Mccallum HS Shield (vol 64 issuu 5) by The Shield

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WHAT’S INSIDE Cancer can’t hold back sophomore Townes Hobratschk page 08

McCallum High School / 5600 Sunshine / Austin, TX 78756 /April 21, 2017 Issue 5 / Volume 64

Celebrating Rocco, who is having a ball as a retired police dog page 17 Is Austin still weird? Was it ever weird to begin with? page 25 Educators join SAVE TEXAS SCHOOLS rally page 06

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10 12 21 Baseball vs. Lanier at Nelson Fields @ 7 p.m. 21 Blue Brigade dance show in MAC @ 7 p.m. Ultimate vs. Hays at East Metropolitan 22 McCallum Fields @ noon. Night for baseball vs. Reagan at Northwest 28 Senior Field @ 7 p.m. Concerts Opening Night 28 Student-Directed in the MAC @ 7 p.m. Concerts Second Performance 29 Student-Directed in the MAC @ 7 p.m. 02 NHS Induction in MAC @ 7 p.m. Folklorico Cinco de Mayo celebration 05 Ballet in the MAC, 3 p.m. 06 Prom at the Blanton Museum @ 7 p.m. Songwriting Concert at Cherrywood Coffee House 13 @ 7 P.M. 13 AISD Percussion Concert in MAC @ 7 p.m. 16 AVID Awards Ceremony in Cafeteria @ 6 p.m.

ABOVE: Retired drug dog Rocco makes a visit back to McCallum on Tuesday. He’s not chasing down drugs any more, but he is still keen to chase a tennis ball down the main hallway. Read about his career and legacy on page 17. Photo by Dave Winter. RIGHT: Senior Jackson Akin and juniors Asa Brown and Hayden Stone celebrate after Brown caught a Callahan, a rare play in which a player intercepts the disc in an opponent’s end zone to score. The score helped McCallum Flatball defeat Lake Travis, 8-4, to complete a two game sweep at East Metro Fields in Manor on April 1. To find out more about ultimate and its captain, please see page 21. Photo by Charlie Holden. ON THE COVER: Hundreds of school teachers, school children and other advocates of public education descended on the Capitol on March 25 to participate in the Save Texas Schools rally. To find out more about the issues that brought them there, check out our photo story on pages 6-7. Photo by Kathryn Chilstrom.

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Next year, McCallum, Akins, Bowie and Lanier will not accept any more transfer students due to overcrowding on their campuses. After starting a bass fishing club, two juniors hope to expand membership, buy equipment, enter future fishing competitions.

a&e We sit down with senior Nick Ryland as he talks about what his senior year in the fine arts academy has meant to him. McCallum is known for its diverse students as well as its diverse styles. We took a look at three distinctly McCallum looks.

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Homelessness in the nation, state and at Mac is on the rise. The Shield is proud to presents an in-depth profile of Mac’s homeless students. McCallum’s best friend (and occasional enemy) has retired. Find out what police dog Rocco meant to the school and its students.

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The bowling team made it to regions for the first time in history, then they bowled out of their minds and qualified for state. For junior McCallum Flatball team captain Hayden Stone, Frisbee is the ultimate family pasttime and always has been.

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Seniors only have a month and a half left of school. We have a list of things all seniors must do before departing for college. Keep Austin Weird. That’s what our ubiquitous city mantra implores. But is Austin really weird? One columnist wonders.

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District freezes transfers for Mac

McCallum to be on list of schools that will no longer accept out-of-zone students ZOë HOCKER

assistant editor AISD has determined that for the 2017-18 school year, four high schools—McCallum, Akins, Bowie and Lanier—cannot accept student transfer requests. There are also 16 elementary schools and three middle schools who made the list. “The Central Office determined that if any high school was at 100 percent capacity or more, then they would be closed [to transfers],” Principal Mike Garrison said. “We’ve been closed before in the past, but I don’t recall them stopping the priority transfers, so that was something new for this coming year.” Before each school year starts, Austin Independent School District decides which schools have reached capacity or are expected to during the upcoming school year. If AISD determines that a school fits those requirements, they will decide that the school should be on the list of frozen transfer schools. This means that any school on the list cannot accept any transfers for the following school year. Although McCallum will not accept regular or priority transfer applications, the Fine Arts

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Academy will continue accepting magnet student transfers. Other students, however, like former Bowie High School sophomore, Emily Monagle, must make other plans. “I was really annoyed when I found out about [McCallum] not accepting transfers,” Monagle said. “That’s the only school I’d consider waking up early for.” Monagle had gone through the transfer application process at the end of the 201516 school year. The application process for transferring from one AISD school to another consists of filling out an application with proof of residence, birth certificate and a photo ID. Once the transfer gets approved, the student gets put on the waiting list depending on the number of people in the school to which they are applying. “I had to get lots of paperwork and records from my school so I could submit them,” Monagle said. “My parents and I had to fill out a form and then I was put on a waiting list.” Monagle never heard back about being on the waiting list and recently decided to do online school. She was one of many that never ended up getting into McCallum after the application process. Garrison was surprised at how many fewer students were predicted to

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I was really annoyed when I found out about [McCallum] not accepting transfers. That’s the only school I’d consider waking up early for.”

—prospective transfer student, sophomore Emily Monagle

be going to McCallum next year, but does not think that will change anytime soon. “Based on the information right now,” Garrison said. “I would not think [McCallum will be open for transfers soon] because they want us to stabilize around 100 percent. They project us around 1,711 students for next year. Before they changed the transfer policy, our projections for next year were like 1,793, so it made that big a difference. So I called student services and discussed that with them because I didn’t understand why there was such a drop [in projected enrollment].” Another reason that AISD gives on their website to justify schools being put on the

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frozen transfer list is to “maintain stability in tracking patterns,” which means that the district wants to keep the pattern that students go through from elementary to middle to high school in order and have room for all of those students. Therefore, McCallum will not be accepting out-of-zone students from any AISD middle schools other than Lamar and Kealing. For more information on transfers, visit https://www.austinisd.org/transfer.

The AISD superintendent Paul Cruz (center) and other board members discuss which schools should be on the frozen transfer list. Photo by Olivia Lueckemeyer, Community Impact Newspaper.

