. “At that point, we even had MTV interested in doing a show on it.”

The radio club’s prosperity lasted through 2015-16 school year, when the radio class was disbanded due to lack of interest. Now, only two years later, the club is ending as well.

The SROs have already begun to move into the space. The radio equipment that has been removed will return to its former home in the 110 Lab, where freshman AV classes will use it to record podcasts.

“While the radio is ending, I believe there still is a future class that could be centered around podcasting since we still have a recording studio in the film room,” senior and former radio club member Taylor Renfro said.

“There is a future of the radio coming back, but I’m sad it’s ending for now.”

The radio is ending, but the former radio lab’s new life is just beginning and the first step is renovations to the space.

“We took down all the sound pads,” school resource officer Mike Reilly said. “We took out some desks, [and] we’re going to have to mirror the glass, because obviously there’s going to be some privacy issues if we don’t. We’re going to put mirrors in, put blinds in, [and] we have to swap the door because it’s a safety issue.”

Currently the door opens outwards, which is a safety hazard because an item could be jammed under the door, trapping whoever is inside. The hinges will be changed out to fix this problem.

Although the SROs are going to have to put in the work to make the old radio lab a functioning headquarters, it will be a step up from their current accommodations in the main office.

“We’ve been looking for somewhere bigger for a while because [right now] we’re in a closet,” Reilly said. “[Being in the radio lab will] help with visibility. Here, we’re kind of confined, we don’t know what’s going on. [The radio lab is] a little more centrally located and

it’ll separate us from the administration a little bit.”

Reilly said that having the SRO office centrally located in the school will make the relationship between officers and students much more transparent.

“We don’t always work hand in hand with them,” Reilly said. “There’s always a criminal investigation, and there’s the administrative side.

They’re very different, they sometimes don’t agree.

We’re [also] looking to get out [of the main office] and [solve] some of the issues we have in here with people yelling at us and take it out of the main office where kids like to eavesdrop and try and figure out what’s going on.”

It’s been known as a classroom, a darkroom, a radio lab, a storage closet, and now, the center of safety operations at MAC. With all of the recent change, however, the door of the former darkroom will still stay, now taking on a new meaning.

“We’re keeping the little Shield logo on there because it’s kind of fitting, you know?” Reilly said. “[Because] a lot of people consider police officers to be the ‘shield’ between the bad guys and the good guys.”

—with reporting by Gregory James

TOP: The radio program, which was started by students during the 2011-2012 school year, has stopped broadcasting due to lack of participation. This was the radio’s setup in 2014. Photo courtesy of MAC Radio.

ABOVE: Tasha Jones (class of 2000) inspects a film negative in the dark room that has since been converted in to a radio lab, a storage room and now a headquarters for the school resource officers. Photo published in the 2000 edition of The Knight.

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Teachers fight for their right to fair pay

While educators strike elsewhere, Mac teachers argue that low wages have reached a crisis point SOPHIE RYLAND assistant editor

W

hen Shirlene Murr-Thompson graduated from Oklahoma University last year with a degree in secondary science education, she wasn’t as carefree as one might expect for a recent graduate. She had over $100,000 in student loan debt to worry about and knew her new job as a teacher would barely pay enough for the cost of day-to-day living.

So in addition to her job as a teacher, Murr-Thompson now has to work an extra job to pay her bills, often working more than 12 hours a day, seven days a week.

“When you look at all the work that I have to do just to survive and make ends meet, it is easy to understand why many people are choosing not to become teachers or deciding not to stay a teacher,” she said.

That’s why Murr-Thompson joined tens of thousands of public school teachers in Oklahoma who went on strike earlier this month, protesting the fact that they hadn’t received a raise in 10 years. Oklahoma ranks 49th in average teacher salaries, according to Vox Media. Classes were canceled across the state as teachers in about a third of school districts walked out, which affected about 300,000 out of 500,000 students.

Murr-Thompson stresses that this protest is about far more than just teacher salaries, though.

“Our school does not have enough special ed teachers,” MurrThompson said. “Our science hall needs a new roof; it has seven leaks in it, and I am lucky enough to be the only classroom in our hallway that doesn’t have buckets sitting around my classroom every day it rains. However, I do get to stand in the hallway and remind students not to use a certain stairwell because there is a leak above it, which makes all of the steps incredibly slippery. My students have not done a single lab this year where I did not have to buy at least some of the materials, and, unfortunately, sometimes that means we don’t get to do a lab because I can’t afford the $60 in lab supplies we need.”

Faced with the threat of teachers striking one week earlier, the Oklahoma legislature passed a bill raising teacher salaries by $6,000 on average and restoring education funding by $50 million, but teachers said that it wasn’t enough and began to protest. They requested $10,000 more per teacher over the next several years and $200 million in restored education funding. Spending per student has dropped by nearly 30 percent (when adjusted for inflation) over the past decade, according to The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. Twenty percent of schools in Oklahoma have four-day schools weeks because they can’t afford to pay teachers for a full school week.

The Oklahoma government struck a deal with the protesters at the end of the strike; they won a $6,000 pay raise, with a smaller raise for support staff, and new revenues meant to increase school funding in the future. Murr-Thompson said, however, that she’s not entirely satisfied with the deal.

“The two major problems I and many others have with the plan as it is currently is that there was not enough money put back into funding public education—we asked for $200 million and are getting $112 million. The funding that is supposed to go into education to pay for those increases is not guaranteed beyond the next year,” she said. “So when the budget comes up short, as it often does, they can cut the budget back down to where it was.”

Murr-Thompson said it was disheartening to see firsthand how politicized the issue of school funding has become.

“It was very frustrating to talk to the legislators who were making decisions about education, because for some of them, the last time they were [in a school] was when they were a student,” she said. “Many educators felt very frustrated because they were making huge decisions on our behalf, and we did not feel that they were representing our wishes, or that they were informed

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“I protested by being at the [Oklahoma State] Capitol, holding signs, talking to legislators, informing the community and one day attempting to walk the 20.5 miles to the Capitol [with] a group of about 80 teachers from my district on April 9,” Oklahoma teacher Shirlene Murr-Thompson said, pictured below in blue. “Along the way we talked to news anchors, radio stations and business owners about the importance of what we were doing. ... Many news stations and the highway patrol commented that they were astonished at how nice and polite the teachers were and how well we cleaned up after ourselves. I thought that was pretty funny, because teachers are used to picking up after everyone else, so of course we were that way.” Photos provided by Murr-Thompson. on the topic, or that they wanted to become more informed about it. Unfortunately, I got to see that far too [many] government decisions were made based on if it was a ‘Democrat’ or ‘Republican’ idea and not based on facts or experiences.”

When asked for advice on how districts and governments can best support their teachers, McCallum English teacher Thomas Watterson says he doesn’t know where to begin.

“Stop taking money from the budget,” he said. “Stop balancing the budget on the backs of teachers and school districts. Stop balancing the budgets on the backs of the homeowners. Institute a statewide income tax that is progressive as opposed to regressive, and prioritize the budget to make sure teachers have the resources they need, and that the buildings and facilities remain in good condition that are conducive to a positive learning environment.”

School districts are seeing a dearth of funding, stemming from the Great Recession, when tax revenue dried up and lawmakers slashed state budgets. In some states, it only got worse after the economy recovered as lawmakers cut income and business taxes.

According to the U. S. Census Bureau, in 2015, 29 states were still providing less total school funding per student than they were in 2008. Texas is spending 16 percent less per student than it did in 2008, the sixth-biggest decline in state spending in the country, according to the Washington-based think tank Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.

“What kind of upside-down world do we live in where society

even considers cutting corners on the education of its youth in favor of weaponizing its military?” Coach Thomas Gammerdinger wrote in response to a Shield teacher survey. “History has proven unkind to societies that have made this mistake.”

Critics argue that teachers only work 180 days a year and that teachers knew the struggles their job would entail before pursuing a career in the public school system. Additionally, organized strikes have been criticized as harmful to students, who were left without all of their teachers or with school canceled entirely.

“There is a common misconception that teachers are paid for the whole year even though we only work nine months. ... While it is true that our pay is divided into 12 paychecks, we only get

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paid for the days that we work,” social behavioral skills teacher Margaret Smith wrote. “I understand that I’m off for a lot more time than other professionals, and I don’t expect to be paid to sit at home. However, I do think teacher should be given the same professional courtesy as other professionals in salaried positions, and be paid for national holidays. We also aren’t compensated for being in specialized positions and aren’t compensated for the number of hours we work; some teachers can get a ‘stipend’ for working extra hours, but the stipend is significantly less than their normal pay.”

The wage gap between other professions and teachers is increasing; in 1994, public school teachers made two percent less than college graduates in other fields, but in 2015, that gap had risen to 17 percent.

According to the National Center for Education Statistics, 17.9 percent of public school teachers surveyed worked another job during the 2015-16 school year. This is the largest such percentage reported in more than a decade, slightly higher than it was at the peak of the 2008 recession. Public school teachers are about five times more likely than the average full-time worker to hold an additional part-time job. A study conducted by Northwestern and California State University found that teachers working extra hours at an outside job had a higher likelihood of burnout and a lower commitment to teaching. Teachers also often take extra job duties or work overtime hours for no additional pay.

“It is unfair to ask teachers who take on extra work to do this for free, yet that is the expectation,” social studies teacher Lucy Griswold said. “Many first-year teachers are working 70 plus hours a week— on par with early career investment bankers, but are compensated at an alarmingly lower rate. If you were to use the hours worked rather than the scheduled hours worked to calculate hourly pay for many early career teachers, then most baristas in this city make more than we do.”

In most school districts, teachers’ salaries are determined by their years of classroom experience and educational backgrounds, but in some situations teachers’ salaries are merit based. Advocates for this system argue that districts with merit pay are able to hire stronger entry-level employees and retain them for longer. Critics say that tying teacher pay to criteria like standardized testing punishes certain teachers for circumstances beyond their control and may discourage teachers from staying in their jobs.

“I am not a big fan of merit-based pay in that I don’t think that certain teachers that receive certain numbers should receive more money, because some of us—myself, for example—are blessed with students who operate at a very high achievement level,” Watterson said. “Teaching AP seniors, it’s pretty easy for me to get these scores, whereas somebody who’s teaching freshman or sophomores at a different academic level has to work a lot harder to get the scores.”

Griswold, who said that she has to pay more for extra school supplies out-of-pocket than she can write off on her taxes, also said that the burden Texas places on cities like Austin to fund their schools is too great.

“Many top pre-service teachers who graduate from UT and St. Edwards leave the district because of the low pay relative to the cost of living in this city,” she said. “Pay is especially bad in rural districts and in the border region. Texas is a notoriously anti-worker, probusiness state and that climate needs to change.”

Many point to 2011 as a source of trouble for Texas school funding; the Texas state legislature cut the education budget by $5.6 billion, and they’ve yet to restore the money from the cut. The legislature also cut 11,000 jobs and increased class sizes across thousands of schools. In 2016, Texas educators earned roughly $6,500 below the national average for teacher pay.

Teachers in Texas are not allowed to strike; a statute in the legislature says any employees who “strike or engage in an organized work stoppage against the state or a political subdivision of the state” will lose all their “civil service rights, reemployment rights, and any other rights, benefits, and privileges the employee enjoys as a result of public employment or former public employment.” Essentially, teachers who protest could have their teaching certificates and Teacher Retirement System benefits permanently revoked. Teachers can protest as individuals through methods like contacting their legislators, testifying at the Capitol and writing op-eds on their positions.

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“I think that it is a deplorable state of affairs in a state like Texas that teachers may not participate in their own salary negotiations in such a way that we are only limited [either] to sucking it up and taking it or writing letters to the newspaper,” Watterson said. “It really compromises any leverage or power or tools that other states have, and I hate to say it, because I love aspects of this state, but I think it’s fairly typical of the political environment of Texas.”

Texas isn’t the only problem. The affordability of Austin has plummeted in recent years, and many teachers said they felt that their salary has not kept up with the change. One of these teachers is Austin High publications adviser Jena Weber, who works a second job every summer.

“If they cannot give us adequate raises, they should give us property tax breaks,” she said. “Figuring in the increase in my property taxes each year, I am actually left with less money each month than I was last year, [and] this was even with a four percent raise. When we do not get adequate raises for cost of living, we never get ahead. I will no longer be able to afford Austin within the next five years.”

Special-ed teacher Deirdre McGahon agrees that the gap between the cost of living and her salary are currently widening too quickly for the district to catch up.

“I’ve received a $100 raise every year. This is insulting, as it doesn’t even cover how much my rent was raised; $100 a month.”

McGahon wrote. “I spend a lot of my own money in my classroom, and I spend a lot of my ‘free’ time dedicated to this job.”

Watterson says that he believes that the fact that many teachers cannot afford to live in Austin harms their ability to contribute to the community in which they work. He works every summer as a bike mechanic as a second job.

“My main objection is that teachers cannot afford to live in the city that they teach in,” he said. “I think that has a negative impact on the relationship teachers have with their community, or at least it prevents a relationship between teacher and community from prospering as much as it probably could.”

A major facet of the issue is healthcare costs and retirement; around 40 percent of public school teachers are not covered under Social Security, according to a 2014 analysis from Bellwether Education Partners. And most teachers are accessing healthcare through health-insurance plans offered by their districts, which a 2013 analysis by Education Next found was more expensive for districts than plans provided by private-sector employers.

Due to underfunding, some of the money districts contribute to teacher pensions actually go towards unpaid debt. Bellwether Education Partners found in 2016 that “for every $10 states and districts contribute to teacher pension plans, $7 goes toward paying down past pension debt, and only $3 goes toward benefits for current teachers.” “[Health insurance under AISD] is expensive. It costs me almost a thousand dollars a month to insure me and my wife and my son,” Watterson said. “Twenty percent of my salary goes to my property taxes, 20 percent of my salary goes to my health insurance, so I’m left with 60 percent of what I actually make to pay my bills, my mortgage and live.”

Griswold says that she hopes other teachers will follow other states’ example in demanding better wages and teaching conditions.

“All of these strikes are happening in Republican strongholds that voted for Trump,” she said. “If they can do it there, why can’t we do it here? Teachers deserve dignity and fair compensation. I have already seen so many brilliant teachers leave the profession due to low salaries and insufficient benefits. This is a shame, and we will only continue to see an exodus from the profession as long as working conditions remain strained.”

Watterson agrees that teachers should stand up for what the believe in, and points to a current wave of civilian protesting as an inspiration and example.

“I think that the student protests over gun control are starting to energize the population and making people realize that we do have a voice,” he said. “To finally see teachers in red shirts marching on Capitols and getting raises they’re asking for is very inspiring, and I hope we see some real change on a nationwide basis as far as teacher salaries are determined.”

This is an abridged version of this story. To read the full version, go to www.macshieldonline.com.

Infographic by Sophie Ryland.

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In town hall meeting, students, legislators push government to do more to prevent school shootings Hundreds of people were in attendance at Travis High School on Sunday April 15 as 26 students joined U.S. Rep. Lloyd Doggett and state Rep. Eddie Rodriguez, both Democrats from Austin, onstage to discuss the effects of gun violence and how to enact reform.

This town hall, one of dozens orchestrated in the “Town Hall for Our Lives” nationwide event, took place after last month’s “The March for Our Lives” march, where hundreds of thousands took to the streets in protests all over the world to protest insufficient gun-control legislation.

According to the organizers, this event was one of an estimated 215 across the country.

Before Doggett and Rodriguez started participating in a question-and-answer session about gun control, the students, representing a range of ages from middle school through college, led the town hall by describing a childhood spent in the shadow of school shootings, notably those in Newtown, Conn., and most recently Parkland, Fla. Among the students on the stage were a few from McCallum: freshman Ari Miller-Fortman, sophomore Kelsey Tasch, junior Liz Epperson and senior Nico Leuba Jones.

Miller-Fortman recounted the time when the school underwent a fire drill the week after the shooting in Parkland ended with 17 dead at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School.

The shooter had pulled a fire alarm to draw the students from their classrooms before he began his attack.