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Garrison aims to retain teaching jobs after enrollment projections decline Enrollment at McCallum has been projected to drop for the 2018-19 school year; as a result, AISD has allotted the school five fewer teaching slots. This means that some faculty members may have to leave the campus. “This year we were given 80 teachers,” principal Mike Garrison said. “Next year we’re getting 75 because they project our enrollment won’t be as high and because they shut off all the transfers, including priority transfers like sibling, tracking and majority-to-minority.” According to Garrison, teachers who are let go are put in a reserve from which other AISD principals can select. “The last one hired is usually the first one out,” Garrison said. “The years of experience matter. The less experience you have at AISD, not just McCallum, but AISD, puts you at the top of the list to be considered to be put in a reserve.” Garrison added there are always ways to keep teachers and feels that five teachers will not have to leave McCallum. “We have a fund called the high school allotment that each high school gets,” Garrison said. “There’s a substantial amount of money there that we can use for staffing. ... I do not foresee five teachers having to leave McCallum because we can use some of those funds to purchase teaching sections.” Garrison’s goal is to retain all returning faculty through retirements and alternative funding sources. “My goal is to keep all of our teachers here,” Garrison said. “We’re very excited about the teachers that we hired, and they’re very excited about being here, so I’m doing everything that I can within our allotted budget and our money to try and keep those teachers here.” —Zoë Hocker

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MacJournalism shows well in Seattle Four student journalists earned national awards for MacJournalism at the 2017 National Scholastic Press Association/Journalism Education Association National Spring High School Journalism Convention in Seattle, April 6-9. The 2016 yearbook earned NSPA Best of Show honors by placing seventh among yearbooks 232 pages or fewer. The convention recognized 10 publications in each size category. Junior Elena Henderson (yearbook student life) and sophomores Delaney Carter (yearbook sports) and Sophie Ryland (news writing) earned honorable mention honors in the JEA Write-Off Competition. Junior Madison Olsen had her photo from Sondheim on Sondheim included in the Best Photos section of the 2017 Yearbook Yearbook, a Balfour anthology of the best yearbook work from 2016. The entire 2016 yearbook was also included among Balfour’s best as were two sidebar designs. The awards weren’t the only heights MacJournalism reached in Seattle. They also climbed the top of the Volunteer Park Water Tower in Capitol Hill and rode the Seattle Great Wheel. They also made stops at the Elliott Bay Bookstore and the Jimi Hendrix statue, the Hard Rock Café Seattle, the Pike Place Market and an iconic Seattle breakfast restaurant with delicious biscuits and a name not suitable for publication here.

The cast of the student-directed musical, Oh God, poses after its show on March 31. Photo courtesy of Atley Brown.

Students gain directing experience The student directed plays on March 31 presented a rare opportunity to students to gain directing experience. “Being director meant I had to keep everybody on task,” said senior Atley Brown, director of the musical Oh God. “But most of all, as the director, I was an idea person who had to figure out all the little tech details. ... Overall, the musical was a collaboration of many students. It was one of the best experiences ever to happen to me.” Written by theatre students, Oh God tells the comedic story of a Manhattan coffee shop run by the Greek Gods and beset by chaos. “I was lucky enough to [be able to] get it to the stage,” Brown said. “I made sure that the writing team’s ideas came through. I wanted all of the actors to get the freedom to make each God a real person.” —Madison Olsen

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Upstart club hooked on fishing Juniors bring allure of fishing to Mac, cast nets for broader membership

CHARLIE HOLDEN assistant editor

Juniors Sam Stone and Reace Lane have known each other since kindergarten, which is about how long each of them has been fishing. “We have just always been friends,” Stone said. “We both love to spend time outdoors fishing and hunting and have spent a lot of time doing those things, especially because our families like it a lot too.” Because of their shared interests, the two friends decided to create a fishing community at school, in the form of McCallum Bass Fishing Club. With the help of sponsor and special education teacher Chris Watson, the club went on its first expedition to Lady Bird Lake on April 14. Senior JB Faught caught the first fish; Watson, the second. “I’ve never been a part of a fishing club,” Watson said. “I’ve always gone with family or friends or by myself, but in the club we try to encourage and teach each other. It’s not just me trying to catch the biggest fish possible. It’s less about me now, which is fun.” While Watson looks at the bigger picture, Stone is looking to the future. “I got my inspiration [to form the club] after going to Dallas and seeing a poster for the Highland Park High School bass team,” Stone said. “So the main goal of the club is to defeat the Highland Park bass team. There’s also a world championship bass fishing competition, so becoming world champion bass fishers is also the goal.” Stone’s lofty goals have come one step closer to becoming reality with an unexpected addition to the McCallum Bass Fishing Club family—a vintage 14-foot Starcraft boat from 1968. “My aunt and uncle in Smithville had this little boat back in the woods, and they wanted to get it off their hands, so I went out to their place on Easter and I picked it up,” Stone said. Before this boat changed hands, the club had to go out on the lake in kayaks to fish. The kayaks did the job, as the club managed to catch three fish, but they’ll need more substantial boats if they want to enter into tournaments, beat Highland Park, and in-

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evitably become world champions. “There are some tournaments which require having a boat,” Watson said. “Right now we’re just learning about how tournaments and the rules behind them work.” The McCallum bass fishers will not be able to compete in these tournaments until next school year, which will give them time to raise funds for some much needed equipment. “We want to raise enough to get another boat, because you can’t fit everyone in one boat,” Stone said. “We also need motors. Purchasing boats and motors is the No. 1 priority for the club because they’re the most expensive necessities.” Stone and Lane first considered hosting a bake sale to get the money they need for equipment, but in the end they settled on selling cuisine that fit seamlessly into the theme of fishing: crawfish. “We’re going to try to do a crawfish boil at some point,” Stone said. “It would be an event separate from school, towards the end of school, definitely in May.” The club members are planning on cooking the crawfish themselves, but they aren’t planning on cooking the fish they catch. “I don’t see us keeping any fish,” Stone said. “We are especially into conservation and definitely will not keep any freshwater fish unless we specifically plan a trip to eat some. If we go to the coast we might decide to eat some of our catch, given they are legal to keep based of Texas Parks & Wildlife restrictions. But I don’t know why you would keep fish and not eat them.” Students are welcome and encouraged to join the McCallum Bass Fishing Club and to participate in fundraising activities. For information about joining the club, talk to Sam Stone or Reace Lane.

Above: Sam Stone throws a castnet to catch fish bait while on a family trop to Port Aransas. Photo by Charlie Stone. Right: Chris Watson holds up the fish he caught on the Bass Fishing club’s first outing on Lady Bird Lake on April 14. “I’ve been fishing ever since I was a kid,” Watson said. “I would fish whenever I got a chance.” Photo by Sam Stone.

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TESTING TEACHERS’ PATIENCE

Educators descend on Capitol, protest funding cuts, senate voucher bill

The kids in attendance included this youngster and these high-fiving O. Henry students. Photos by Kathryn Chilstrom and Grace Brady.

LIAM WILSON guest writer

Hundreds of activists gathered at the Capitol on March 25 to protest the Texas Board of Education’s recent policies. At the rally, legislators, school officials and educators gave speeches on different issues, all urging the state board to reject policies that they feel have put Texas schools in a state of imminent peril. Some of the policies discussed included funding cuts, an over-reliance on standardized testing and a voucher system that redirects public money to private educational institutions. The speakers sat in a row waiting to speak to the impassioned audience before them, all asking versions of the same question: does the Texas Board of Education care more about improving its public image than the quality of its students’ education? This rally was hosted by Save Texas Schools, a nonpartisan union which supports the allocation of more resources for public schooling. Rather than school vouchers,

A speaker calls on Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick to fix the Robin Hood system. Photo by Kathryn Chilstrom.

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which Save Texas Schools feels redirects public money to private institutions, the organization proposes that the Texas Board of Education focus on making decisions that will improve public schooling rather than providing alternatives to it. “The Texas school finance system is broken, but our schools are not broken,” said state Sen. Kirk Watson (D-Austin), in support of Save Texas Schools. “Imagine what teachers and school officials could do for our kids if we actually provided our schools with the resources they need to help students thrive in the 21st century,” Watson said. “The legislature must provide more funding to our schools and must reform the system so that school funding reflects the true costs of educating our children.” Two days before the rally, the Texas

Senate passed a bill that would allow parents to use federal money to pay for privatized education via government-funded vouchers. Supporters of vouchers argue that they encourage competition in education. But critic of vouchers counter that they allow a parents to have the state of Texas reimburse a portion of their tuition payments, essentially turning public tax money into a private education subsidy. Sam Cervantes, a University of Texas government and communications major who immigrated to the U.S. from Mexico, also spoke at the rally. As undocumented immigrants supporting a large family, his parents could not afford a private education for their children, even with federal vouchers: “When [my mother] dropped me off at [public] school, she said education was all that she could give me,” Cervantes said, “A college

education is key, as it is a paramount catalyst to break the cycle of poverty.” Other speakers at the rally expressed their opposition to what is known as “Robin Hood” education, or the redistribution of wealth between Texas school districts. Robin Hood policies aim to redistribute funds from high property-value areas (typically in metropolitan urban areas) to lower property-value areas (typically in rural or suburban areas). The idea is to equalize the resources across the state. Save Texas Schools supports the premise of the Robin Hood plan but argues that it has been executed poorly. Critics say that schools with moderate property values are overtaxed and underfunded, causing the Robin Hood system to exacerbate the very problem it is intended to solve. Gina Hinojosa, a former AISD school board member and current state representative (D-Austin), opposes policies in which public education funding is redirected to pay for alternative forms of schooling. “Parents and teachers in this state are just sick and tired and done with excuses for short-changing our children. We know it’s a tough budget year; we get that. But there are critical needs in our public schools and the time to fund those has come and gone. We need action now!” A resolution may be hard to achieve, but Watson said, “Texas has the ability to invest in our children, but we have to make them a priority.”

A crowd of hundreds attended the rally to support strong public schools. Photo by Liam Wilson.

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shield A Decker Elementary teacher sings to her students and the assembled crowd. Photo by Kathryn Chilstrom.

Photo by Grace Brady.

A student brandishes a sign expressing why he opposes Secretary of Education Besty DeVos. Photo by Kien Johnson-Dye.

Save Texas Schools rally attendees express their opposition to school privatization, vouchers and funding cuts. Photo by Liam Wilson.

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Mineral Wells superintendent John Kuhn denounced privatization as toxic to collaboration in public schools. Photo by Liam Wilson.

State Rep. Gina Hinojosa (D-Austin) urged the state to end outdated funded formulas that hurt Texas families. Photo by Kathryn Chilstrom.

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The Good Fight Sophomore refuses to let brain cancer diagnosis, treatment hold him back story by Charlie Holden

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here’s a certain feeling that you get when someone is looking at you, when you’ve been picked out from the crowd. It’s often subtle, and you might feel it for only a moment, but it’s a feeling that still can’t be denied. Sitting in the front row of the Austin Convention Center during South by Southwest, sophomore Townes Hobratschk felt it—former Vice President Joe Biden was looking at him. “It was like he was talking to me,” Hobratschk said. “Then he was talking about the effects of chemotherapy he said, ‘You know how that is, right?’ And he looked directly at me at pointed at me.” On May 13, 2016, Hobratschk was diagnosed with brain cancer, the same disease which took the life of Biden’s eldest son Beau two years ago. Since his son’s death, the former vice president has made it his mission to end cancer. At the SXSW panel, which focused on cancer funding and research, Biden said that, “Your generation can be the first to go through life with a different understanding of cancer as a preventable and controllable disease.” Biden certainly has lofty goals, but he doesn’t let that distract him from supporting and recognizing those affected by cancer. “After the speech [Mr. Biden] came down from his podium,” Hobratschk said. “He was doing the meet and greet with everybody,

1. Townes Hobratschk embraces former Vice President Joe Biden after a SXSW panel on funding the fight against cancer. “I made a promise to Mr. Anderson that I would ask Mr. Biden if he would be Mr. Anderson’s honorary uncle,” Hobratschk said. “I forgot to ask him that, so I’ll have to do it next time.” Photo provided by Carol Nelson. 2. Townes Hobratschk, far left, plays the tuba with his classmates at Carnegie Hall. Weak from starting chemotherapy, director Carol Nelson and Hobratschk had to make a strap that went around his waist to help him hold his instrument. Hobratschk also has to wear and eyepatch for his recovering vision. “Since music doesn’t require depth perception, I could read [my sheet music] just fine [with the eyepatch],” Hobratschk said. Photo provided by Townes Hobratschk. 3. World history teacher Greg Anderson teaches a lesson on World War II while sophomore Townes Hobratschk Skypes in on Anderson’s laptop to listen and participate in class. Photo by Charlie Holden.