“Nobody got up once the fire alarm went off,” she said. “Nobody wanted to get up because we were all scared. What if this isn’t a drill? We shouldn’t be sitting here not getting up during a fire drill, which is a practice for our safety, because we’re scared of getting shot at our own school.”

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Tasch spoke to how jarring but yet how familiar every instance of a school shooting felt to her and her friends and family.

“I remember reading the headline out loud to my friend with apathy,” she said, referring to the Parkland shooting. “In that moment it was just. ‘Look, another one,’ and we continued on with our day. I had become numb to it. I think many of us have. I cried over Newtown, cried over Orlando, Las Vegas, Sutherland Springs, trying to wrap my head around the increasing number of atrocities left me spinning, and I

Austin High student Julia Heilrayne said that her commitment to fighting for gun control began after the murder of a 9-year-old girl by her father, “who should never have had a gun.” Photo by Madison Olsen. was desensitized.”

Tasch said her perspective changed when she got home from school later that day.

“I was almost immediately met by my big brother Carsten, who, to give you some context, I’ve always thought of as inexpressive, resilient, and in better control of his emotions than I am.

He asked me if I had heard about Parkland, and I said yes. He may not like me saying this, but his eyes were red, like he had been crying, and he told me how upsetting and how messed up it was, how messed up everything was. In that

Shield wins Online Pacemaker Award

MacTheatre wins two awards at GAHSMTA

The cast and crew of West Side Story took home awards for Best Ensemble and Best Orchestra on April 18 at the Greater Austin High School Musical Theatre Awards at the Long Center.

Senior Pedro Najar and sophomore Lilah Guaragna, both ensemble members, said winning Best Ensemble validated all the hard work that cast members poured into the show.

“Winning to me is recognition and reassurance,” Guaragna said. “It’s not the fancy award or title, but the fact that we were recognized for hard work.”

Najar said that he felt the award validated his decision to push himself to try something new. “[Winning] shows me that I can step out of my comfort zone and really have fun.”

Senior Austen Juul-Hansen accepted the Best Ensemble award on behalf of the cast, and junior Jonathan Forbes, who served as assistant musical director of the show, accepted the Best Orchestra GAHSMTA. “We all worked long hours and weekends to make the show glow for its audience,” Forbes said. “It was absolutely wonderful to run on stage and accept an award for the people who work just as hard as the actors but who aren’t as widely recognized.”

The award ceremony hosted 38 high schools from around Austin. According to technical director Laura Kieler, participating schools select the musical they want for the professionals to judge and then the professional

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judges go trough a rigorous process to evaluate each production and choose citywide finalists.

“It’s kind of like The Tony’s for high school theatre in Austin.”” Kieler said.

West Side Story was nominated for eight awards, including Best Orchestra, Best Choreography, Best Musical Direction, Best Lighting Design, Best Actress in a Leading Role, Best Direction, Best Ensemble, and the highest honor a school can receive: Best Production.

Casts nominated for Best Production get to perform one of the numbers from their show on the Long Center Stage.

“You spend the day there, and you have a short rehearsal where they set your lights,” Kieler said. “Usually there is some sort of projection or something like a backdrop. You get to see the other schools and their rehearsals and get ready in the dressing room.”

After weeks of rehearsal, MacTheatre performed a medley of the songs including “Dance At The Gym,” “Mambo” and “Tonight Quintet.”

Freshman Helena Laing, who was nominated for Best Actress in a Leading Role, said the choreography was challenging for her.

“We’re doing my hardest parts for dancing because we are doing the mambo partner section, which is a lot and then we have to do ‘Tonight Quintet,’” Laing said.

Laing did not win the Best Actress Award.

Katie Haberman of Dripping Springs won for

moment, with our roles reversed, something shifted in me. It made me so angry to see him that shaken. It’s not something he should have to deal with, nor my classmates or my parents, teachers, nor I.” After the students had finished sharing their stories, the representatives began the Q&A, where they gave their thoughts on gun control legislation and the hurdles they must go through in order to pass what Doggett called “common sense legislation” into law.

“The reason we don’t have a ban on assault weapons or magazines or universal background checks, it’s the same answer for everything: there’s an NRA ownership over Congress,” Doggett said. “We have a logjam right now, where NRA now stands for ‘No Republican Action.’”

After the congressmen finished answering questions, the floor went to an open forum with the students and candidates running for local positions. Members of the audience went up to ask questions or to offer support to the kids sitting on the stage. One woman recounted her own experience in a school shooting.

Karen Collins was earning her master’s degree at the University of Texas the same year Charles Whitman opened fire from the UT Tower, killing 14 people and wounding nearly three dozen on Aug. 1, 1966.

“I watched my fellow students get shot; I watched them fall to that hot, blistering pavement,” Collins said. “I watched them die. I watched policemen die. I watched an armored car finally come and protect those that were laying on the pavement and pick them up and drive them away. I watched them carry a body out of the tower, and I can tell you—you can see from my age—you never get over it.”

—William Wilson

Senior Tristan Tierney introduces West Side Story’s number at the GAHSMTA Awards at the Long Center. Photo by Tammy Fotinos. her role in The Addams Family.

Laing said before the show that she would be happy for whoever won it.

“They’re really cool so even if I don’t win,” Laing said. “I’m happy for them because we’re all talented, and we all want it and we’re all friends.”

—Zoe Hocker with reporting by Lily McCormick and Mia Terminella

The Shield staff was one of 22 in the country to win an Online Pacemaker Award from the National Scholastic Press Association on April 14. The Pacemaker Award is considered to be one of the highest honors in the field of scholastic journalism.

“Pacemakers, we like to say,” NSPA associate director Gary Lundgren said, “represent the best of the best. They really are a prestigious award because the competition is so rigorous.”

Junior web editor-in-chief Sophie Ryland was beyond excited to receive this award.

“I remember joking with Mr. Winter last year that we had to win a Pacemaker before I graduated,” Ryland said. “I really didn’t think it would happen so soon.”

The Shield won a print Newspaper Pacemaker Award in 2004 and again in 2011, but The Shield Online has never won or been a finalist before this year.

“Sites like yours, for instance—the best sites—really provided content daily,” Lundgren said. “The one thing the judges look for [is the] frequency the content was put out, the quality of the content, how strong was the writing, how strong were the visuals, were the stories researched. Of course they look for good reporting and good visuals just like they always do, and they look for [if] there a place for students to interact with the site.”

—Julie Robertson

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Artistically Speaking: Aubrey Brown Senior dance major, Longhorn to be reflects on decade-long career on the stage The Shield: What do you think keeps you motivated to work as hard as you do?

AB: I love to dance, it’s so worth it. It’s cheesy, but I look forward to going to dance class and training. I’m also very close with my team, so it feels weird to not see them all of the time. I feel like I’m one of those people that likes to stay busy and always have something to be doing. It makes me feel like I’m productive and [like I’m] not wasting time.

TS: When did you decide to quit dancing and when did you decide to come back to it?

AB: I took classes for a year and a half when I was 5, then I quit then started again in fourth grade and I quit [dancing outside of school] before freshman year. I have been in the Fine Arts Academy for dance for all of high school. I think I started [dancing outside of school] again my junior year when I realized I really crave the challenge of dancing more competitively. I like to be next to someone who is better than me or who works harder than me because it pushes me to want to be better. It’s also inspiring to get to watch such talented people because there’s so much you can learn from watching and seeing stylistic choices and the way people connect to movement.

TS: How long have you been on that team?

AB: This is only my second year. I quit outsideof-school dance when I was going into freshman year because I wanted to do Blue Brigade, and I couldn’t commit to both. I had a friend who went to Rise in the dance academy and she convinced to me try it out, so I started my junior year. I became close with them pretty fast.

TS: Do you think it’s because you spend so much time together or is it the mutual love of dance that brought you together?

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AB: Probably a little of both. I think there’s a lot we can all relate to with each other because even though we all love dance, we also are teenagers and get really frustrated sometimes, so it helps that we can complain about our teachers and laugh about stupid things that we do in class. I think that none of us take ourselves too seriously when we are together because dance is like a second life where we don’t worry about what homework we have to do or choose where to go to college.

TS: Can you tell me a little but about your solo competition in Dallas?

AB: It was competition and convention called Jump. Usually at these I leave school early to compete solos on Friday night, then take classes from more well-known teachers for about six hours on Saturday morning and compete in team dances that night and wake up on Sunday and take more classes. I usually only go to about three or four of these a year because they’re pretty exhausting and time-consuming. Jump was my team’s first convention of the year, so we were all pretty nervous about how all of our pieces would do, but it ended up being really fun. I think I got ninth in senior solos there, but I’m not completely sure.

TS: How do you manage school and dance?

AB: I get homework done whenever I have free time in school or during my off periods.

Sometimes if I have to read a book for school I’ll listen to the audio book on the way there because it usually takes about 45 minutes to get to my studio in traffic. I also try to get as much as I can done on the weekends, so I don’t have to worry about as much during the week because I am at the studio about four nights a week.

TS: Do you have a dance hero or someone you look up to that inspires you?

AB: I have so many. For a choreographer, I love

Kirsten Russell. Watching her pieces amazes me because she does such intricate work, and I don’t understand how her mind even comes up with it.

She also really challenges her dancers. The speed she demands them seems like it’s not humanly possible, but I guess that’s what makes it so interesting to watch. She choreographs a piece for my team every year and last year I wasn’t in it but even seeing it over and over again I never got bored. This year I am in it, and it’s my favorite piece to perform.

TS: What’s the most challenging part about the piece?

AB: It’s super intricate. Cleaning it was not fun because every body part down to the fingers has a place with her choreography. She’s very specific when she teaches it to us, so it’s up to us to maintain the detail of her work. The song is also a challenging aspect because it’s counted in six and normally we use songs in eight. It’s mostly just vocals with very little background music, so it’s harder to associate the movement with parts of the music. As a result we have have to be counting in our heads to stay in unison. Now that we have performed it so many times it’s more muscle memory, so it’s more enjoyable since we aren’t thinking as hard about it.

TS: How do you think Dance Academy affected your skill level and love of dance?

AB: The academy really helped to broaden my horizons and gave me the opportunity to work in styles that I never would’ve expected, like flamenco and house dancing. It really has exposed me to a wide range of teachers and made me more adaptable, rather than doing styles that I am more comfortable with.

Brown has committed to the University of Texas at Austin to study physical therapy.

—interview by Madison Olsen.

TOP: Aubrey Brown during her 2017 solo in Dallas with her outside-of-school dance group, Rise Dance Company. Photo courtesy of Brown.

ABOVE: Aubrey Brown in her first performance at age 6 years old. “I was in a ballet tap combo class, the most typical class to put your child in,” Brown said. Photo courtesy of Brown.

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New York state of mind MAX RHODES

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exas may be home to the big city of Houston, population 2 million, but what about a city four times bigger? This spring break, eight members of McCallum journalism headed to the mighty New York City and had a truly incredible experience.

We landed at JFK International Airport about 10:30 a.m., and just as the forecast had predicted, it was snowing. On the JFK AirTrain to Jamaica Station we had a nice view of some snowcapped neighborhoods in Queens. At Jamaica Station we bought MetroCards, which would allow us to ride the subway— or so we thought. Instead, we accidentally bought 10 rides on the JFK AirTrain. After much confusion and $25 wasted, we boarded the subway. It was a long ride, and most of the time some guy was doing crazy pull-ups on the bars in the train.

When we emerged from the subway somewhere in Midtown Manhattan, we were surrounded by thousand-foot-tall buildings in the middle of a snow flurry. It was an impressive first sight of the city. But then it was back to the subway. Once on the train, we were greeted by a man addressing himself as Elliot The Poet, and he proceeded to recite some of his poetry about spreading positivity. We got off the train at 125th and Broadway and walked a few blocks to the International House, which is a hotel for visitors and a dorm for current students on the campus of Columbia University. We went through a series of hallways and elevators to get to our room, which had a nice view of a rooftop trash pile and some old brick buildings.

Next, we left for The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Ready to give the subway another try, we descended to the station and again boarded the 1 train. We got off and made the quick walk across Central Park to the museum. While crossing the park, we could see the 432 Park Avenue tower, which is a skinny, nearly 1,400 foot-tall residential building.

We arrived at The Met at around 2:45 p.m., and after learning that it closed at 5:30 p.m., I figured that three hours would be plenty of time. I was wrong. The more than 2 million square feet of museum housed a very extensive collection: we didn’t even finish the ancient Egypt and East Asia section. We saw hieroglyphics, scrolls, jade statues and large stone tablets covered in Chinese writing. The museum seemed to stretch on forever; just when you thought you had reached the end, there would be another hallway or staircase with an entirely new set of artifacts. When we were told the museum would be closing in 20 minutes, it took us nearly all of that time just to find our way to the exit.

With time still left in the day, we returned to the subway for one more attraction: Grand Central Station. I had seen pictures,

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but no picture does the actual building justice. Regular subways and long-distance trains run through this station, as well as tens of thousands of people every day. We climbed the stairs to the second level, which, to our surprise, was an Apple Store. We people watched for a while there, until an employee said were we were sitting was a fire hazard, we got the hint that it was time to go.

The next day was the first day of the Columbia Scholastic Press Association convention, and because of a lack of time we had breakfast at the International House. Cold tater tots and cereal with no milk? We decided to not eat meals in the cafeteria for the rest of the trip.

The Columbia University campus was fascinating, with buildings from the 1750s and statues of our Founding Fathers. The way the convention works is there is a list of available classes for each time block, and you choose which one you want to see. My first class was on how to spot a fake news source, which was mostly just common knowledge. The special thing about this class was that we did a walkout at 10 a.m. for 17 minutes to commemorate the victims of the Parkland, Fla., school shooting, and we discussed how to take action and prevent shootings like this from happening again. For lunch, we went to The Mill Korean Restaurant a few blocks from the university. I got the lunch box, which Liam Wilson, a student on the trip whose mother lived in Korea, called “a good starter for an American at an Asian restaurant.” It came with sushi rolls, fried rice, salad and chicken with veggies. You could tell this place was legit because of the lack of forks, which is fine for some, but I’m no chopstick wizard, so I ended up eating the rice with a spoon. The waiters were probably making fun of me in the kitchen. After lunch we went our separate ways for the next round of classes. One of my sessions was called “Dynamic Visual Images for Photos, Films and TV,” which sounds pretty interesting, but the class was mostly just the teacher, some old guy from Florida, showing us famous photos and clips from movies and pointing out leading lines, eye lines, the rule of thirds and so on. He must have had 60 photos and would flip through the slides in rapid succession while yelling things like “OH! Oh my goodness! Just look at her eyes! Look at her mouth!” Next we all met up for the yearbook critique, which was done by someone who had been looking at yearbooks all day, and was a little burnt out by then.

We walked back to the International House after our classes and decided to eat at a small Italian restaurant called Max Soha for dinner. I got the gnocchi, which was pretty good, and not too expensive, for New York. Then we made our way through Harlem, a neighborhood in northern Manhattan, for Amateur Night at the Apollo Theater. When we got there, we all spent some time looking at the golden

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plaques on the ground in front of the theater, with such names as Stevie Wonder, James Brown and Michael Jackson. On the stage was DJ Jess, who introduced the audience to a man in a grey suit, Joe Gray, who sang songs by famous artists who had all stood on that very stage years ago. After he was done, the host, named Capone, pulled the classic, “Let’s try that again” when he deemed the audience’s applause for him to be unsatisfactory. He was the one to introduce us to the amateur performers. The first few were singers, some of them sang well-known songs, and one guy did his own. Then a ventriloquist, who started a bit rough but finished strong, and a beatboxer, who was good. After every act, Capone would come out and make fun of something they did, or the way they did it. No one was bad enough to summon the executioner, a tap-dancing tuxedo-wearing man named C.P. Lacey who would supposedly pull the bad performer off the stage.

When we left the theater, it was snowing, much like the first day.