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and then he got to me, and he said, ‘Come over here, boy. Let me give you a hug.’ And he gave me this big ol’ hug. He did that. It was the best thing. Then he said, ‘When you’re done with all this, come up and visit me.’” One day after his diagnosis in May of last year, Hobratschk underwent brain surgery to remove his tumor and spent four weeks in the hospital recovering. He then started chemotherapy treatment and has been working constantly ever since to regain his strength. After almost a year, Hobratschk will be “done with all this” in the near future. “I only have four months left of treatment, so I said [to Mr. Biden], ‘OK, see you in four months!’” Hobratschk said. “And he was like, ‘Wait, really?’ We kind of caught him off guard there. But I actually meant it; we might really go up there when I’m done with all of this in four months, but I don’t know.” It would be incredibly lucky to be able to

point he was probably at the worst of it. He wasn’t very mobile yet, so we kind of had to walk him around and stuff. But it was good to see him, for sure.” Brain surgery left Hobratschk very weak and without some abilities many of us take for granted, but that hasn’t kept him down for long. “[My abilities] are slowly coming back,” Hobratschk said. “Today I was able to practice my bass guitar. When I first got out of the hospital, my hands, for some reason, would just randomly start moving or waving around. It’s definitely been a journey, getting to where I am now. Now I can do tasks with my left hand and my vision is slowly, slowly improving. Now I have a pair of glasses and they have a lens in them called a prism lens, and it reflects the light in a different direction so it goes into my eye different, so I can see clearer.”

They just gave some chemo “and sent me off to New York. ” meet former Vice President Joe Biden twice in a year, but Hobratschk had pretty good luck to even meet him once. “My mother made a post on Facebook saying that we really, really wanted to go see [Biden’s speech] and as luck would have it, one of our friends knew the right people,” Hobratschk said. “Our friend just contacted these people and they said, ‘Oh, OK, well we’ll just give you SXSW music passes and platinum passes.’ We got the best passes and everything, we even got to go to the front lawn right before [the speech] started. It was unbelievably lucky.” Waking up from surgery 11 months ago, though, Hobratschk wasn’t feeling so lucky. “I was coming off anesthesia while on high doses of steroids, and I couldn’t see, so I was terrified,” Hobratschk said. “Because of where the cancer was, it affected my vision when they cut [the tumor] out. That’s why I have to go through radiation and chemotherapy because they can’t cut all of it out. It’s not like a kidney tumor. Kidneys aren’t as important as a brain. If they cut out too much of your brain—well, it probably wouldn’t end too well.” During his recovery, a group of some of Hobratschk’s closest friends, including sophomore Finn Corbett, went to visit him in the hospital. “It was shocking, for sure, because the last time we had seen him he was running around at lunch with everybody else, and he was fine,” Corbett said. “It was cool to get everybody back together again, but at that

Although Hobratschk still isn’t well enough to attend school—he is visited by a homebound teacher who helps keep him up to speed—world history teacher Greg Anderson makes sure he isn’t left out. “For history class, I Skype into Mr. Anderson’s class and that honestly makes me 10 times happier because [world geography with Mr. Anderson] was my favorite class last year,” Hobratschk said. Despite being separated from the class by a screen, Hobratschk has been able to participate and socialize with peers like any other student. “I had never used [Skype] before, but it’s a very easy process,” Anderson said. “So he Skypes in, and he actually participates in the class and asks questions and talks to students before class just like anybody else. I think it’s been good for him to have a normal part of his day, a routine. It’s like he’s here. He’ll just start talking like anybody else, bring up a point, ask a question or have a funny story.” World history class isn’t the only thing that Hobratschk has had to go the extra mile to be able to participate in. “Five weeks after my surgery, a week out of the hospital, the band was taking a trip to Carnegie Hall,” Hobratschk said. “My family had already paid for the Carnegie trip, and the company couldn’t refund our payments after a certain amount of time. We basically made it our goal when I was in the hospital to get me to Carnegie Hall. Our motto for a while was, ‘pancakes, waffles,

Carnegie Hall,’ because I also wanted to get home and make pancakes and waffles. And sure enough, five weeks after my surgery I got to go to Carnegie Hall.” Like any other band student, Hobratschk had to learn the music he was going to perform at Carnegie, but unlike other band students, he first had to figure out how he was going to be able to hold his instrument. “Ms. Nelson, the band teacher, brought in a tuba to the hospital so I could look at the music before I went to Carnegie Hall and so we could figure out how I was going to hold it,” Hobratschk said. “We ended up just putting a strap around the tuba so I could hold it up. I just picked up that tuba, and there I went. I just played it, which was nothing short of a miracle. So the week I got out of the hospital was the week that I started treatment. They just gave me some chemo and sent me off to New York.” Sophomore Harrison Smith, who is also in the McCallum band, has known Hobratschk since kindergarten. Even though the two have been friends for a long time, Hobratschk’s diagnosis has revealed parts of his personality that Smith had never known. “I’ve learned how charismatic he is towards everybody,” Smith said. “He doesn’t need to be walking around to draw people to him.” Hobratschk’s diagnosis, treatment and recovery have shown his friends more than just the strength of his character; they have shown them the uncertainty that comes with each new day. “It can happen to anyone, you know?” Corbett said. “I mean he’s definitely one of my closest friends, and seeing it happen to him, what could’ve stopped it from happening to me, or another one of my friends? So it was definitely eye-opening in that department. That dude is tough, man. I don’t know if I’d be able to pull it off if I were in his shoes.” From his diagnosis all the way through his treatment and recovery Hobratschk has been resilient, and it’s his outlook on his situation that has allowed him to maintain a positive and mature outlook. “With diseases, if you pull the right strings in the right places and are wise about it, it doesn’t have to hold you back, not even cancer or anything,” Hobratschk said. “More people need to know that, instead of just wallowing in fear all the time.” Instead of fear for the present, Hobratschk and those closest to him have hope for his future. “I can’t wait to see him back in the school again,” Anderson said. “Hopefully it’ll be next school year. He’s already come in a few times to drop off work and say hi. He’s growing hair again. I just can’t wait for him to have his normal life back. He’s a good guy.”

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Artistically Speaking: Nick Ryland

The Shield: What is your medium for creative expression? Nick Ryland: I am a vocal major here in the Fine Arts Academy. I’m in the varsity tenor bass choir and in the varsity mixed choir. There’s also a select group of students who sign up for the First Edition, another choir that sings a variety of music from multiple genres. We go to contests, perform for nursing homes and sing for Christmas and to expand the community. TS: How did you get your start in the vocal arts? NR: I was in choir in elementary school for a couple years, and the director there didn’t teach us. I gave up for a few years and gave myself some time to relax and finish middle school. I picked up in the choir program my freshman year. I was zoned to Travis, but when I looked into their program, the opportunities there weren’t as grand as those offered [at McCallum]. When I got here, I knew something was going to click. It took some time, but when it finally did, it gave me a sense of relief knowing this is the place I want to be. It’s been a tremendous experience. TS: How does band improve your technique? NR: First of all, in marching band, you have to be perfect. You have to be focused and look the part. I think that choir teaches somewhat similar things, even though marching band is more uniform. In a concert setting, you still have to portray yourself in the best way possible. Because I’m [in] percussion, I can take that experience and transfer it to my singing. That’s how I’ve gotten better at sight reading and how I’ve gotten better at singing in front of judges. If I was just in the vocal program, I would be just staring at a bar lines—it wouldn’t be the same. TS: What does it take to be a vocal major here? NR: It takes a lot to be in the vocal program. It’s not just singing; your brain is constantly working. Choir teaches you to stay focused for a good period of time. Choir teaches, not just me, but every student in the program to

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gain focus that will help them in the future. TS: What’s your experience been like at the vocal program here? NR: My first couple years weren’t that great. I did well in the competitions, but my voice started to get tight. I had to get a partial thyroid removal to make sure nothing was holding me back. After that, my vocal range improved and my directors have taken note of how I’ve started to sing with more finesse. I think others around me understand my situation, and it’s nice to know that when you make those kind of connections, you make a lasting impression. TS: How do you use your voice to express yourself? NR: “With experience and many lessons, I’ve become more accustomed to using better technique. I’ve used that voice to help [people] understand what I’ve been through. My voice allows me to show people who I really am and who I want to be. It makes people understand that it’s not just me that’s going through this. TS: Do you plan to continue with vocal performance after high school? NR: I will major in vocal performance in college with a focus on opera studies. This summer is going to be my second year in the Butler Opera Center music

Nick Ryland’s performance at Mr. McCallum on Jan. 22 was a showstopper. Photo and interview by Madison Olsen.

program, and what I’ve learned is that if I can sing opera then I can sing basically anything. A good student in the music program can sing anything—without complaints and with confidence—and that’s where I want to be.”

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A Knight at the GAHSMTA’S McCallum theater program claims one award, two scholarships at annual Long Center show JOSEPH CARDENEAS staff reporter

MacTheatre headed to the Long Center for the Fourth Annual Greater Austin High School Musical Theater Award show on April 13, armed with a school-record nine nominations. “Receiving any nomination is a big deal,” said junior Jack Switzer, who played Lord Battersby in the musical. “It felt amazing to be nominated for that many awards. In my time at McCallum, we have never been nominated for more than four awards.” At the ceremony, Mac’s tech theatre majors won the 2017 GAHSMTA for Best Technical Execution. Junior Sarah Kay Stephens played a huge role in the musical’s technical execution. “The fact that Me and My Girl was nominated for [and won] Best Technical Execution,” was a huge honor,” Stephens said “It was awesome. Ms. Kieler is very hard-working and encouraging; we could not have done it without her.” Thirty one schools in total were invited to the award show from all over the Austin Metro area, from as far north as Pflugerville and as far south as Del Valle and Lake Travis. In addition to geographic diversity, those in attendance also varied in experience from well-seasoned GAHSMTA veterans to first timers. Junior Ben Sessa was in the latter category. “For my first time going, I was very shocked by how many people were there,” Sessa said. “The red carpet in the beginning was very fun, and the overall show was very impressive and well put together.” Although Switzer has been to the GAHSMTA’s several

times, he said the thrill of being on the red carpet and seeing the awards show live never gets old. “The vibe on the red carpet is so awesome,” Switzer said. “It is always awesome to see everyone dressed up.” Several of the nominations for McCallum were for the actors in the show. Tristan Tierney was nominated for Best Actor in a Leading Role. “It’s such an honor [to be nominated],” Tierney said. “I wasn’t expecting it at all. I was so surprised when I found out that I was nominated. I’m just so grateful for the opportunity and couldn’t have done it without my amazing directors, cast and crew mates.” Junior Anna McGuire, nominated for Best Actress in a Leading Role for Me and My Girl, attended the GAHSMTA’s for the third time this year. “It’s always fun going to GAHSMTA’s because it feels like a high school version of the Tony Awards,” McGuire said. “The GAHSMTA’s are a great opportunity to see how well your talents rank among all the actors and actresses around the entire Austin metro area.” McGuire did not win a GAHSMTA, but she did win one of two ZACH,s Pre-Professional Company training scholarships. Senior Miranda Vandenberg was won of 10 students to win a college scholarship. The other GAHSMTA nominations that McCallum received were for Best Direction, Best Production and Best Choreography. Seniors Max Corney and Holden Crocker were nominated for Best Actor in a Supporting Role, and sophomore Sophia Mullican was nominated Best Actress in a Supporting Role. Tierney said that the nominations were the result of a lot of hard work from the MacTheatre faculty “Mr. Denning, Ms. Hirsch, Ms. Kieler and Ms. Nat

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should get all the credit,” Tierney said. “They put their hearts and souls into this show and made it all possible.” Tierney said that the show could not have been as good without Denning’s direction. “He is a dedicated director,” Tierney said. “He never ceases to amaze with his brilliance on stage” As a result of the MacTheatre’s Best Production nomination, the entire cast performed “Lambeth Walk” at the Long Center; Tierney and McGuire each performed in a medley with the other lead actor nominees.

Junior Jack Switzer, sophomore Till Simon, junior Ben Sessa and junior Tristan Tierney were part of MacTheatre’s big night at the Greater Austin High School Musical Theatre Awards at the Long Center on April 13. Photo by J.R. Cardenas.

Juniors Teryn Cazal, Ella Stankiewicz, Evalyn McCusker, Selah Russel and Alex Escobar pose for a photo in front of the Long Center. “It was a really fun event, but it’s sad we didn’t get more of the awards we were nominated for, but we always have next year,” Cazol said. Photo by J.R. Cardenas.

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Different styles at McCallum How the average McCallum student’s clothing choices affect them and their confidence Genevieve Temple

Alex Phillips

The Shield: When did you first get into fashion? Genevieve Temple: “I wanted to be a fashion designer in first grade because I got a business card from some fashion designer. I started to learn more about fashion sophomore year because that’s when I started thrifting more.” TS: Do you have a fashion inspiration or icon you look up to? GT: I don’t, but I take inspiration off eras, like the ‘90s late ‘70s and even the ‘20s. TS: What would you say your personal style is like? GT: I wear a mix of ‘90s fashion and today’s modern ‘90s. Not every ‘90s style is coming back, just some. TS: Do you prefer buying new clothes or thrifting new finds? GT: The deals make the clothes really cheap, but I don’t really thrift for deals, I like getting old stuff and altering the stuff I get. I like [older items] because I can alter them to fit me and my style.” TS: What’s your favorite piece of clothing to style? GT: I don’t really like jewelry or accessories as much as I like accessorizing outfits and making outfits my own. TS: What clothes do you feel more confident wearing than others? GT: I don’t like wearing things that will show off my chest, or really short shorts, so I feel more confident wearing kind of modest things that I think are fashionable.