On Thursday we ate breakfast at Pret A Manger, a small cafe next to Columbia. I got a pain au chocolat, which was certainly better than the Saran-wrapped pastries available at the International House. For the first class of the day, we all supported our publications adviser Mr. Winter while he taught his session on how to run a successful school Instagram page. For lunch, we walked to a sandwich place nearby called Subconscious, which was good but only had two tables to eat at. That’s the thing about New York–there are small restaurants all over the place.

Here in Austin, we’re used to big restaurants that can be pretty far apart, but in the big city, you’re rarely more than a few blocks from some small deli that people wouldn’t notice unless they were looking for it.

That afternoon, we wanted to see the Statue of Liberty, but the ferry to Liberty Island was already closed. The Staten Island Ferry was free, however, and would take us right past the statue. On the way to the ferry, we stopped by the High Line, an old elevated rail line that has been turned into a park. The High Line offered a unique perspective of the city, and we were surrounded by trees and bushes instead of trash on the sidewalk. We walked along the park for a while, then descended back to the subway and got off at the last stop, South Ferry.

When we got on the ferry with perfect timing to see the golden-hour glow illuminating the buildings of lower Manhattan and the Statue of Liberty. Downtown was impressive, with a view of 100-year-old skyscrapers and the new One World Trade Center building towering above all. We arrived at Staten Island, and having no intent to stay in there any longer than we had to, waited to board the ferry back to Manhattan. We had some spare time, and decided to check out the gift shop for some overpriced nick nacks. I purchased a small magnet with the Empire State Building

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on it for $5. The ferry back offered an impressive view of the night time skyline, and very different from just an hour earlier. Once back in Manhattan, we decided to get pizza at Cucina Bene. On the way, we walked through New York’s financial district and got to see some cool, old buildings side by side with the new, highend ones. We went to the pizza place, which was alright, certainly not the best the city had to offer, but at least now we could say we had real, New York-style pizza in New York. We stayed in the restaurant to keep out of the cold, since it was in the upper 30s outside. On the way to the subway, we were having trouble with Google maps but a local came to our rescue, telling us that he was headed for the 1 train and would be glad to lead us there.

We ate at the same place for breakfast, Pret A Manger, then headed over to support Mr. Winter, and The Shield head editors, Charlie Holden and Julie Robertson, as they taught a class on how to run a successful school newspaper with a small staff.

Afterwards, we booked it over to the main auditorium to see the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School newspaper and yearbook staffers talk about how they dealt with the recent tragedy that happened there. It was a good presentation and lead us to start thinking about how we would deal with something like that if it happened at our school.

We had lunch in the Low Library on campus for Mr. Winter’s Gold Key Award. The winners got a lengthy speech from the director, then he gave another speech about what makes an excellent journalism adviser. During his speech, the director said something about the “clouds’ silver lining,” and the sun, which had been behind a cloud outside, suddenly shone very brightly through the big windows. He paused for a moment, looked up, and everyone began to cheer.

Then we headed back to the main auditorium for the rest of the awards. The Shield got Silver Crown Awards for both print and online. We got our photo with the director and our awards, and headed back to the International House.

Our plans for this afternoon were the 9/11 memorial then Chinatown for dinner. The Ground Zero area is paved with grey bricks and rows of trees, and the foundation of where the twin towers stood have been made into fountains with the names of all the victims inscribed in the metal around the fountains. Near the memorial is a train station called the World Oculus, which is the most expensive train station in the world at $4 billion, and looks like the skeleton of a whale.

Across from the Oculus, towering at an impressive 1,776 feet is the new One World Trade Center, the tallest building in America. We left the memorial and made our way back to the subway, as it was getting cold. We boarded the train and headed for a place called simply Fried Dumplings.

I’ve never been to China, but I have seen pictures of Chinese city streets, and Chinatown looked pretty spot on, and being there at night probably enhanced the experience. The buildings were shorter, and there were more small streets and alleyways for foot traffic. There were big neon signs on the bigger streets, often in Chinese, and small shops and restaurants. Some of these restaurants were more familiar looking, like what you would find in Austin; others were not, like the place we went for dinner. As the name implied, the main thing on the menu was fried dumplings, and they were cheap: $3 for 10. The place was tiny, and our crew of eight was a bit overwhelming, as there was only one old lady behind the counter. We all got our dumplings and were shooed out back into the streets.

Our next stop was Times Square, which I’ve seen pictures o f , but pictures don’t do it justice. We got there at around 8 at night, but it almost looked like day with the light from all the enormous screens. Advertisements for movies, musicals and brands shone at us from all angles, some hundreds of feet up. Liam said it was like taking Adblock off of YouTube. Out on the streets, guys were dressed like Iron Man, Captain America, Mickey Mouse, Elmo or the Statue of Liberty on stilts; all of them wanted you to pay for a picture with them. JR Cardenas, another student on the trip, paid $4 for a couple of pictures with Captain America, and Liam haggled with Elmo to get a picture for 75 cents. The sidewalks were absolutely packed, and the streets were

full of cars going nowhere soon. We decided to stop by the M&M Emporium down the street. After getting separated in the store, and spending a little too much time there, we went back to the subway and headed for the International House.

Our flight left at 8:45 the next morning, so we got up at 4 a.m. and gathered our things in the dark. We headed up the escalator for the 125th and Broadway subway station, and Mr. Winter, who had been carrying both of our award plaques, lost his balance and nearly fell down the moving staircase, leaning back on his suitcase and sending it rocketing down the escalator and shooting out onto the sidewalk. When he got safely to the top he said, “I heard something going down those stairs, and I knew if I didn’t get my balance soon, I’d follow it.” Liam ran down the other escalator to retrieve the fallen suitcase, and said that it hit a pole which kept it from going out in the street. After that scare, we boarded the subway and headed for JFK. But New York had one more punch to throw at us. Away from the familiar 1 train we soon became confused on which subway would take us to the airport. You’d think there would be a more efficient way to take the subway from Manhattan to the airport, but that simply is not the case. Lucky for us, a few policemen with heavy New York accents pointed us in the right direction, but this confusion had cost us some time.

We were going to be cutting it close. On the express train, we missed our stop, and had to get off and board the one heading back. The conductor popped in the car we were in, and correctly predicted our situation. “You missed your stop, didn’t ya?” He said very enthusiastically. We made it to the correct stop, went up the elevator, and back to the AirTrain station. On the train to the airport, we could see the Manhattan skyline about 10 miles away, a reminder of how big the island is. We made it to our gate just in time to board the plane to Austin.

New York was impressive, and on a scale I’ve never before seen.

As my granddad put it, “going to New York resets your clock.”

Austin’s skyline seemed a little more boring when I got back.

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Photos by Max Rhodes

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This month: May

Things to do: Swimming spot What’s one thing you can never have enough of? Hiking spots in Austin during the warmer months. Equipped with places to swim and hike, the Bull Creek greenbelt is a great place to take friends or family on a sunny day. The park has rocks to jump from when the water is deep and plenty of space to have a picnic by the water. Bikes and dogs are also welcome.

To avoid crowds on the weekends, get there in the morning for the best parking and spots.

Bob Wentz Park at Windy Point on Lake Travis, pictured left, is a great spot to head to this spring. This small island park is perfect to get a few friends together and have a picnic and swim. You can bring swimming floats and hang out in the water. There are also some taller rocks for jumping off of for the more adventurous.

Tranquility Base Hotel & Casino

by Arctic Monkeys Release date: May 11

Photo by Zoe Hocker

Upcoming albums Beerbongs and Bentleys

by Post Malone Release date: April 27

Love is Dead by CHVRCHES Release date: May 25

Take me out to the ball game

Good Thing by Leon Bridges Release date: May 4

It’s always fun to watch a ball game in the springtime, and Austin is lucky to host a Division 1 college that can give you just that.

Check out one of the final home games of the University of Texas baseball or softball team this season. Softball games are held at the Red & Charline McCombs Field, and baseball games are at the UFCU Disch-Falk Field, both just a short drive from the McCallum area. Tickets for baseball are $5 for people under 18, and softball tickets are $3 for all adults.

Almost all of remaining games left are part of a threegame series or are doubleheaders so if you miss a game, there will likely be another one the next day.

For more information, a full schedule and tickets, visit texassports.com.

Photo courtesy of Chi’Lantro

Photo by Julie Robertson.

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7 by Beach House Release date: May 11

The last home games The last home games for UT baseball for UT softball May 1: Texas State at 6:30 p.m.

May 2: Incarnate Word at 4:30 p.m.

May 15: Texas State at 6:30 p.m.

May 2: Incarnate Word at 7 p.m.

May 17: TCU at 6:30 p.m.

May 18: TCU at 6:30 p.m.

May 19: TCU at 2:30 p.m.

Check out Chi-Lantro If you want a fun new spring restaurant to go to during lunch, ChiLantro is the perfect new place for you.

The modern Korean food restaurant has opened several locations around Austin with the Burnet Road location being the flagship. The menu is simple with Korean tacos, a Korean burger, wings and my personal favorite, the rice bowl. The rice bowl is every Instagramfoodie’s dream with a bed of your choice of rice topped with vegetables, your choice of protein such as chicken or vegan options. You can add on avocado, guacamole, queso, or their signature sauce, kimchi. For a greasier option, the kimchi fries are perfect to share with another person. The basket of fries is piled high with melted cheese, sesame seeds, sriracha and magic sauce. This is the perfect place to go on Friday afternoons with a friend to kick off the weekend.

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Shower strike is on

Annual fundraiser to give East Africans clean water is a cause close to PALS sponsor’s heart ABIGAIL SALAZAR staff reporter

Tomorrow at midnight, the PALS can shower again. Since midnight last Saturday, they have been participating in the annual Shower Strike, helmed by Peer-Assisted Leadership and Service club, or PALS, sponsor and math teacher Richard Cowles. The strike, created and organized by the Austin-based non-government organization Well Aware, raises money to build sustainable clean water wells in East Africa. Participants in the strike, which this year included the PALS and the members of the Environmental Knights club, must go all week without using running water to bathe. They can choose to abstain from bathing entirely, or they can fill a five-gallon bucket with water and use it to bathe.

Cowles got the PALS, and by extension, McCallum, involved in the Shower Strike four years ago because of his experience living in an environment where clean water is scarce. From 1993 to 1996, Cowles was a volunteer in the Peace Corps and served as a sixth- and seventhgrade math teacher in Pala, Chad.

“I was there firsthand to witness how difficult life was without running water, so it converted me into a water miser,” Cowles said. “During the Peace Corps, the house that I lived in had no electricity and no running water. We had a 50-gallon container in our house, and we had a well nearby that we would pay students to go and draw the water and bring it to us, and we would dump it in the 50-gallon container. When it was time to bathe, we would take some water out and heat it up. We would take our bucket and fill it up not completely, then add the hot water until it was a reasonable temperature and bathe with that.”

Cowles’s time in the Peace Corps has led him to find ways to conserve as much water as he can. At home Cowles collects the water from his showers and uses it to water h is pl ant s a nd wash dishes.

“When my kids take a shower, I capture the water and pump it out to my yard to water plants,” Cowles said.

“I also keep a bucket of bath water near the sink to rinse and wash the dishes.

When it’s time for me to take the bucket bath, I usually take the bucket bath during the weekend because I am doing

yard work and then once the school week begins, then I go water-free.”

Going water-free can affect more than just the participants. Cowles’s family is really supportive of him during the shower strike.

“Usually my kids like to take a couple of bucket baths during the week to participate like dad, which is a lot of fun,” Cowles said. “My wife is a big supporter, but she doesn’t necessarily participate in the strike primarily because she is helping everyone else with the strike.”

Last year the PALS raised more than $5,000 alone, and were able to increase their grand total to $12,000 when an anonymous donor agreed to match all of the money being raised by the McCallum team. Senior PALS member Sarah Kay Stephens is participating in the shower strike again for a second year.

“Last year I participated in the shower strike, and it was very eye-opening to see how water affects our everyday life and how much we utilized the running water that we are blessed with in this country,” Stephens said. “It is interesting to experience a different perspective and not have running water, so I decided to do it again.”

Cowles’s main goal for the shower strike is to spread awareness about water scarcity, which is a point that has certainly hit home for Stephens.

“Every time I take a shower I am conscious of how much water is going down the drain,” Stephens said. “I used to take 20-minute showers, but now I try to take 10-minute showers. I also turn off the water when I am brushing my teeth and just little things to try and help not use so much water.”

Junior PALS member Chloe Shields is participating in her first shower strike and is looking forward to working towards the cause.

“Well Aware is super awesome, and I’ve never done something like this before so it was a kind of a “go for it” thing,” Shields said. “But I love my showers because they are my favorite part of the day. The thought that I won’t be as clean as I want to be is definitely on my mind, but it’s OK [because] it’s for a good cause.”

At the end of the day Cowles said that ultimately doing the strike not only makes people water aware but also benefits Well Aware.

“It’s a cause that I know is doing excellent work,” Cowles said, “and any money that we raise really does make a huge difference in the lives of the East Africans.”

“I was there firsthand to witness how difficult life was without running water, so it converted me into a water miser.

During the Peace Corps, I lived in a house that had no electricity or running water.”

—Richard Cowles

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CHAD

Richard Cowles poses with women selling garlic, dried ginger and tomato powder during his daily visit to the market in Chad in 1994, where he was stationed as a member of the Peace Corps from 1993-1996. “In Chad, we took a [bucket bath] pretty much every night,” Cowles said. “It’s not like here in Austin where you are traveling in your car or have a nice classroom and don’t get dirty so easily. My classroom in Chad had dirt floors, and I had to walk to school because it was not far away, and everything there was a little bit more dusty.” Photo courtesy of Richard Cowles.

Generic medications for less 512-465-9292 medsaverspharmacy@gmail.com 1800 W 35th St feature 11

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3 seniors opt for path less traveled

Hickman, Temple, Brooks prove that the four-year university track isn’t the only road to success EMMA BAUMGARDNER

“I’m excited to meet new people. I’m most excited to travel on the weekends because Europe is so small, I can just take a train ride to another country.”

—Genevieve Temple

staff reporter

How many colleges should seniors apply to?

How far away is too far away? What kind of scholarships does each school offer? These are just a few of the questions that seniors have to face every day from the summer before their senior year to early January. Contrary to popular belief, the typical four-year university track is not the only option that students can take to pursue their interests.

Some decide to take a gap year to explore their passions, while others like senior Io Hickman opt for a complete change of scenery in pursuing their higher education. Hickman plans on attending the Amsterdam Fashion Institute in the fall.

“The times that I got to visit Europe I just fell in love with it,” Hickman said. “I want to study fashion, and I felt like if not in New York then definitely Europe, because the things [designs] that come to New York usually come out of Paris.”

Even though Amsterdam is not as well known in the fashion world as Paris or New York, Hickman chose to move there because she is a fan of the unique style and culture of the city.

“I wanted to be growing into my career as Amsterdam is growing in the fashion industry” Hickman said.

“They’re working eco-friendly and doing a lot of androgynous stuff. They seem a little bit more relaxed. It reminded me of Austin, but European.”

Cost was also a factor in her decision of what colleges to apply to.

“Applying to colleges in Europe is free, unlike in America” Hickman said. “It’s not going to hurt me if I don’t get in. I just wanted to expand my horizons a little further than just out of state.”

In Europe, colleges cost significantly less than colleges in the United States. Average tuition in Europe is $9,410 for public colleges and $32,405 for private colleges. In the States, the average tuition cost for a public college is $25,290, and tuition for a private college is $50,900. Even though the lower costs are appealing to students going through the application process, application requirements in out-of-country schools can be more intense than applying to domestic schools.

“There’s all these little things that you have to do that you normally wouldn’t have to do for a school in America,” Hickman said. “I have to get my passport renewed, and there’s so much photocopying all of these documents and sending them to them. I’m getting my visa coming up this next month and getting all the vaccines. It’s a process, but I’m willing to do it.”

Students leaving the country also face difficulties with living so far from home.

“The biggest pushback would be feeling

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i s o l a te d ,” Hickman said. “When I move there, I’m not just moving out of state, I’m moving out of country, away from all my friends and my family. That was the biggest part that made me rethink my decision because it’s scary to go out on your own and be an ocean away from everybody you know and love.”