TS: Where are your favorite stores to shop? Alex Phillips: I guess my favorite store is Free People. I’ve always liked Free People, but now I shop there like all the time because I like how all of their clothes match. If you buy everything from Free People, all of your clothes will look good. Same thing for Brandy Melville. If you buy all your clothes from Brandy Melville then you like always look really put together. I’ve also been shopping on Revolve a lot, which is an online store. But really I’m just preparing for college, so I wear like Tshirts to school everyday, because I’m trying to save my clothes for college. TS: What’s your favorite piece of clothing to style? AP: I am not very good at accessorizing, so I like shirts or dresses that are like busy with like patterns, or like look really nice so I don’t really have to accessorize them. TS: What do you feel most confident wearing? AP: I feel most confident wearing something that I think is trendy. I’m not one that’s like super into fashion, but if I like buy a new shirt, and I think it’s in style then I feel like ‘Yes I’m in trend with everyone’, but yeah I guess like trendy clothes.

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Story and photos by Julie Robertson and Anna Compton.

Narith Vuy TS: How did you get into fashion? Narith Vuy: It goes back to when I was young, like around 6 years old. My sister had a paper doll, and I was like “I wanna play that.” And I got really into it, like putting colorful dresses on the paper doll. Then I got the idea of loving clothes and stuff. I didn’t know the words “fashion” or “design,” but when I grew up and saw fashion shows and stuff on the TV, I really thought it was interesting. The thing that most inspired me were Korean pop groups. They really inspired me to make clothes because in all of their songs, they all had different styles and wore bright colors. That got me liking the idea of colors in clothes and fashion. TS: Do you have a personal style icon? NV: I would say Maschino, which is a clothing brand. TS: What’s your personal style to wear? NV:I would say, having a bomber jacket, shorts, whatever the kind or color may be and Converse. TS: What do you feel most comfortable wearing to school? NV: I feel the most confident wearing clothes that I made. TS: How long have you been making your own clothes? NV: Last year I was just learning how to sew, but this year is when I really started making my own clothes” TS: Do you want to pursue anything with fashion when you’re older? NV: Yes. After high school I’m moving to New York because I got accepted into Parsons. And I’m hoping to work at some fashion place, but at some point I want to make my own brand, maybe during my third or fourth year of college.”

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PAGE OF THE MONTH Story by Rachel Wolleben

EATERIES

TV SHOWS

FRIGHTS

One of the greatest culinary crimes in Austin Photo history may be the courtesy of underappreciation shabuaustin. for the restaurant format.com SHABU, a hot pot and noodle bar located on Anderson Lane. If you want to taste the greatest Asian food you will ever have in your lifetime, this is the place to go. Their main guest attraction, the first full hot-pot menu ever introduced to Austin (according to their website), brings a unique and fun eating experience to everyone willing to try it. Here’s how it works: Each person selects various foods from the hot-pot menu and submerges them in a personal-sized pot filled with broth to cook. Anyone not interested in working a little for their food can choose from SHABU’s wide variety of prepared dishes featuring their exclusive Pan-Asian noodles, offered wok-fried or part of a broth. I’ve been to this restaurant close to a dozen times. For a first-time visit, I recommend people get either the Seafood Udon, which has shrimp, cuttlefish, mussels, fish cake and udon noodles soaked in a delicious broth, or their Hoisin Udon, which has shrimp, mussels, cuttlefish, asian greens and udon noodles covered in an unbelieveable sauce. It’s a shame that more people don’t know about SHABU, and I recommend it to everyone wanting great food and a great time.

For anyone who grew up watching Cartoon Network in the early 2000s, now is the time to revisit your childhood. A revival of the award-winning animated series Samurai Jack premiered on Adult Swim on March 11. The show revolves around the title character, who is thrown into a dystopian future by an evil shape-shifting demon named Aku, after almost killing him in battle. In a future where Aku rules the world, Jack must fight to protect the innocent and find a way back to his time so he can finally complete his quest to defeat the demon. The story of the fifth season takes place 50 years after the previous season, with an immortal Jack struggling to find the motivation to continue his journey after years and years of failure. The original run of the show lasted from 2001 to 2004, and ended with an unfinished storyline as creator Genndy Tartakovsky moved on to work on other projects. This Adult Swim revival, which has earned a TV-MA rating for its violence and dark themes, will be the fifth and final season of the show. According to creator Genndy Tartakovsky it will finally bring main character Jack’s story to a satisfying end.

Are you a fan of horror? Watch the film Raw, directed by Julia Ducournau, at the Alamo Drafthouse this weekend. I haven’t even seen the film yet, but while going to see Logan at the Alamo Drafthouse on Anderson Lane, the trailer played before the film, and, man, it was petrifying. Not to brag, but I don’t scare Official Raw movie poster. easily either. And yet the disgusting and controversial visuals of the trailer set me on edge. The film revolves around Justine, a new veterinary school student who, despite being a vegetarian, is forced to eat raw meat as part of a hazing ritual. According to the synopsis on the Drafthouse website, “That bite awakens something deep inside of her, and suddenly she is transformed from a meek nerd into a ravenous, sexually confident cannibal.” It premiered in the 2016 Cannes Film Festival almost a year ago, but was only recently released in the U.S. on March 10. It’s been added onto the “Alamo Recommends” list not only for being one of the best horror films of the year but one of the best films ... period. I know I’m going to see it at an Alamo Drafthouse as soon as possible, and I recommend that everyone do the same to get an immersive and frightening experience. (Keep in mind though that the film is rated R, and the Alamo will only allow people 18 and older to enter with the presence of a parent or adult.)

APRIL SHOWERS BRING GREAT MIXTAPES 21 april 2017

Characters from Adult Swim and Cartoon Network.

“Green LighT” -Lorde

“SAD SAD CITY” -GHOSTLAND OBSERVATORY

“SHE SAID” -sUNDARA KARMA

“WASTE A MOMENT” -KINGS OF LEON a&e 13

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AISD, Austin see increase in youth homelessness SOPHIE RYLAND

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magine I asked you, “What does a homeless person look like?” Chances are you’d have a specific image in mind: a man, perhaps a veteran, or possibly someone battling drug addiction, standing outside on the street with filthy and tattered clothes, clutching a sign and pleading with passersby for spare change. Chances are you wouldn’t picture a clean-shaven, well-groomed high school student who takes all AP classes and hopes to become a businessman. But that is precisely the reality for one McCallum student. This junior, who wished to remain anonymous, was born an American citizen, but shortly afterward moved to Mexico with his mom. There he lived the fairly typical life of a teenager, but when his single mom married a new man, he began having problems with his stepfather. Eventually, he decided to leave the home in which he had grown up in and move to Texas on his own in search of a new life. “I took a Greyhound bus to Austin by myself, and I contacted [a family friend] and stayed in his house for a couple of weeks,” the student said. “I started to work in construction because the guy had contacts, but after that school started. I just lived with him for one month or two because he used to drink a lot, all the time.” After he found himself with no permanent housing, he turned to a solution common to unaccompanied youth: couchsurfing from house to house, staying with friends or strangers. “One of my friends from school invited me to live in his house,” the student said. “His parents were too strict, and I couldn’t do my things, so I decided to move again. All the time it has been like that. I just find a place for a couple of months; I cannot study because I have to worry all the time about everything.” The 18-year-old is one of the more than 2,600 students within AISD identified as homeless. According to the McKinney-Vento Act, a law addressing homeless youth in the education system, homelessness is defined as living doubled up with other families, in a shelter, in a motel/ hotel or out on the streets. This bill stipulates that schools must eliminate obstacles, such a transportation, that may prevent a homeless student from continuing to attend school and appoint a liaison to assist youth who have been identified as homeless. AISD’s Project HELP department is tasked with ensuring the district complies with the bill; the department identifies students in need, helps alleviate immediate

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concerns and connects them to outside programs that may offer a more long-term solution. In recent years, Project HELP has seen a significant rise in youth homelessness, with a 30 percent increase from 2014 to 2016, mirroring the overall rise in homelessness in Austin, which has seen a 17 percent increase from 2015 to 2016. Meg Mattingly, a Project HELP manager, attributes this increase to Austin’s population boom and resulting affordability issues. “The cost of living continues to grow,” Mattingly said. “We’re growing as a city, and with that there’s a lot of positive economic growth that’s occurring, but the housing is not able to keep up. Because it is such a ‘cool city,’ it’s attracted a lot of young people with a lot of money, and the tech business is growing, which again is great for the city as a whole but is in turn leaving out, even pushing out, a lot of our lower-income families. And so they’re having to double up; they’re having to move out of the school district; in general, the sprawl is tremendous as far as numbers of families moving out to Buda, Kyle, Manor, Pflugerville or Round Rock.” Social worker Brooke Anderson, who has worked closely with homeless youth and families from all over the McCallum vertical team, agrees that conditions are worsening for lower-income families but also insists that there are unique challenges for unaccompanied and homeless youth. “The main challenge is the emotional impact, to be that young and be on your own, and the uncertainty, not knowing where you’re going to be that night, having to shuffle between homes,” Anderson said. “You can only imagine how hard that would be, then, to make sure you have the homework you need when you don’t even know where you can be doing homework. [Maybe] you don’t have any lights, so now you can’t do your homework. The emotional toll really does physically wear down on a youth.” The homeless McCallum junior admitted that his life is consumed by these issues—balancing full-time school attendance with the need to earn a living and survive on his own. “Right now, I am independent,” the anonymous junior said. “No mom, no dad. It has its pros and cons. I am the only one who decides what things are important and what things are not. However, it’s difficult since here I don’t have any parents. Sometimes I eat, sometimes I don’t eat. Since I don’t have a car, I have to have to walk or run all the time. I don’t have a bed; my room is just carpet because I am moving all the time, and if I have a bed it’s going to be difficult to be moving. I don’t have many things, just important things: my clothes and my backpack, which is the most important thing, and that’s it.” In exchange for his independence and new life in the States, the 18-year-old had to sacrifice a normal high-school existence so he could focus on tackling

Doing what they can to HELP

responsibilities unimaginable for many teenagers. “In Mexico, I had my friends,” he said. “We used to hang out, because I knew that I had a home, and it was fine if I worked or not. But here, it’s just work and survive. Coming to school—that’s the most important thing. I cannot stay with my friends too much, because I do not have the time: it’s either study or be with friends. Also, I find it kind of difficult sometimes being with friends because I’m not a great [English] speaker yet. If I want to go to the university, then I have to study a lot, a lot, a lot, because I feel that I’m not going to make it with just two years of studying English.” Anderson, who has worked with the student, expresses amazement over how driven he and so many of the youth she helps are despite their circumstances. “I give them so much credit,” Anderson said. “They want to work because they need to support either themselves or their families, but they see the value in education; the fact that they are staying in school and striving towards their long-term

education is huge.” The junior, despite his optimistic, determined demeanor when talking about his living situation, stressed just how exhausting it is for him to pursue his ambitions. “I just want to study business,” the student said. “All the time I am studying and trying to get AP classes and everything, but sometimes I find it difficult because I don’t have the time to do my homework; I have to do stuff like wash my clothes, buy food, cook, do many things.” Though living alone is hard work, he does benefit from both Project HELP assistance (for example, receiving a bus pass) and other government programs; however, this help is not without its obstacles. “I’m getting help from the government with food stamps and health care, which has helped me a lot, but it was very difficult to get,” the student said. “I don’t have an address, which is the most important thing with all my documents, so they’re like, ‘Where can I send you the papers?’

challenge “isThethemain emotional im-

pact, to be young and on our own, and the uncertainty.

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It’s very difficult.’” Under Project HELP, school liaisons can help identified students and families with educationrelated concerns, like transportation to and from school, and with certain emergencies. They can’t directly help them with issues like housing but can connect them to organizations that can provide them with specialized assistance. “For the students, especially the ones that are considered unaccompanied youth, mean[ing] they don’t have parents supporting them, I make sure they have the services they need to ensure they can come to school,” Anderson said. “So making sure they have a bus pass, making sure they have access to food, find[ing] emergency housing. I’m trying to connect a couple of students here with an agency here in Austin called LifeWorks that has a transitional youth living program but they have a waitlist of months; it’s pretty rare I can get a student in there. A lot of it is helping them navigate the challenging situation of finding housing in Austin.” The anonymous student was one of those who was unable to get into LifeWorks, and cautions against relying on external programs too much. “It’s not really reliable to trust in the government with things like that,” the junior said. “I was trying to get a room from LifeWorks, but they are just like,