Some students decide to take a gap year before college to gain job experience or to travel. The gap year has become increasingly popular in order for students to be better prepared for life away from home before going to college. Senior Genevieve Temple plans on taking a gap year to further her education at Universidad Autonoma in Madrid as well as explore outside the United States.

“I’m going to take Spanish classes for a semester, and then I’m going to decide what to do for the next semester,” Temple said. “I’ll either come back [to Austin], or I’m going to try to find a fashion program.”

Gap years are appealing to students who want to explore their options before committing to a path of study.

“I just wasn’t ready to go to college yet,”

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Temple said, “I don’t know what I want to do. I didn’t just want to stay in Austin.

I wanted to travel, and I wanted to learn Spanish because my family knows Spanish. I knew I wanted to go to Europe. I’m excited to meet new people. I’m most excited to travel on the weekends because Europe is so small, I can just take a train ride to another country.”

After high school, some students like keyboardist Jackson Brooks decide to focus their time on pursuing a career rather than continuing their education.

“My plans are to keep performing, keep working,” Brooks said. “I’m not going to go to college, at least right away, but I plan on taking some ACC classes just to get some credits done, so if I decide to transfer later I can do that. For now, I’m trying to perform as much as I can. I haven’t always been like the most motivated in classes, I just really enjoy putting my energy towards my career.”

Students who focus more on their careers

Illustration by Madison Olsen.

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have the ability to make connections in the real world and start exploring their field of interest immediately after high school.

“I like psychedelic rock music, and jazz stuff too,” Brooks said. “I’m excited to just keep recording more music. That’s what I want to do, is record, so I’m always trying to work on producing more stuff. I want to build a big catalogue of my music for the world to see.”

When deciding their postsecondary plans, it is important for seniors to research all of the options available to them. While attending college the fall after graduating may be the traditional path for students to follow, gap years can be great for students who want to take a break after 12 years of schooling. Traveling to different countries, exploring different passions, or any combination of the two, can help seniors expand their horizons and set them up for success when entering the real world.

27 april 2018

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What kind PHRAMMMM of prom go-er are you? hey guys this is a really fun quiz

1) What do you plan on doing before prom?

A. Take photos with friends B. Dinner date C. Frantically trying to make plans D. Relaxing at home

4. What kind of transportation are you using?

A. Limo B. My car or my parent’s car C. City bus D. None

2. How long will it take for you to prep for prom?

A. Half the day B. The whole day C. Half an hour D. Zero minutes

5. Where do you plan on spending the majority of prom?

A. In the center of the dance floor, keeping the party alive B. Rotating between looking at the art exhibits, dancing and taking food breaks C. I’ll probably disappear for half the night and show back up in time for the last few songs.

D. I’d rather be at home.

3. When do you plan on arriving?

A. Fashionably late B. As soon as it starts, I want to enjoy the entire night there.

C. Late, if I’m being honest, but not on purpose D. Never

6. What are your after-prom plans?

A. Party at a friend’s house B. Go see a movie C. Go home and sleep D. Stay home, where I’ve been for the entire night

Mostly

The partier

Mostly

The procrastinator

Mostly

The traditionalist

Mostly

The no show

A’s

B’s

27 april 2018

The whole reason you go to prom is to have a fun night out with your friends. Even though you’re looking forward to dancing at the Blanton, you’re more excited about going to all the parties taking place afterwards.

You’ve been dreaming of this moment for the majority of your time in high school, and started planning this night with your friends or S/O months in advance. Even if your night doesn’t go exactly like the majority of teen ’80s movies, you’ll still find a way to make it just as fun and exciting.

C’s

D’s

You decided to go to prom last minute. After convincing some of your other friends to go, you’ll have a great time, even if you end up spending more time in the art exhibits than on the dance floor.

Prom has never really appealed to you, and why should it? Spending the night at home either with friends, Netflix or a combination of the two sounds much more fun to you.

a&e 13

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Students storm Capitol for safer schools

Thousands of students marched from Wooldridge Square Park to the Capitol to protest for changes in guncontrol legislation.

Photo by Ian Clennan.

Hundreds from Mac, thousands from Travis County, walk out for stronger gun control MADISON OLSEN

F

photo editor

or most of us, the idea of gun violence at school is an abstract fear. If a potato chip bag pops in the cafeteria, we jump because our fear and awareness of school shootings is keen. For Crockett student Robert Spong, however, fear of gun violence is not abstract.

Spong has lost three friends to gun violence in the last two months, and it was that reality that brought him to leave school and come to downtown Austin on Friday along with thousands of Austin-area high schoolers, hundreds of them from McCallum.

“The reason I came is because three of my friends have died because of gun violence in the last two months,” Spong said. “One of them was right down the street from school going home, and the other one was in his apartment and [was] killed just because somebody wanted to kill him, just because they wanted to catch a body for their gang. [But from] what I’ve seen here today, I really think we’re going to make a change.”

Spong was one of thousands of Travis County students who walked out on Friday as part of a nationwide protest in thousands of U.S. cities.

Most of the students who participated were not even born when two active shooters at Columbine High School killed 12 students and one teacher.

But on the anniversary of the 1999 shooting, and a little over two months after the Feb. 14 shooting in Parkland left another 17 innocent people dead, many students marched to the Capitol, outraged because they feel they live in a world of constant Columbines and that the government has done little to change that fact.

“I feel really strongly about the common sense

14 feature

gun-control movement because some of my friends have been affected by gun violence,” Ann Richards junior Almina Orbach said. “This issue is personal for me because I have friends at Akins who have had two shooter lockdowns this year.

It’s the fact that this issue is so prevalent in our society, and it shouldn’t be. Students should not fear for their lives when they go school.”

An estimated 300 McCallum students left their classes at 10 a.m. Friday morning and walked in silence to honor the victims of the Parkland shooting. Converging in the band practice parking lot, students took their seats, looking to the 10 student leaders and speakers that sat with their hands locked during 17 minutes of silence—for the number of victims killed in the Parkland, Fla., shooting on Feb. 14. Clearing her throat and stepping up to the microphone, junior Liz Epperson began to read the organizers’ mission statement to the assembled students.

“This generation has never known a time before Columbine; we live with the daily threat of gun violence, even in school, a place where we should otherwise feel safe,” Epperson read aloud.

“We are more than dissatisfied with a government that does not work towards a solution. We demand that our elected officials act out of the best interest of the people they serve, and not in the interests of the National Rifle Association.

We call for a ban of civilian possession of all semi-automatic weapons, as they have no place in our society. We call for better regulations on who can access guns, including mandatory background checks, registration, and better license requirements. Although we are outraged by the behavior of our Congress, this will be a peaceful protest.”

After Epperson read the mission statement,

senior Isabel Lerman took the stage to read off a list of demands, which included a reinstatement of 1994 assault weapons ban, the establishment of universal, comprehensive background checks, a ban on high-capacity magazines, an end to the resale of APD firearms to the general public, closing the gun show and online loopholes and increasing funding for mental health personnel on campus.

“We get branded as these crazy gun-hating liberals, which I think is kind of ridiculous,” Lerman said. “We’re not saying we should ban all guns; we’re saying we need to keep a better eye on who has guns, who can have guns and what kind of guns they can have. It’s not an issue that’s going away anytime soon. I hope that people that go to the rally start making a change in their lives and in the lives of others around them. Be the change you want to see.”

Senior Nico Leuba Jones, one of the lead organizers of the rally, read out the organizers’ statement to police, which disclosed that while the presence of campus School Resource Officers and the APD presence downtown was intended to keep peace amongst the demonstrators, some individuals felt less safe in the presence of law enforcement. Then, junior Isabella Hernandez took the stage to speak about how gun violence disproportionately affects women of color, women and LGBTQ+ communities.

“I feel very strongly about gun violence, especially in the communities of color because it disproportionately affects communities of color,” Hernandez said. “As a person of color, I feel that it’s important to represent that community and others that are affected because it’s my duty, and it’s the issue that I feel most strongly about.”

A comprehensive Washington Post analysis of 200 incidents of school gunfire since Columbine

revealed that children of color are far more likely to experience campus gun violence than white students. Hispanic students are gun victims nearly twice as much as white students, and black students three times as often.

“It’s more than just mass shootings, too,” Lerman said. “It’s police brutality and domestic abuse. If you’re a woman, a person of color or LGBTQ+ you’re far more likely killed or attacked with a gun, and that’s just not fair. It’s a community issue, and even if you’re not in one of those groups it’s important to be aware of [the issue] and foster change.”

Sophomore Kelsey Tasch then took the stand and began to question why students and American citizens had become so desensitized to gun violence. Transitioning the conversation towards guns in the context of domestic abuse, junior Elsa Roberts shared her thoughts on the accessibility of guns in the hands of chronic substance abusers and those with criminal records that have the potential to harm the people in their lives. Jaylen Wilbourn read aloud a poem addressing her reaction to the President’s “thoughts and prayers” in the aftermath of the Parkland shooting. As the speeches in the parking lot came to a close, students stood and began the trek up to the Brentwood station, where they boarded the 801 and 1 Southbound buses to Wooldridge Square Park, where students from all around Austin were congregating to march to the Capitol.

“It’s always really sad to know that people [my] age are being killed,” Marielle Glasse said. “You plan for four years about what you’re going to do outside of high school and for someone to not make it through because of a school shooting is heartbreaking. I knew Draylen Mason, the 17-yearold kid who was killed [by] the Austin bomber, and that was really big shock. I want to feel safe, but I

don’t think I feel safe because sometimes I’ll start thinking about what’s happening in the world or I’ll read an article or I’ll see an interview, and I think my sense of security is false.”

Glasse was one of many students at the walkout who have been personally affected by violence.

Another Austin-area student, Mya Cruz, has had many close friends and family fall victim to gun violence throughout her life, which motivated her to join the protest. “[On my shirt], I have my cousin, who is a victim of gun violence,” Cruz said. “He was shot and killed.

I know a lot of people who have been shot and have been injured. I have a younger sister who’s currently in school and God forbid something were to happen in school where she gets hurt and I can’t be with her.”

Cruz argues that the lack of gun legislation in the country should be a personal issue for everyone, whether they have known a victim or not.

“It’s definitely a defining [issue] for us, because [our generation] will be the leaders in charge of the future, and we have to be able to trust each other and make the world a better place,” Cruz said. “As long as we work together and are all fighting for the right cause with good morals in mind, we can make a difference no matter what our ancestors have done in the past. It starts now. I think it’s important that anyone who has the ability [should] call their congressman, ask about gun reform laws and become as well-educated as you can. Don’t let the ignorant people stay ignorant. Help educate them and help them understand what needs to be changed and why.”

McCallum students who walked out of classes in the morning were met with a small number of counter-protesters in the band practice parking lot in the form of four students holding signs showing their support for the Second Amendment.

“We want to represent a large part of McCallum who are pro-Second Amendment and pro-gun who are forced to be quiet because of the aggressiveness of the left towards gun control,” senior Owen Myers said. “I believe in the Second Amendment since it was instituted in the beginning of this country. I obviously don’t believe in fully automatic

1

27 april 2018

weapons. They aren’t legal anyways. I’m pro-rifle, pro-gun, and I’m pro-Constitution.”

Once at the Capitol, students citywide were met with more counter protesters, who congregated near the Texas Rangers monument at the front of the Capitol. One counter protester, who identified himself only by the first name Joe, had an AR-15 strapped to his back, wore a “Make America Great Again” cap, and firmly expressed his desire to educate students on the issue of gun violence.

“I’m a Second-Amendment advocate, and I’m here to try and facilitate civil conversation and to make it clear as to which way I lean,” Joe said. “I feel that a lot of these people aren’t educated and don’t know what the laws or true statistics are. I’d like to see people get educated, [and] actually [be]open to conversation and to different opinions.”

Another McCallum student who met protesters at the Capitol, sophomore Ryan Vincent, firmly believes that proposed gun legislation should not be affected in wake of the tragedy in Parkland.

He cited universal background checks as a compromise between gun-control advocates and pro-Second Amendment lobbyists, as he believes that these checks impede rights to privacy. But one compromise is enough, according to Vincent, who argues that registering private sales or closing the gun show loophole (two demands of the protesters) would take away too many of his rights under the Second Amendment.

“I’m here to protest for guns, because the only thing protecting people from other people is guns,” Vincent said. “I do feel incredible pity and sorrow for the people who lost their lives and the parents who lost children, but I don’t think it’s a good excuse to add more gun control. Most of the people here saying that it’s really easy to buy a gun clearly haven’t bought a gun before.”

The march from the park to the Capitol remained peaceful. Numerous law enforcement officers lined the walk on bicycles. Some of the protesters with signs and chants walked so quickly that march marshals had to stay at the front of the procession to slow down the advance of the crowd. McCallum junior Sophie

2

Beilinson said the crowd’s adrenaline was fueled a commitment to effect substantive change.

“I think it’s important for the people we’re surrounded by and in our community to know that we’re not accepting what’s going on, and we want change,” Beilinson said. “It’s personal because this could happen to me, this could happen to my siblings, this could happen to my best friends.

I think we’re the start of a change in the entire world and the start of noticing the problems that are occurring without people understanding what is really happening.”

Upon arriving at the steps of the Capitol 15 minutes early, the gathering of students, teachers and passionate adults flooded the Capitol lawn, pushing towards the front, eager to see the speakers who were timed to start at 1. As the organizers flew about the stage trying to make up for lost time, one lead organizer, Headwaters sophomore Sasha Ashton, stood at the front, leading chants to keep the protesters engaged and enraged.

“No matter your level of education or your opinions of the Second Amendment, or gun rights, if you are a moral human being, you will take any action necessary to prevent losing the lives of children,” Ashton said. “If that’s not a good enough reason [to march], I don’t know what is.”

The rally commenced when the Texas Resistance Choir sang the National Anthem, adding the unofficial fifth verse written half a century after the original anthem by poet Oliver Wendell, which reflects some of the nation’s internal moral struggles during the Civil War. Then, after a brief introduction by the event’s emcee Bayley Stewart, local student activist and Westlake sophomore Jemima Abalogu took the stage to speak about Power to the Students, an organization that was founded after the Valentine’s Day shooting in Parkland. Lloyd Doggett, a UT alumnus and Texan Congressman who represents the district that stretches from Austin to San Antonio, shared his disappointment with his congressional colleagues.

He said students needed to walk out of school because “too many elected officials had walked out on them already.”

Doggett then said, “I was on the University of

Texas Campus when Charles Whitman had the first mass shooting here in Austin decades ago.

I have been involved in gun violence issues since I served in the state Senate here in the Texas Capitol, and I see so much pain and horror that’s unnecessary. If we can just stand up to the NRA, we can turn this around.”

Rep. Doggett was also a speaker at the Town for Our Lives meeting on April 9, and has repeatedly stated his support for the student movement. “[We must] keep hope alive with gatherings like this, but the only thing that will get action on gun violence is to throw out the people that won’t support us and bring in some people who will,” Doggett said.

After speeches from three more gun-control advocates, Felix Kahlor took the stage. A fifthgrader from Maplewood Elementary and a selfproclaimed “serious young man,” Kahlor shared his thoughts on gun violence and police brutality. Last to take the stage, Steven Trenfield, a teacher in the Academy for Global Studies at Austin High School, rose to speak about his students, many of whom organized the rally, and how his role as a teacher affected his views of the proposed legislation to give teachers guns.

“The safety trainings [for teachers] are all terrible,” Trenfield said. “We lock the door and try to cover the windows so that no one can see in; it’s just dumb. Nobody’s going to fall for that. I get that it clears the halls, but it’s not enough. I’m not saying we shouldn’t have lockdowns; I’m saying there should be something else.”

Trenfield was embraced by his students stage right and a roaring applause of students like 12-year-old Wesley Aubin of the Headwaters School.

“I think [gun violence] is one of the biggest problems in our generation,” Aubin said. “When I grow up I’m going to stay involved in this topic and, when I grow up to be old enough, vote. I might want to get into politics and try to help everything work out. I want to be a congressman because I just feel super strongly that I want to help everyone.”

3

1. Sasha Ashton of the Headwaters School raises up a sign on the Capitol steps and joins in a chant before the speakers, including herself, started the official program. Photo by Lily McCormick.

2. Hundreds of McCallum students funnel through the passageway to the band practice parking lot, where student leaders would address them following 17 minutes of silence in memory of the Parkland, Fla., shooting victims.

Photo by Dave Winter.

3. In tears, senior Marielle Glasse embraces senior Jasmine Skloss-Harrison after student speeches at McCallum. “Jasmine had to go back to class, but she was just telling me to be safe and to be careful, because you really don’t know what can happen,” Glasse said. “I want to feel safe, but I don’t think I feel safe.” Photo by Charlie Holden.

feature 15

the

shield

Students storm Capitol for safer schools

Thousands of students marched from Wooldridge Square Park to the Capitol to protest for changes in guncontrol legislation.

Photo by Ian Clennan.

Hundreds from Mac, thousands from Travis County, walk out for stronger gun control MADISON OLSEN

F

photo editor

or most of us, the idea of gun violence at school is an abstract fear. If a potato chip bag pops in the cafeteria, we jump because our fear and awareness of school shootings is keen. For Crockett student Robert Spong, however, fear of gun violence is not abstract.

Spong has lost three friends to gun violence in the last two months, and it was that reality that brought him to leave school and come to downtown Austin on Friday along with thousands of Austin-area high schoolers, hundreds of them from McCallum.

“The reason I came is because three of my friends have died because of gun violence in the last two months,” Spong said. “One of them was right down the street from school going home, and the other one was in his apartment and [was] killed just because somebody wanted to kill him, just because they wanted to catch a body for their gang. [But from] what I’ve seen here today, I really think we’re going to make a change.”

Spong was one of thousands of Travis County students who walked out on Friday as part of a nationwide protest in thousands of U.S. cities.

Most of the students who participated were not even born when two active shooters at Columbine High School killed 12 students and one teacher.

But on the anniversary of the 1999 shooting, and a little over two months after the Feb. 14 shooting in Parkland left another 17 innocent people dead, many students marched to the Capitol, outraged because they feel they live in a world of constant Columbines and that the government has done little to change that fact.

“I feel really strongly about the common sense

14 feature

gun-control movement because some of my friends have been affected by gun violence,” Ann Richards junior Almina Orbach said. “This issue is personal for me because I have friends at Akins who have had two shooter lockdowns this year.

It’s the fact that this issue is so prevalent in our society, and it shouldn’t be. Students should not fear for their lives when they go school.”

An estimated 300 McCallum students left their classes at 10 a.m. Friday morning and walked in silence to honor the victims of the Parkland shooting. Converging in the band practice parking lot, students took their seats, looking to the 10 student leaders and speakers that sat with their hands locked during 17 minutes of silence—for the number of victims killed in the Parkland, Fla., shooting on Feb. 14. Clearing her throat and stepping up to the microphone, junior Liz Epperson began to read the organizers’ mission statement to the assembled students.

“This generation has never known a time before Columbine; we live with the daily threat of gun violence, even in school, a place where we should otherwise feel safe,” Epperson read aloud.

“We are more than dissatisfied with a government that does not work towards a solution. We demand that our elected officials act out of the best interest of the people they serve, and not in the interests of the National Rifle Association.

We call for a ban of civilian possession of all semi-automatic weapons, as they have no place in our society. We call for better regulations on who can access guns, including mandatory background checks, registration, and better license requirements. Although we are outraged by the behavior of our Congress, this will be a peaceful protest.”

After Epperson read the mission statement,

senior Isabel Lerman took the stage to read off a list of demands, which included a reinstatement of 1994 assault weapons ban, the establishment of universal, comprehensive background checks, a ban on high-capacity magazines, an end to the resale of APD firearms to the general public, closing the gun show and online loopholes and increasing funding for mental health personnel on campus.

“We get branded as these crazy gun-hating liberals, which I think is kind of ridiculous,” Lerman said. “We’re not saying we should ban all guns; we’re saying we need to keep a better eye on who has guns, who can have guns and what kind of guns they can have. It’s not an issue that’s going away anytime soon. I hope that people that go to the rally start making a change in their lives and in the lives of others around them. Be the change you want to see.”

Senior Nico Leuba Jones, one of the lead organizers of the rally, read out the organizers’ statement to police, which disclosed that while the presence of campus School Resource Officers and the APD presence downtown was intended to keep peace amongst the demonstrators, some individuals felt less safe in the presence of law enforcement. Then, junior Isabella Hernandez took the stage to speak about how gun violence disproportionately affects women of color, women and LGBTQ+ communities.

“I feel very strongly about gun violence, especially in the communities of color because it disproportionately affects communities of color,” Hernandez said. “As a person of color, I feel that it’s important to represent that community and others that are affected because it’s my duty, and it’s the issue that I feel most strongly about.”

A comprehensive Washington Post analysis of 200 incidents of school gunfire since Columbine

revealed that children of color are far more likely to experience campus gun violence than white students. Hispanic students are gun victims nearly twice as much as white students, and black students three times as often.

“It’s more than just mass shootings, too,” Lerman said. “It’s police brutality and domestic abuse. If you’re a woman, a person of color or LGBTQ+ you’re far more likely killed or attacked with a gun, and that’s just not fair. It’s a community issue, and even if you’re not in one of those groups it’s important to be aware of [the issue] and foster change.”

Sophomore Kelsey Tasch then took the stand and began to question why students and American citizens had become so desensitized to gun violence. Transitioning the conversation towards guns in the context of domestic abuse, junior Elsa Roberts shared her thoughts on the accessibility of guns in the hands of chronic substance abusers and those with criminal records that have the potential to harm the people in their lives. Jaylen Wilbourn read aloud a poem addressing her reaction to the President’s “thoughts and prayers” in the aftermath of the Parkland shooting. As the speeches in the parking lot came to a close, students stood and began the trek up to the Brentwood station, where they boarded the 801 and 1 Southbound buses to Wooldridge Square Park, where students from all around Austin were congregating to march to the Capitol.

“It’s always really sad to know that people [my] age are being killed,” Marielle Glasse said. “You plan for four years about what you’re going to do outside of high school and for someone to not make it through because of a school shooting is heartbreaking. I knew Draylen Mason, the 17-yearold kid who was killed [by] the Austin bomber, and that was really big shock. I want to feel safe, but I

don’t think I feel safe because sometimes I’ll start thinking about what’s happening in the world or I’ll read an article or I’ll see an interview, and I think my sense of security is false.”

Glasse was one of many students at the walkout who have been personally affected by violence.

Another Austin-area student, Mya Cruz, has had many close friends and family fall victim to gun violence throughout her life, which motivated her to join the protest. “[On my shirt], I have my cousin, who is a victim of gun violence,” Cruz said. “He was shot and killed.

I know a lot of people who have been shot and have been injured. I have a younger sister who’s currently in school and God forbid something were to happen in school where she gets hurt and I can’t be with her.”

Cruz argues that the lack of gun legislation in the country should be a personal issue for everyone, whether they have known a victim or not.

“It’s definitely a defining [issue] for us, because [our generation] will be the leaders in charge of the future, and we have to be able to trust each other and make the world a better place,” Cruz said. “As long as we work together and are all fighting for the right cause with good morals in mind, we can make a difference no matter what our ancestors have done in the past. It starts now. I think it’s important that anyone who has the ability [should] call their congressman, ask about gun reform laws and become as well-educated as you can. Don’t let the ignorant people stay ignorant. Help educate them and help them understand what needs to be changed and why.”

McCallum students who walked out of classes in the morning were met with a small number of counter-protesters in the band practice parking lot in the form of four students holding signs showing their support for the Second Amendment.

“We want to represent a large part of McCallum who are pro-Second Amendment and pro-gun who are forced to be quiet because of the aggressiveness of the left towards gun control,” senior Owen Myers said. “I believe in the Second Amendment since it was instituted in the beginning of this country. I obviously don’t believe in fully automatic

1

27 april 2018

weapons. They aren’t legal anyways. I’m pro-rifle, pro-gun, and I’m pro-Constitution.”

Once at the Capitol, students citywide were met with more counter protesters, who congregated near the Texas Rangers monument at the front of the Capitol. One counter protester, who identified himself only by the first name Joe, had an AR-15 strapped to his back, wore a “Make America Great Again” cap, and firmly expressed his desire to educate students on the issue of gun violence.

“I’m a Second-Amendment advocate, and I’m here to try and facilitate civil conversation and to make it clear as to which way I lean,” Joe said. “I feel that a lot of these people aren’t educated and don’t know what the laws or true statistics are. I’d like to see people get educated, [and] actually [be]open to conversation and to different opinions.”

Another McCallum student who met protesters at the Capitol, sophomore Ryan Vincent, firmly believes that proposed gun legislation should not be affected in wake of the tragedy in Parkland.

He cited universal background checks as a compromise between gun-control advocates and pro-Second Amendment lobbyists, as he believes that these checks impede rights to privacy. But one compromise is enough, according to Vincent, who argues that registering private sales or closing the gun show loophole (two demands of the protesters) would take away too many of his rights under the Second Amendment.

“I’m here to protest for guns, because the only thing protecting people from other people is guns,” Vincent said. “I do feel incredible pity and sorrow for the people who lost their lives and the parents who lost children, but I don’t think it’s a good excuse to add more gun control. Most of the people here saying that it’s really easy to buy a gun clearly haven’t bought a gun before.”

The march from the park to the Capitol remained peaceful. Numerous law enforcement officers lined the walk on bicycles. Some of the protesters with signs and chants walked so quickly that march marshals had to stay at the front of the procession to slow down the advance of the crowd. McCallum junior Sophie

2

Beilinson said the crowd’s adrenaline was fueled a commitment to effect substantive change.

“I think it’s important for the people we’re surrounded by and in our community to know that we’re not accepting what’s going on, and we want change,” Beilinson said. “It’s personal because this could happen to me, this could happen to my siblings, this could happen to my best friends.

I think we’re the start of a change in the entire world and the start of noticing the problems that are occurring without people understanding what is really happening.”

Upon arriving at the steps of the Capitol 15 minutes early, the gathering of students, teachers and passionate adults flooded the Capitol lawn, pushing towards the front, eager to see the speakers who were timed to start at 1. As the organizers flew about the stage trying to make up for lost time, one lead organizer, Headwaters sophomore Sasha Ashton, stood at the front, leading chants to keep the protesters engaged and enraged.

“No matter your level of education or your opinions of the Second Amendment, or gun rights, if you are a moral human being, you will take any action necessary to prevent losing the lives of children,” Ashton said. “If that’s not a good enough reason [to march], I don’t know what is.”

The rally commenced when the Texas Resistance Choir sang the National Anthem, adding the unofficial fifth verse written half a century after the original anthem by poet Oliver Wendell, which reflects some of the nation’s internal moral struggles during the Civil War. Then, after a brief introduction by the event’s emcee Bayley Stewart, local student activist and Westlake sophomore Jemima Abalogu took the stage to speak about Power to the Students, an organization that was founded after the Valentine’s Day shooting in Parkland. Lloyd Doggett, a UT alumnus and Texan Congressman who represents the district that stretches from Austin to San Antonio, shared his disappointment with his congressional colleagues.

He said students needed to walk out of school because “too many elected officials had walked out on them already.”

Doggett then said, “I was on the University of

Texas Campus when Charles Whitman had the first mass shooting here in Austin decades ago.

I have been involved in gun violence issues since I served in the state Senate here in the Texas Capitol, and I see so much pain and horror that’s unnecessary. If we can just stand up to the NRA, we can turn this around.”

Rep. Doggett was also a speaker at the Town for Our Lives meeting on April 9, and has repeatedly stated his support for the student movement. “[We must] keep hope alive with gatherings like this, but the only thing that will get action on gun violence is to throw out the people that won’t support us and bring in some people who will,” Doggett said.

After speeches from three more gun-control advocates, Felix Kahlor took the stage. A fifthgrader from Maplewood Elementary and a selfproclaimed “serious young man,” Kahlor shared his thoughts on gun violence and police brutality. Last to take the stage, Steven Trenfield, a teacher in the Academy for Global Studies at Austin High School, rose to speak about his students, many of whom organized the rally, and how his role as a teacher affected his views of the proposed legislation to give teachers guns.

“The safety trainings [for teachers] are all terrible,” Trenfield said. “We lock the door and try to cover the windows so that no one can see in; it’s just dumb. Nobody’s going to fall for that. I get that it clears the halls, but it’s not enough. I’m not saying we shouldn’t have lockdowns; I’m saying there should be something else.”

Trenfield was embraced by his students stage right and a roaring applause of students like 12-year-old Wesley Aubin of the Headwaters School.

“I think [gun violence] is one of the biggest problems in our generation,” Aubin said. “When I grow up I’m going to stay involved in this topic and, when I grow up to be old enough, vote. I might want to get into politics and try to help everything work out. I want to be a congressman because I just feel super strongly that I want to help everyone.”

3

1. Sasha Ashton of the Headwaters School raises up a sign on the Capitol steps and joins in a chant before the speakers, including herself, started the official program. Photo by Lily McCormick.

2. Hundreds of McCallum students funnel through the passageway to the band practice parking lot, where student leaders would address them following 17 minutes of silence in memory of the Parkland, Fla., shooting victims.

Photo by Dave Winter.

3. In tears, senior Marielle Glasse embraces senior Jasmine Skloss-Harrison after student speeches at McCallum. “Jasmine had to go back to class, but she was just telling me to be safe and to be careful, because you really don’t know what can happen,” Glasse said. “I want to feel safe, but I don’t think I feel safe.” Photo by Charlie Holden.

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Running back

Junior sprinter breezes through district, area STEVEN TIBBETTS staff reporter

About four months ago, junior running back Deron Gage was taking hand-offs on the football field, averaging about 12 yards a carry.

Now, Gage has traded the football for the baton, competing in the 100- and 200-meter relays for the track team.

Gage didn’t start running track until high school and he only started to prepare for football during the offseason. Gage says that running on the track rather than the football field was hard to get used to at first, but that he is starting to make the transition.

“I started running track freshman year,” Gage said. “At first it was just so I could get faster for football, but I started to really like it. I’m starting to get used to it and get comfortable with it.”

As Gage has grown more comfortable with track, his performance in his events has improved. Gage has already become one of the fastest runners on the team in the short distance events; the 100 and 200 meters and the relays.

Gage’s love for short-distance racing is also paired with an admiration for the world-record holder in the 100 and 200 meters, Usain Bolt.

“Everyone looks up to Usain Bolt,” Gage said.

“He is amazing. I love him.”

Gage put his speed to the test during the District 26-5A track meet on April 4 and 5. Gage competed in three events, the maximum number of running events each athlete is allowed to enter. He ran the 200-meter dash, the anchor leg of the 4 by 200-meter relay with teammates senior Alex Julian and juniors Julian Rosales and Billy Williams, and the second leg of the 4 by 100-meter relay with Julian, Williams, and senior Tyrell Washington. To advance to the area meet in each event, Gage and the relay teams had to finish in the top four. Gage accomplished that task by ending up in the top three places in each event with a second-place finish in the 4 by 100-meter relay for the second straight year, third in the 4 by 200, in which Gage narrowly beat out both the Crockett and Austin High anchor legs by under a second, and third in the 200-meter dash, Gage’s favorite event, with a time of 23.18, which Gage was happy with considering the tough conditions at the meet.

Senior Alex Julian passes junior Deron Gage the baton during the 4 by 100-meter relay at area on April 19. The relay team, which includes Julian, Gage, Billy Williams and Tyrell Washington, placed fifth. Photo by Bodhi Tripathi.

“We had resistance with the winds so [my 200 meters] was pretty good,” Gage said.

After districts, Gage began looking ahead and preparing for the area meet on April 19 and 20, where again he needed top-four finishes to advance to the regional round in each event.

“I’m just ready to go out, put in work for these two weeks that we have practice and hopefully qualify for regionals,” Gage said after the district meet.

And he did. Gage finished fourth in the 200 meter dash at area with a personal record 22.75. “[Advancing] to regional is a big accomplishment for me because last year, I didn’t get to run in regional or area, so I feel that I’ve been doing way better since last year,” Gage said. “I think senior year will be an amazing year for me.”

Despite his success in track this season, Gage finds joy in other things about track than just getting good results in his races.

“I like being out there with my friends,” Gage said. “Also, we miss school sometimes. It’s just a fun atmosphere and I love it.”

And even though Gage has achieved a lot this season in track, qualifying for area in all three of his events and qualifying for regionals, Gage says his biggest achievement during his track career goes beyond the success he has found during competition.

“Making a tighter bond with my friends [has been my biggest achievement], because we have fun out there when we have time to ourselves to relax and get ready for the events, and it brings us closer as a team also,” Gage said.

Even though track season isn’t over, Gage is already thinking about next year’s football season.

He expects to have another good year despite the challenges that will come with having mostly new teammates on varsity, a new coach and a new district.

“We have a lot of doubters since a lot of our seniors left, but as long as we work hard in practice [and] listen to the coaches, I think we will be good,” Gage said. “I know we will.”

“I love running track with all my friends.

We come out here and get a better bond, and it brings us closer together, and [advancing] to regional is a big accomplishment for me because last year, I didn’t get to run in regional or area, so I feel that I’ve been doing way better since last year, and I think senior year will be an amazing year for me.”

—Deron Gage

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27 april 2018

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Down and derby

Hard-hitting sport has jammers, blockers and a community that extends beyond Texas border MADDIE DORAN assistant editor

While many people go to the roller rink to have fun, in the process of roller skating they generally try to avoid running anyone over. For junior Sutton Ballard it’s quite the opposite: she runs over people for points. Kind of.

“In roller derby, each team sends out four blockers and a jammer,” Ballard said. “The jammer has to get through the other team’s blockers, and every blocker that they pass is a point.”

To earn points, the jammer has to pass the hips of the blockers. It sounds clean and simple, but like most things, it’s a little trickier in practice. Freshman Rowan Lerman, Ballard’s teammate, sees this hard-hitting sport as more than just whacking people; there’s a significant community element to it.

“Having teammates at school that are older is really nice,” Lerman said. “They have helped me with some of my struggles that I have had.”

Ballard also enjoys the fact that her teammates are also her schoolmates.

“At McCallum, the girls on the team hang out a lot, and we just talk about derby,” Ballard said.

“It’s kind of funny, because our friends get so confused, and we do fun stuff like hit each other down the hallway.”

Ballard doesn’t just enjoy the group of derby

girls at McCallum—her team is also connected to the national derby community.

“The community as a whole is just super supportive no matter where you go,” Ballard said. “All the teams that we play have always been super nice. Our team is friends with teams from around the country, [and] we regularly talk over text, because we like to be around each other.”

Ballard and Rowan’s team travels all around the country to be able to play due to the low volume of teams in the Austin area.

“We have been to Kansas and Oklahoma, and we used to do a lot of stuff here, but there is only one Austin flat track team and one in Round Rock,” Ballard said.

“We just started a bank-track junior team, which is like what they do in the movie Whip It, and we are the only junior team in Texas. We are going to go to Seattle in June to play their team, and they came here a few weeks ago to play us.”

Ballard plays on up to four teams at a time, therefore spending plenty of time practicing.

“I skate with three to four teams, so I practice five days a week,” Ballard said. “My flat track team practices four times a week, and my bank track team practices once a week. But I also skate with adult teams, so that is why I practice a little more often.”

On March 25, at the TXRD All Scar Army tournament, Ballard (back to camera) assists Abigail Stouffer after she knocks down the opposing team’s (Seattle tilted thunder rail peeps) jammer to prevent her from scoring points. Photo by Brent LeVelle, provided by Sutton Ballard.

Roller Derby Fast Facts

1. There are three positions in roller derby: jammer, blocker and pivot.

2. “Rink rash” is when a skater falls and skins their knees.

3. There are over 1,200 amateur leagues worldwide.

4. The sport is under consideration for the 2020 Olympics.

5. The same rules are followed for men and women.

Source: BuzzFeed

knmanagement.com/careers

knmanagement.com/careers 27 april 2018

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Cyclist Eli Husted on the road to recovery 2016, 2017 Amateur Road National Championship winner doesn’t let injuries slow him down ANNA COMPTON assistant editor

Sophomore Eli Husted, who was featured in the first issue of the 2017-2018 Shield after winning first place at the Amateur Road National Cyclist Championship the past two summers, suffered a severe injury on March 18 while training for the events he will compete in next summer.

With his face down, Husted crashed into a parked car causing a deep laceration on his arm and his face and injuries to his right knee.

“I was in the middle of an interval, and I had my head down on my bike,” Husted said. “I felt like something was coming up, and I was right.

As I put my head up I was about 10 feet away from a parked car. I put my arms up at just the right time to block my face. The impact of the collision shattered the back windshield of the car and dented the entire left side of the car.”

After crashing, Husted remembers laying in the road and hearing a car door slam shut, and someone yelling “Call 911!” Luckily, Husted’s father was riding alongside him and was able to get him medical help immediately.

“I remember the whole thing actually, and I remember looking at my arm after I crashed, and it was just terrible,” Husted said on March 27. “I didn’t really want to look at it until yesterday, like I couldn’t without getting sick.”

He split his right arm open, and got many stitches, the exact number he said he didn’t want to know. Husted spent three days in the hospital and two days at home recovering from his injuries.

“I got the stitches removed from my face two days ago [March 26] and my legs have been hurting a lot too because of the impact,”

Husted said. “I split my bike into four pieces which was incredible, and my helmet didn’t actually do very much believe it or not, but it was all pretty scary.”

Not even a week after he was released from the hospital, Husted was eager to get back on his bike. He rode his bike up and down the street, slowly getting back to his normal self.

Only a week after the accident, Husted rode 60 miles, with 3,500 feet of vertical climbing, training for an upcoming race.

“That bike ride was really tough,” Husted said, “but I’m looking forward to getting back into training aspect of riding my bike, and hopefully I can race next week at the Dry Race Series.”

A week after he got his stitches out of his face, Husted got his ACE bandage and stitches removed from his arm. His elbow is still restricted a bit, but Husted said his knee is feeling a lot better. Instead of seeing this incident as a defeat, Husted hopes to continue his cycling career after his recovery and considers this as a lesson learned.

“It was my fault, and I needed to learn my lesson,” Husted said, “and this was one way of doing so.”

Even though his injury put a dent in his training for a couple weeks, Husted still hopes to race in his next couple of scheduled events.

Husted has plans to com p e te

Sophomore Eli Husted’s bike broke into four pieces when he crashed into a parked car on March 18. He suffered lacerations to his face and arm and a knee injury. Photo by Eli Husted.

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at Nationals, where he will aim for his third national title in a row and the Junior Tour of Ireland.

“Of course, had I not crashed, I would have been training through the two weeks that I was not training,” Husted said. “ Yes , it slows me down a little bit,

but not too bad.”

Husted will continue to race but never again with his face down.

“I guess when I had ridden my bike previously, I’d look down, or look away, or look at something else when I was riding just because I felt comfortable,” Husted said. “But after this, I just notice how much I look away, and it’s encouraged me to keep my head up and always look out for everything.”

Husted raced in the local cycling series, the Driveway Series, on April 19. As his first race back from his injury, Husted is happy with how it went.

“I wasn’t sure what to expect, I was nervous and excited,” Husted said. “I found out I had more strength than I thought because I was able to hover around the front of the race for a long time.”

Since his March 18 accident, Husted has resumed training for his rigorous summer schedule of national and international cycling events.

Photo by Anna Compton.

At the Driveway Race Series, on April 19, Eli Husted competed in his first race since his injury.

Husted used the event as a time to transition back into racing. Photo courtesy of Brooks Bixler.

27 april 2018

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APRIL 3

3-0 McCALLUM MCNEIL PARK MCNEIL

Spring sports round-up

APRIL 10

15 - 1 McCALLUM NELSON FIELD LANIER APRIL 13

McCALLUM

4-2

NORTHWEST PARK

LANIER

APRIL 14

SMITHSON 2 - 1 VALLEY SMITHSON VALLEY MCCALLUM APRIL 17

34 - 0

MCCALLUM NORTHWEST PARKREAGAN APRIL 20

MCCALLUM

18 - 2

NELSON FIELD

REAGAN

Freshman Charlie-Joe Owen and junior Abraham Dietz cheers on the varsity from the dugout as the Knights beat Reagan, 34-0. Photo by JR Cardenas.

Knights finish district with sweep of Reagan, rematch with LBJ Seniors Eric Worden and Mason Bryant did significant damage with their bats last Friday as the Knights completed a sweep of Reagan with an 18-2 win. Worden drove in four runs with a double and two productive ground ball outs.

“It felt good [to drive in runs] even though I didn’t get a hit like I wanted to,” Worden said. “I was still able to help the team out

Sprinter Gage, high jumper Shaw qualify for regional meet Junior Deron Gage placed fourth in the 200-meter dash Thursday April 19 at the UIL 5A Area 25-26 track meet at Burger Stadium. His 22.75 was a personal record and qualified him to advance to the regional meet. Teammate Ian Shaw placed third and also qualified in the high jump with a personal best 6-foot jump.

Sophomore Lily Parker ran the 400 meters and finished seventh with a time of 1.02.76. Gabby Jones was eight in the high jump. Parker also competed with Jasmine Davis, Mariko Deloach and Brittney Williams in the 4x 100 meters with a finishing time of 50.95 and place sixth.

Tyrell Washington was sixth in the 100 meters and seventh in the 200 meters. The boys 100- 200- and 400-meter relay teams were fifth, eighth and seventh respectively.

overall and make something positive happen.”

Bryant drove in three with a double and a triple in three atbats. Cole Ross and Abraham Dietz pitched for the Knights. The Knights played LBJ for the outright district title on Tuesday night, but the results of the game were not available at the time of print.

Lady Knights to play Lockhart Lions in state playoffs MARCH 29

AUSTIN HIGH

17 - 0

BUTLER PARK

MCCALLUM

APRIL 3

MCCALLUM

1

20 - 5

BUTLER PARK

TRAVIS

APRIL 6

19 - 3

CROCKETT GARRISON FIELD MCCALLUM

Sophomore Lily Parker poses with sophomore Mariko Deloach, freshman Brittney Williams and senior Jasmine Davis after placing sixth at the area track meet on April 19.

APRIL 13

12 - 0 MCCALLUM NOACK LANIER FIELD APRIL 16

2

Deron Gage poses on the fourth-place podium after placing in the 200 meters.

Photos by Bodhi Tripathi.

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Shortstop Ciara Medrano was 4-for-4 with a double, a triple and two runs batted in, right fielder Zoe Tormollen was 2-for4 with three runs batted in, and Medrano, Mariah Jackson and Amanda Biscoe each scored twice as the Knights battled the LBJ Jaguars on Friday in a bonus game that determined which team would finish third in the district. The Jaguars prevailed in the game 11-9 and will now face District 26-5A runner-up Dripping Springs in the playoffs. Despite the loss, the Knights still qualified for the state playoffs as the No. 4 seed from District 25-5A. They faced the district 26-5A champion Lockhart in the opening round of the state playoffs on April 26. Results of that game were not available at the time of print.

20 - 1 REAGAN MCCALLUM NOACK FIELD APRIL 20

LBJ

11 - 9 MCCALLUM

NOACK FIELD

1. Sophomore Ciara Medrano attempts to field a ball in the third inning in the Knights third matchup against LBJ this season. Photo by Sylvia Zamora.

2. The infielders meet in the pitcher’s circle before to support pitcher, junior Zoe Hocker. Photo by Charlie Holden.

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Junior really cleans up Crofut plays catcher, infield or wherever her coach needs her to play The Shield: When did you start playing softball and what made you want to start playing softball?

Julia Crofut: I started when I was like 5. I played baseball because I wasn’t allowed to play softball, and then I moved up [when] I was 8 or 9. I started playing softball with Northwest. I played like every sport basically, but I liked softball the most.

TS: When you were a freshman you were put on varsity.

What was that experience like?

JC: I had always heard [that] the old coach was waiting for me [and] the new incomers; they knew me from Lamar [Middle School], so it was kind of weird at first. I’ve always played with older girls, but it was weird playing with girls who were on their way to college, and how different their mindset was from mine was weird to me. Just seeing them going into college and basically seeing my future in a person was cool to me.

TS: What has the pressure been like being on varsity your past three years?

JC: It got better every year. I got to know the girls more [because] I was on varsity with a couple people that are still on varsity today.

TS: What’s the camaraderie like on the team?

JC: We do have weird jokes; we get together and just grew [closer] being girls in high school and knowing how the life is and making jokes about it, trying to relieve stress with playing softball and just being in the dugout.

TS: How do you feel the team works under stressful circumstances?

JC: [When] we get on ourselves more than we should and [when] we hit bad innings, we always bring [the energy] up [usually after] a speech that coach will have for us.

TS: What is your relationship with Coach Matz?

JC: She’s like my second mom. [She] always has been honestly, she’s very [much a] mom figure.

TS: How was it at the beginning of this year, having the position you play changed so often?

JC: I had to adjust; it’s always good to just start somewhere else,

and I liked being catcher, and I was catcher for Nina [Buford]. Now I’m back at third, or shortstop, wherever [Matz] needs me, and I kind of predicted it since Talina Briceno left and we had Hannah Smith leave too. Because they graduated, we needed someone else to be catcher, so it was fun.

TS: How has batting been for you this year, being No. 4 in the lineup?

JC: It’s kind of weird this year. I’m kind of just more focused on my batting average more than hitting the ball out of the park.

Like whoever’s on base, hit it where I need to and [make it to where] we can score more runs.

TS: What’s been your favorite memories of the season so far, since it’s almost over?

JC: Either the tournaments or how coach told us she was pregnant. I really liked the tournaments this year; last year they were kind of iffy.

TS: What happened at the tournaments this year that you really liked?

JC: We wanted [to win] a lot, and we pulled out more than I thought we would. We came together and we bonded during our off time. We watched Moana, and we played, and it was nice.

TS: What else do you do outside of McCallum softball and what are you thinking of for college?

JC: Well, I train every morning now at 6 a.m., and my diet is a lot different than most high schoolers, but it’s more me getting ready for college, getting my studies and getting used to the morning workouts and then practice after school and then games. It’s a lot, but I’ve also been doing this my whole high school career I guess.

TS: What are you thinking for college? Are you trying to play?

JC: Oh yeah. Over the summer I’m actually going to try and commit to Texas Lutheran.

—interview by Maddie Doran and Zoe Hocker

Photo by Maddie Doran

words of wisdom from

COACH MATZ Coach: Crofut stands out for her versatility, intensity, goofiness

Junior Julia Crofut swings during McCallum’s 20-0 victory over Lanier on March 20 at Noack Field. Photo by Joseph Cardenas.

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The Shield: What does Julia bring to the team?

Rachael Matz: I think versatility is her strongest suit because I’ve been trying to get her to catch since she was a freshman, and this is the first year that she’s actually done it. But obviously that didn’t go the way that we wanted it, because she had to switch from catcher back to third. But she can play short if we need her to play short; she can play third, she can play in the outfield if we need her to play in the outfield, and she can pitch, and just [her] level of play. When you have these players that have experience and have a good deal of knowledge about the sport, it just brings a different level to the team as a whole. Obviously some players are more prepared for that than others. Some players take to that better than others, and that’s always going to be the case, but when you look around and you have those players that just have a higher level of experience and have something more to offer that’s always a good thing.

TS: What about her attitude, her positivity and her cheering on other people?

RM: She’s loud, but I think—and I think Julia would agree with this—I think it took her awhile to settle in and to find her role.

She’s been on varsity since she was a freshman, and it took her a little longer to figure out where she fit as far as communicating and talking to other players and this year has been the best year as far as camaraderie at least that I’ve seen. Sometimes, it does take a while to develop more communication, but this year has been strong

in that aspect. We definitely know who’s yelling. You can pick her scream out from anyone else’s, but I think it’s definitely something that she settled into more this year than in years past.

TS: What do you have to say about her hitting because she has the highest batting average (.629 as of April 17) and slugging percentage (1.190) on the team and is the only player to hit the ball over the fence for a home run?

RM: Yeah, her slugging percentage is over 1.000, which is ridiculous in terms of really anybody, but I think too that it just speaks to [her] level of experience. I know, and other players know, how much she works outside of McCallum. This isn’t just a high school softball experience for her; this is more than high school, and again not to say that this isn’t for other players either, but I think you definitely get that sense of competitiveness with Julia, to get up at 5:30 a.m. to go work out, to go have a hitting lesson, to leave practice after school and go back to have another lesson after school. I think it just speaks to that level of commitment and competitiveness that she’s got.

TS: If you could pick one or two words to describe Julia, what words would you use?

RM: Intense goofball. Because the intensity is definitely there, but so is being a goofball, and she’s got both aspects. You can’t always see both, but they’re both there, so I think that if I had to sum her up in two words it would be intense goofball.

—interview by Maddie Doran and Zoe Hocker

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Until they’re locked up, keep them locked out

L.O.C.K. Program

Gun reform is necessary but legislative action is lagging, requiring us to rely on programs like LOCK to keep us safe CHARLIE HOLDEN co-editor in chief

When news of the deaths of 17 students and faculty members at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School filtered through every news outlet in the nation on Feb. 14, reactions were varied. The grief, confusion, anger, doubt and shock that ripped through each community—from the suburbs of south central Florida to the steps of the Capitol building in Washington D.C.—could not be denied. For many students, each of those feelings soon gave way to fear for their own safety. If it happened in Florida, why not Texas? If it happened in Parkland, why not Austin? If the students who write for The Eagle Eye, the Marjory Stoneman student newspaper, had to publish obituaries, why not us, the students who write for The Shield? Administrators picked up on these fears quickly and set to finding a solution.

“We’ve always been [evaluating the safety of our campus], but [the district] wanted us to look at it all over again and kind of reevaluate how we do things,” assistant principal Gabe Reyes said. “So, the initiative was to try to secure the building as best we could.”

The solution, as all members of the McCallum community have surely noticed, is the LOCK program. According to the program, all classroom doors must be locked during school hours, outside doors must remain locked unless designated to remain open, the main office must be contacted in case of emergency, and all students and faculty must know lock down, reverse evacuation and fire-drill procedures. Although action was initiated by district officials, the LOCK program is unique to McCallum.

“The LOCK program is basically ours,” Reyes said. “It’s what we’re doing here. Other schools have their own programs. So we kind of looked at it and said, ‘Well, let’s get our own little program that’s kind of unique to us,’ because of the way our building is set up.”

Assistant principal Andrew Baxa and principal Mike Garrison joined Reyes in taking on the task of evaluating and implementing this new, unique program, which they developed through a process of trial and error.

“It’s been kind of ongoing, and it’s kind of evolved [as we saw] what worked and what didn’t work,” Reyes said. “We didn’t want to put a whole program in and then go, ‘Oh, we’ve got to change this, change this…’ So we kind of tested it out [to] see how we could get kids back and forth. And we know that it creates some challenges for kids to get to class and back, [but] the kids understand. I think they fully understand why we’ve [implemented the program] and hopefully they understand that it’s still a work in progress.”

It’s a work in progress, but some students feel like the idea is altogether a bad one. I’ve heard quite a bit of grumbling as I’ve walked through the halls or stood outside locked doors, tapping on Plexiglas windows for someone to please, let us in.

Some treat the LOCK program as Marjory Stoneman Douglas students have treated the new clear backpacks that have been

27 april 2018

issued to them: with contempt, as any ridiculous idea should be. But as annoying as a couple of locked doors can be, the program isn’t ridiculous.

It’s necessary.

Gun violence is a complex issue that will take complex solutions. We need legislative reform that will keep those who could cause serious harm to be kept away from guns, and if necessary, away from society. It’s what we’ve been asking for in the explosive March For Our Lives movement, and it’s the reason so many of us stood up and walked out for the anniversary of the Columbine shooting just one week ago. I want reform, but in the meantime, I want security. Nothing happens overnight, especially when Congress is involved, so the initiatives like the LOCK program take action when others won’t. It’s not perfect, and it’s not convenient, but it’s a fair price to pay.

Those who complain about the toll that locked doors adds to their class commute also point out that when even one door is left unlocked, a shooter can still get in, contradicting their previously stated need for unlockedeverything. This is undoubtedly true, as anyone who really, truly wants to get into the building will find a way, but three entry points are much easier to monitor than 13 (which is the amount of entrances to the main building that remained unlocked before the program).

We have accused those in charge of doing nothing, and yet we accuse them of doing too much and too little all at once when they put in the effort to devise an honest solution. Scaling back would put us in the same position as before while doubling down would lead to increased resistance (McCallum, a closed campus?

Can you imagine?)

There’s a second solution, one that we can all participate in.

The ‘C’ of the LOCK program touches on it: Call.

“If you see something, say something,” Reyes said. “Kids are the eyes and ears of what’s going on [around] campus. If you see something as a student, if you see an adult or somebody on campus that you don’t recognize, let an adult know that way we can deal with it as administration. We have our SROs that are also on campus, so anytime that happens when you see somebody or something that’s not right, just like the district says, if you see something, say something.”

It’s essential that we know what we can do to keep ourselves and our classmates and teachers safe, and that includes allowing administration to implement their own ideas of what is best for our collective safety.

Graphic by Charlie Holden.

Lock all classroom doors during

school hours Outside doors to remain locked, unless designated to remain open Call main office in case of emergency— “If you see something, say something.”

Know lock down, reverse evacuation, fire drill and other safety procedures

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1

Into (South) Africa

Family trip reveals a place of unparalleled beauty, racial progress

story and photos by

Julie Robertson

M

y trip to South Africa and Botswana was probably the most anticipated event of 2018 for my family and me.

My brother, who is a junior in college, is studying abroad this semester. He chose to study in Cape Town, South Africa.

Our family decided that we would visit him at some point in his semester abroad, but first we spent months of planning and booking Airbnbs, flights and safaris, which built up a massive amount of excitement in my family.

Finally, the day of our departure arrived. I was all packed, and my mom and I drove down to the Houston airport to catch our first nine-hour flight to Paris. We got to the airport, parked our car and headed to the airline counter to check in. As we were checking in at the kiosk, the lady checking us in for Air France asked if we had a visa. ‘No, we do not have a visa,” my mom said. “We are just visiting for under a month and do not need a visa.””OK,” she said, but her decision was a huge mistake on her part (and ours), as we later find out. We got through security and met up with my dad by our gate. We were all buzzing with excitement and could not wait to board the plane. Once we were on the plane, we got comfortable and were on our way.

We had a short connection in Paris, and our flight getting in was already a bit late, so we were ready to dash to our next flight. We ran to our gate after going through customs and border security only to arrive and find that my name was flashing up on the sign over the gate. We figure it was just a routine check, so we did not panic. We got to the front desk and they asked us one simple question, “Where is her birth certificate?”

“Birth certificate? What birth certificate?”

We never knew we needed a birth certificate to get to South Africa, and Air France let us get all the way to Paris, halfway around the world without it. And without it, we could not go any further.

The trip that I had planned for months and was something I was looking forward to for so long seemed to be crumbling in front of

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my eyes because of one sheet of paper that we did not have.

After a panic attack, tears and basically complete heartbreak, my mom, my dad and I scrambled to figure out how to retrieve my birth certificate and have it express shipped to Paris from Austin.

Over the next three days, we tirelessly coordinated with the people in Austin FedEx-ing my birth certificate halfway around the world. It wasn’t cheap, but after much rearranging of our trip to get things back in order, we were set to leave Monday, three days after our initial arrival in Paris.

When we landed in Cape Town nine hours later, my brother was waiting for us at the airport. We were relieved and excited to see him after all we had been through. We took a taxi 30 minutes into town to the western part of Cape Town, Camps Bay, where our first Airbnb was. We were just staying at this place for two nights.

Camps Bay is an extremely affluent beach suburb in the City Bowl, which is the downtown part of Cape Town. Camps is separated from Cape Town by Lion’s Head Mountain. To get there, you take a road up and over the hill. Since we were only going to be at our first rental for a couple nights before we headed out for a safari, we decided to spend the extra money to be in a really relaxing place and spend our first couple of days at the beach.

Our townhouse was just a two-minute walk to the beach, and we arrived just in time to see the sunset. Cape Town is known for its spectacular sunsets, and our first one there did not disappoint.

The sky put on a lightshow for us with so many colors over the ocean. If you looked behind you from the ocean you see the iconic Table Mountain, a 3,000-foot mountain in the backdrop of Cape Town. It is flanked by the 12 Apostles, the other mountain faces adjacent to it.

The next day we hiked up Lion’s Head Mountain, a signature City Bowl mountain that offered spectacular views but also intense sunburns. I learned the hard way that the South African

sun is most powerful than the Texan sun and got some great tanlines and sunburns. Once we scaled Lion’s Head we headed to Clifton Beach to jump into the icy Atlantic and hang out on the beach. It was one of the most beautiful places I had ever been, and I kept having to pinch myself to believe that I was even there. We went to watch the sunset again that night. The recurring phrase in my family was “I could get used to this.”

For the next three days we were in Botswana on a safari in the Okavango Delta. That was an experience that could only be described as a dream. The lodge that we stayed at had no WiFi or cell service so we were completely off the grid for several days, which I loved. I got to focus on being in this amazing place with amazing people and wildlife. We went out for morning and afternoon game drives every day where we saw zebras, giraffes, elephants, lions, monkeys, buffalo, birds, impala and much more.

The most amazing animal that we saw was a wild young leopard.

When we first encountered him, he was up in a tree just staring down at us as we eagerly took photos and tried to stay quiet about how excited we were to see him. Then he hopped down from the tree and edged closer and closer toward our safari vehicle. We got some great photos, but then the leopard got a little too friendly with us. He decided to hop up onto the vehicle and mess around with the shoes of one of the men in our car. Our guide told us to stay completely still so he would not scratch anyone, but once the wild cat actually got hold of the guy’s shoe, our guide started the engine and the wild leopard hopped off and darted back into the bushes.

The close call with the leopard was one of the highlights of my life just because we were so close to one of the five iconic animals that you can encounter in Africa.

But coming back to the city a few days later, a new lesson and experience played out before my eyes. A lot of people in my generation are unaware of the history of South Africa regarding apartheid. There

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was the extreme segregation between white and colored people that lasted roughly for 50 years, and was only ended recently in 1991.

Even though the systemic segregation laws are gone, the awful legacy of that time is still visible everywhere. When you fly into Cape Town, in the last couple of minutes you fly over hundreds of shanty-town shacks which are where many of the impoverished live in Cape Town.

These are tiny homes made out of metal boxes where entire families live. The remnants of apartheid in Cape Town do not stop just there, however. Like I said before, Lion’s Head Mountain is like a dividing line in the city between the diverse melting pot City Bowl and the affluent hilly neighborhood of Clifton and Camps Bay. Although the lines of segregation can still be seen to the eyes, you cannot help but be impressed by the progress that the country has made in just over 25 years. Seeing that the city has made so much progress trying to create equality for all races left me inspired and wanting to see the same progress in the United States.

Especially with all of the recent racial issues that have occurred in the past few months in the United States, I couldn’t help but wish we were striving for change as much as South Africa was when apartheid ended in the 1990s. South Africa is a true melting pot of people, boasting the second largest population of Indians outside of India, a large Muslim community and neighborhood, not to mention the plethora of different languages that you hear walking down the street from the countless African tribes. South Africa has embraced its diverse community, and the nation sets a shining example for the rest of the world on how to adapt to a community that for so long was completely separated.

For my last week in Cape Town, I witnessed how inclusive the people were and how much they appreciate the beautiful location that they call home. One day I want to go back to Cape Town, and maybe to work there, because it was the kind of place that you want to wake up in every day because of how inspiring the people and nature around you are.

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1. On the second week of being in South Africa, we ventured down to the southwestern most point of the country, the Cape of Good Hope, where we saw where the Indian ocean met the Atlantic, a mash of ecosystems.

2. On our first-morning safari game drive, we came across this leopard. We tracked him and his father for over an hour until he started tracking us.

3. After four hours of climbing Table Mountain in Cape Town, we were rewarded with amazing views like this one.

4. South Africa is known for its breathtaking sunsets, so we tried to catch the sunset from anywhere we could.

5. On the day we drove down to the Cape of Good Hope, the most southwestern point in South Africa. We discovered a secret beach called Diaz Beach that we reached only after descending 200 stairs.

6. The canopy tree walk over Kirtstenboche National Botanical Gardens.

7. On our first day in South Africa, my family climbed up Lion’s Head Mountain, which boasted amazing views of the beaches below.

8. On our safari in Botswana, we spent 45 minutes tracking these two lions, a male and a female, to this field where they put on a show for us.

9. Clifton Beach in western Cape Town is made up of four beaches that people come to from all over Camps Bay. The crystal clear blue waters looked extremely inviting after hiking up Lion’s Head Mountain, but the water hovers around 50 degrees so our swim was extremely brief.

Photos by Julie Robertson.

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Closing the testing gap

Illustration by Charlie Holden.

APs work against students who are already at a disadvantage JULIE ROBERTSON co-editor in chief

It is mid February, and teachers are beginning to pass out the popular final exemption forms, formally called AP test order forms.

At $94 a pop, many put their pencils down right then, unable to afford to pay for the expensive college-assessment test, but for many enrolled in Advanced Placement, or AP, classes, students start checking off test after test that they will be taking in the isolated room in the church across the street from McCallum in May. According to the College Board—the company that writes and administers the AP and SAT tests—the fundamental goal of AP tests is to give students the opportunity to get college credit for an AP class they took in high school if they score above a 3 on the cumulative exam. As a student with testing anxiety and dyslexia, however, I have never benefited from being able to “show what I have learned throughout the year” through a three-hour multiple choice test despite the fact that I have taken three tests in the last two years and plan on taking four this year. This test is specifically for students who can afford to put down several hundred dollars.

Even if they can afford to pay for the test, there is no guarantee that they will pass, even if they are a straight-edged student who is good at taking multiple-choice tests and can remember fact after fact.

We can blame psychologist Dr. Carl Bringham for designing both the SAT and the Advanced Placement program in 1916. After years of modifying the SAT test, Bringham and The College Board only ended up undermining their original goals of having the test show actual intellectual talent. In fact, the test only favored a certain group of people. Minorities were completely discriminated against along with students who had cognitive disabilities. These tests catered specifically to students who were affluent and who shared the cultural perspective from which the tests were written.

The first SAT tests were administered in the 1920s, and the rest is history for what the SAT and the AP tests have been doing to students in generation after generation.

For me, the tests are a completely unfair assessment of what I have learned in a class throughout the year. I appreciate taking AP classes because I know I will be challenged, and all the students in those classes with me are there to be challenged too, but I do not believe that the best way to see if a student is ready for college and getting exempt from the college course is through a timed test at the end of the school year. Especially since I have dyslexia, I am not able to remember specific facts that other students might be able to recall, which is critical for exams like the U. S. history AP test you can take as a junior. This system greatly benefits the student who can easily recall what was taught throughout the year. Students like me, however, who learn better through concept-based instruction and through written expression, struggle. It is not fair that we pay $100 just to get a failing score because we cannot remember facts as well as the next guy.

At this point, the main reason that I even take the AP test is not because I will get college credit because there is a pretty low chance of that happening, but rather because I will be exempt from that class’s final exam. I hope that one day, the College Board will realize the gap that they are creating for kids discriminated against because of race, socioeconomic status, or a learning difference and try to actually come up with an assessment solution to solve the problems.

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Redundant at best

AP courses force students, teachers to learn tests not material MADISON OLSEN photo editor

Sophomores to seniors around the school will all tell you AP exams are hell in a hand basket. And honestly who can blame them? Two weeks with back-to-back tests after long nights spent hunched over a textbook trying to memorize a unit’s worth of material from the first few weeks of school is not what I would consider a good time.

But even considering all that stress over energy-sapping, soul-sucking tests, even after missing classes, the thing that bothers me the most about AP classes is that I feel like I spend the entire year learning how to take a test.

Now don’t get me wrong, I’m not trying to criticize my teachers because I feel like we waste all of our time working from examples of past free-response questions.

They’re just doing their job—which is to prepare me for the AP exam. But since when is it my teachers’ job to prepare me for a test instead of prepare me for life?

Thanks, AP curriculum. I know how to detect satire in 1800s British prose, but I have never learned how to fill out a W-2 tax form.

Now, my complaints may come off whiny, so I’m going to paint a picture for you. Imagine a world without AP tests.

Now ignore what that might mean in the college-credit picture and focus on the classroom part, the part where you come to school to learn. There is no April full of discussions about squeezing a few hours of literary analysis into the 40-minute time period, nor multiple-choice prep or short answers to write. You walk into class and have a discussion about a piece of poetry or spend all day in the library doing research about the economic effects of the French Revolution. I feel like if that were the case, I would have a

much richer, more balanced education instead of dreading school from March until the beginning of May. But we do not live in this perfect world. We live in a world where a good portion of students don’t even take the test after a year in an AP class because the $94 isn’t worth the likelihood they will fail the test. And in fact, your chances of passing are near 50/50, at least for AP U.S. History, according to the national 2017 College Board results. And your chances of getting a four or a five, which is what many colleges require for credit, are even slimmer. So what are you left with, after a year of hard work in an AP class? No college credit and a waste of $94, but hey, at least you can write an essay about the Stamp Act in 30 minutes.

Again, my frustration is not with the many wonderful teachers at McCallum, nor with the concept of getting college credit. My problem is that it seems like we spend a inordinate portion of the year learning how to pass the AP test, how to write the response question or how to manage the time constraint, and less time focusing on the material.

This “AP boot camp,” which occupies all of April, gets frustrating when my mental efforts have long since moved on from multiple-choice practice. But don’t confuse this sentiment with senioritis. It’s not that I’m lazy or have stopped caring about school. I do, however, want to learn and prepare myself for college life more than I want to practice writing essays.

Unfortunately, my complaints against the AP system aren’t really easily solved. The busy work done in class to prepare us for the AP tests is graded not optional. And while I acknowledge that they may be helpful to my score, I would prefer to spend outside-of-school time with AP prep so I can get the most out of my numbered remaining days of high school.

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‘We regret to inform you...’

Graphic by Charlie Holden.

SOPHIE RYLAND assistant editor

“I failed that test; I’m so stupid. I’m never going to get into a good college.”

I can’t count how many times I’ve heard myself or a classmate beat themselves up, convinced that every bad grade or dropped extracurricular was a life-or-death mistake. But as seniors contemplate the schools they got into and those they didn’t in preparation for May 1, it’s important to remember this: college admissions is a tricky game. It is not at all the meritocracy it champions itself to be. Where you go to college has less bearing on your success in life than what you do once you’re actually there.

According to Malcolm Gladwell’s essay in The New Yorker, admissions into Harvard University were initially based solely on standardized test scores: as long as you qualified (and were a white male), you were in. This meant that greater amounts of “non-traditional” students—i.e. those who were not Protestant boarding school students—were attending the school, a fact the administration found unacceptable. So they revised admissions standards to require personal essays, an interview and a notification of legacy status (whether they had a parent who had attended Harvard). This admissions process became the standard process that nearly every school uses today. While it is accepted practice, the original purpose for it was to keep Jewish people out of Harvard. An Office of Civil Rights investigation in the 1980s found the comment, “short with big ears,” written on one applicant’s file.

And has it changed at all? Not really. A 2011 study, ironically out of Harvard, found that at 30 of the “highly-selective colleges,” a student whose parent attended the school as an undergraduate had a 45 percent higher chance of being accepted.

Like legacy students, rural and international students also have an unfair advantage. Many colleges will look upon applicants from rural areas more favorably, given that they are often saturated with urban, privately educated applicants. Last year, the number of international students enrolled in American colleges and universities increased 10 percent from the previous year. Colleges love international students. The more countries they can

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Admission process to prestigious schools favors the wealthy and ultimately doesn’t matter much represent in their glossy brochures, the better. It also doesn’t hurt that international students often pay much higher tuitions.

College admissions have become a twisted, indecipherable game, where students from higherincome families hire college consultants to help them navigate unintuitive aspects of the process such as demonstrated interest and early decision.

To calculate demonstrated interest, a college records how many times you make a “touch” with the school, which can include emailing them, attending an information session or visiting the campus. The count supposedly indicates the applicant’s interest, but all it really does is add yet another part of the game that first-generation, lower-income students are less likely to know how to play or be able to afford.

Early decision, an admissions process where student can apply early but if admitted are obligated to attend the school, has also been criticized as showing preference to more privileged students, who have the security to commit to a school without knowledge of financial aid or scholarship options.

For example, Vanderbilt University fills 54 percent of its class with students from early decision.

Schools also consider financial circumstances outright; they might not accept a student because they don’t have the ability to pay. A report from the National Association for College Admission Counseling found that about half of institutions said that an applicant’s “ability to pay” was of at least “some importance” in their admissions decisions. Some of the most selective schools admit more students from the top 1 percent of the income ladder than the bottom 60 percent.

The process is completely different for students with college-educated, middle-class parents: standardized test prep classes, writing coaches and college consultants are all unique amenities, as well as the encouragement and advice from their parents.

Still intimidated by those admission rates? To boost their rankings in publications like U.S. News, colleges will buy information from standardized-test

companies and then encourage as many students as possible to apply, regardless of whether or not they think they actually have a chance to be accepted. The larger the applicant pool, the lower their admissions rate is, thus the higher their ranking will be.

Other factors have skewed the process even more.

Because of the ease of using the Common App to complete multiple applications, approximately eight in 10 freshmen applied to at least three colleges in 2015, and the amount who applied to seven or more was up 17 percent from a decade ago.

And before you beat yourself up for not being perfect, keep this in mind: more than two-thirds of Stanford’s applicants with perfect scores didn’t get in, according to an article in the school’s alumni journal.

So why do we care so much about what such a small fraction of the world of higher education has to say? Schools representing only 20 percent of American higher education, those that accept fewer than half their applicants, accounted for around a third of all college applications in 2014. The top tier of U. S. college freshman said that reputation was “very important” to them in selecting a college in 2015—about 70 percent of them, according to UCLA’s Higher Education Research Institute. These schools are sought after like brand names.

A Harvard study found that teenagers today are three times more likely to agree than disagree with this statement: “My parents are prouder if I get good grades than if I’m a caring community member.”

Furthermore, 80 percent say achievement or happiness is their top priority, while only 20 percent say caring for others is their top priority. And to what end? The proportion of teenagers who report that they frequently feel anxious or depressed has doubled in the last 30 years, according to the Nuffield Foundation.

Parents, for the most part, have good intentions.

They want their kids to have the best life possible, which they think is at least in part dependent on the exclusivity and prestige of the college they attend.

The increasing pressure on kids to succeed, however, only breeds negative results: high-achieving kids

develop perfectionism and low self-esteem, while low-achieving kids conclude early that they will never succeed, so they might as well give up.

And what causes all this hand-wringing self doubt? The whims of one or two people on a particular day. James Cole, the former provost of Columbia University, told The Atlantic that admission often depends on “which person in the admissions committee reads your application; what their biases are, their presuppositions; whether they’ve had a bad egg-salad sandwich that day or read too many applications. These are all things that enter our decision-making process as human beings.”

The truth is, what college you go to doesn’t really matter. As long as you feel comfortable and empowered to push yourself to broaden your mind and try new experiences, you will get what you need out of the college experience.

Frank Bruin of The New York Times looked into the undergraduate alma maters of the CEOs of the top 10 Fortune 500 companies. The names might surprise you: University of Arkansas, University of Texas, UC Davis, University of Nebraska, Texas A&M, Kettering University, University of Kansas, University of Missouri, and Dartmouth College. Only one Ivy League school. The rest are mostly state schools.

Gallup and Purdue University conducted a study that found that the type of school a student attended, whether it was private or public, selective or less selective, mattered less to the success and happiness later in life than what they did while they were in school.

College admissions officers should limit the number of extracurriculars students can list on their application, de-emphasize standardized test scores and discourage high schoolers from enrolling in more than a handful of AP courses—at poorer high schools, they offer fewer or even no AP courses, and at wealthier schools a heavy load of them is found to increase sleep deprivation, anxiety and depression in teenagers. These steps will help to soothe the mania that compels teenagers to cram their schedule with activities and classes they don’t care at all about in the hopes of impressing colleges. College admissions should be exciting, not anxiety-inducing. Wherever you go, you will have all the tools you need to discover your passions and succeed, and that’s not something you can measure by an admissions rate.

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The weight of the world

Illustration by Charlie Holden.

Teachers educate the future on a nickel-and-dime budget

Across America, teachers face the challenge of supporting their classrooms, their families and themselves with inadequate salaries. In the debate over teacher pay, it is necessary to address those that are affected the most: schools located in areas with minority, low-income communities. Teachers at Del Valle schools have much more pressing issues than classroom supplies to worry about as the percentage of the total student population who are at risk of dropping out is 72.2. Kids often come to school with empty backpacks and empty stomachs, which prevent them from being able to pay attention and truly absorb information. Textbooks are outdated and typically in a state of disrepair, and teachers and students alike do not have adequate access to technology, which is vital to transition into an age of online assignments.

According to the 2016 American Community Survey released by the U.S. Census Bureau, the median income in Texas is $56,565 per year—an amount that even a teacher with 20 years of teaching experience will be $10,000 shy of earning. The middle class income range starts at $37,900, but teachers with no prior experience can have a starting salary as low as $27,320. Even though Texas teachers have had fewer pay cuts than more than half of the states in the nation, there is still much more that needs to be done in order to fully fund our public school system. Teachers deserve adequate supplies and training, but even more than that, they deserve wages that don’t drive them to second jobs, to missed rental payments or to the local food banks.

Our government needs to realize that the amount that teachers are paid is disproportionate to the influence that they have in educating future generations. In Texas, a majority of state funding and property taxes are alloted towards funding public education.

Even so, most teachers in Austin are still left underpaid in a city where property taxes are exponentially increasing and personal expenses are increasing much faster than the means to pay for them. On top of that, teachers have to pay out-of-pocket to replace supplies that are either outdated or not provided to them in the first place. Our legislators should be doing more to address the effects that Austin’s ever-increasing cost of living has on teachers. This is especially true for new teachers, who don’t have the experience required to negotiate an increase in their salary, or the ability to even negotiate a fair, living wage. Young teachers out

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A.N. McCallum High School 5600 Sunshine Drive Austin, TX 78756 (512) 414-7539 fax (512) 453-2599 contact.macshield@gmail.com

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of college are also saddled with student loans, and making such a menial wage means that they won’t be able to pay off these loans for a very long time, causing them to rack up interest. And while it’s true that most people don’t get high-paying jobs straight out of college, few professions have wages as stagnant as teachers. Look at the wages of workers one, two or three decades out of college and you’ll quickly notice that most professions have an upward trend— except teaching. Is this really the value we place on our children’s futures?

The other problem that Texas teachers face is their inability to go on strike without the threat of their teaching certificates being revoked. Being denied their constitutional rights makes teachers unable to protest for increased wages, rendering their voices almost useless in promoting real change.

Those who argue against increased wages for teachers on the grounds that they have summers off or work less during the week than those in other full-time jobs aren’t taking into consideration the staggering amount of behind-the-scenes work educators do.

Grading work and designing lesson plans takes up weeknights and weekends, and the majority of their summers are spent preparing for the new school year, and in some cases, teachers are forced to search for second jobs during this so-called “vacation” time to supplement their meager income. Some teachers can lean on the salaries of spouses, but that’s often not enough to also support their own children. Add the fact that teachers also have to deal with meddling district officials, students dealing with social/emotional problems and irate parents, and it becomes clear that teaching is already a full-time job and then some.

We are living in a world where what teachers are teaching in the classroom plays a vital role in shaping the lives of their students.

Teachers have the weight of the world on their shoulders to make sure students are prepared for their lives after K-12 education.

Every year, teachers accept that challenge by working for next to nothing and are expected to dedicate all their effort and hard work in order to better the future, not for a paycheck. This is why their job is one of the most important jobs in America, and their pay should reflect that title. They raise the next generation. It is time for their salaries to go up, and for teachers to finally be appreciated for the work they have done for our country.

editors-in-chief CHARLIE HOLDEN AND JULIE ROBERTSON assistant editors ANNA COMPTON

MADDIE DORAN

ZOE HOCKER

MADISON OLSEN

SOPHIE RYLAND

adviser DAVE WINTER

reporters EMMA BAUMGARDNER, JOSEPH CARDENAS, GREGORY JAMES, MAX RHODES, ABIGAIL SALAZAR, KELSEY TASCH, STEVEN TIBBETTS The Shield is published by journalism students in the newspaper production class. Although students work under the guidance of a professional faculty member, the student staff ultimately determines the content.

Students may not publish material that is obscene, libelous or that which will cause a “substantial disruption to the

26 opinion

educational process.” Content that may stimulate heated debate is not included in this definition.

The Shield operates as an open forum for exchange of ideas. Opinions expressed in editorials are the ideas of the staff. Opinions expressed in the columns are that of the writer’s alone.

Letters to the editor are encouraged

and must be signed. Positive identification may be required when a letter is submitted. Letters may be edited. Letters that are critical of the newspaper staff’s coverage of events or that present information that may stimulate heated debate will be published.

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Anyone interested in purchasing an ad should contact adviser Dave Winter at (512) 414-7539. The Shield is a member of the Interscholastic League Press Conference, the National Scholastic Press Association the Columbia Scholastic Press Association and the Southern Interscholastic Press Association.

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Quince candles

Ballet Folklórico puts on grand “birthday” celebration for 16 girls and their escorts Sophomore quinceañera Lucy Smith and escort Richard Hernandez dance together during their choreographed waltz routine. “I’m in Ballet Folklórico, so Mrs. Gun asked the rest of the team, and I to be in [the quinceañera],” Smith said. “I had fun dancing and hanging out with friends.”

Photo by Steven Tibbetts.

Freshman and sophomore quinceañeras Elena Rangel and Cameryn Borman walk towards a limousine for a ride around the block. “I wasn’t expecting that ... the limo, which was really cool,” Rangel said. Photo by Sarah Slaten.

Spanish teacher and Ballet Folklórico sponsor Juana Gun, who organized the quinceañera for the third year in a row, introduces the quinceañeras and their escorts for their dance routine. “This started when one of my Ballet Folklorico girls said, ‘Mrs. Gun, did you have a quinceañera?’ and I said, ‘No, my family couldn’t afford it,’” Gun said.

“So, we brainstormed how we could have a McCallum High School quinceañera for people that wanted to be in it.”

Photo by Sarah Slaten.

Sophomore Gabriella Huerta dances to music played by the DJ after the waltz routine.

Photo by Sarah Slaten.

The 16 quinceañeras and 12 escorts perform the waltz routine to open the quinceañera. Photo

by Sarah Slaten.

Sophomore escort Gage Bausman and quinceañera Kristen Tibbetts smile for pictures. Bausman said that he participated in the quinceañera because Gun offered extra credit, but ended up having a blast.

Photo by Sarah Slaten.

McCallum alumnus Juan Diaz and the Juan Diaz Trio perform mariachi. “[Diaz] called up other musicians to help out,” Gun said. “I said, ‘What do I call you all?’ and he said, ‘Call us the Juan Diaz Trio.’” Photo by Sarah Slaten.

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