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‘You’re on the waiting list, call the next week,’ but it’s the next week, and the next week, and the next week, but you cannot wait that long. You have to find solutions earlier.” Though many students like the anonymous junior have benefited from their connection with Project HELP, the program does face some challenges connecting with those who need their help. “Identifying [homelessness] is a challenge,” Mattingly said. ”There’s a lot of stigma around the term; we all have our own picture of what that looks like, so sometimes families don’t necessarily feel homeless because they have a roof over their heads and so aren’t quick to jump into identifying under McKinney-Vento. Also, there’s a lot of youth and families who aren’t aware of Project HELP: what services we provide, how we can help, that they don’t have to move their kids to different schools every time they move. I think we could continue to find more creative ways to let the community know we exist.” For those wondering how they can help, both Mattingly and Anderson agree that on a systematic level, you can either volunteer at or donate to local organizations helping those in need, or on a personal level, you can simply reach out to the students and families living with this issue. “I think there’s something really powerful about peer support,” Mattingly said. “Me, as a 30-year-old adult; of course I can do things to support youth and help educate them in this way, but there’s something so powerful about youth and peer support, where the youth that are in a situation of displacement or instability with housing feel supported and understood and loved and cared for by their friends and peers and that it’s not this stigma. I think there’s a lot of power in being creative as a teenager in finding ways that make sense for your generation to be a friend to folks at your school that are experiencing this.” One example of the community reaching out within the the McCallum vertical team is the recently formed Friends of McCallum Students. The group started when one parent noticed Anderson’s request for donations to buy Cap Metro bus passes and mobilized parents to help raise money to buy such items. “All of the work FMS does is incredibly gratifying because it directly impacts the wellbeing of students and their families, which positively affects students’ ability to be successful in and, hopefully, beyond school,” FMS president Stephanie Savage said. “Mrs. Anderson especially wanted to be able to provide assistance to families in crisis, who had no other resources available to them, and I am proud that FMS was able to establish the emergency financial assistance fund. Two of the families whose utilities we paid had young children and been without water or power for weeks. I hear many sad stories from Mrs.

Anderson and am so glad that FMS is able to help out in some way.” A month ago, the homeless junior said that he was still looking for a job and had a very limited time left on his lease that he didn’t think he’d have the money to renew; he was worried that he would have nowhere to go. When I followed up with him recently, however, he had found a job at Whole Foods Market and had enough money to rent his own apartment and was looking for a roommate to help who too had experienced housing instability. He attributes his success to determination he had learned from his difficult circumstances. “When you have your parents and you live with them, they don’t let you grow too much,” the junior said. “You’re living at a house, but all of a sudden you just go. How do you pay, how do you find a place to live, how do you do everything? I used to listen to inspirational videos, and many successful people will tell you that you cannot succeed without failure. I was in a really bad situation. I had to think, and I found

many ways to get out, I wasn’t like, ‘Oh, that happened to me, I guess I’ll just stay here and not doing anything and maybe something will come and get me out.’ No, I had to find a way to do it. [For] many people, it’s high school, they don’t care too much about [their] job; many people on my team are like, ‘Dude, I hate this place and I don’t want to work,’ but I see it in a different way because right now I need to be a hard worker and be more responsible.” The junior offered this advice to homeless youth and to those wishing to help them: ask for help and give it whenever possible. “Nobody can succeed alone,” the 18-year-old said. “Many people can help in a lot of ways. I asked Brooke Anderson [for help]. I told her that I got the apartment and she had contacts, people who wanted to donate things, and she helped me get everything for the apartment like a bed, a microwave, soap, and other housekeeping things. “I feel really blessed when I get something,” he continued. “The more you give, the more you receive, so it’s important to help people.”

Infographics by Sophie Ryland.

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AISD, Austin see increase in youth homelessness SOPHIE RYLAND

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Doing what they can to HELP

challenge “isThethemain emotional im-

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Infographics by Sophie Ryland.

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Dance show a citywide collaboration Spring show includes special guest choreographers, musicians. Photos by Tony Lavorgna.

Intermediate ensemble members, sophomores Hannah Hufford and Chloe Shields and junior Kayla Fields perform “American Beauty” choreographed by Amy Morrow on April 8. “Amy’s piece was a political statement about how we are all one village and we can be individuals, but we only come together as a village,” Shields said. Emerging Dance Troupe members, freshmen Amara Euresti and Mary Roe, perform Olivia Chacon’s piece “Tientos” along with live music from special guests, Isai Chacon, Aaron Todd, and Mauricio Lule. Every year Olivia Chacon comes to the Emerging Dance Troupe and they get the opportunity to learn the style of Flamenco.

Tapping in Lisa del Rosario’s piece “These Days Are Ours,” freshman Blair Kinsey performs in the MAC at the Saturday night performance of “Creative Collaboration Austin Edition.” Junior Kennedy Schuelke falls into the group of pre-professional ensemble members in the piece “Point of Return” choreographed by Ryan Miller. “Performing Ryan’s piece was like having a huge burst of energy after you’ve had some really good candy,” junior Keanna Haynes said. “It’s so high energy and Ryan did a great job bringing his message to life.”

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Screaming for help, junior Will Loewen struggles to live without his phone in “Point of Return.” “His dance was about how this generation is so hooked on social media and that we need to stand back and appreciate nature,” Loewen said.

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in retirement

McCallum’s drug dog retires after nine years with AISD ANNA COMPTON staff reporter

After serving for the Austin Independent School District for nine years, Rocco, the much feared and much loved golden retriever, retired from his position as the McCallum police dog on March 2. Rocco and his owner, Officer Tony Andrew, first met each other in October 2009 and have not been separated since. Officer Andrew worked with two other dogs prior to Rocco, but did not have nearly as much of a connection with them as he has with Rocco. Officer Andrew is not alone in that respect. Though Officer Andrew and Rocco were sad to say goodbye, Rocco has been in puppy paradise since. Now that Rocco doesn’t have to work for his treats anymore, Andrews say that he’s been living life like a “normal” dog. “Back when I had him as a police dog, I wanted to keep his drive high and have him work for his toy,” Officer Andrew said. “But now he’s got that toy, and three or four other toys, just scattered around the backyard available for him to play whenever he wants.” Rocco served in many different capacities at McCallum. He patrolled the school, searched for drugs on campus, attended presentations with Officer Andrew, and (perhaps most importantly) served as the unofficial pet dog for the entire student body. Officer Andrew claims that finding and removing any narcotics on campus was very rewarding, but Rocco’s presence and attraction from students was truly amazing. “I’d like to say the times where we found drugs in the schools and we get to take them off campus [were some of our best memories],” Officer Andrew said. “But mainly it was when I got to do presentations or just hang out, and kids got to interact with him.” Rocco also served as a bridge for students interacting with the police on campus.

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“He allowed me as an officer to be more approachable, because people saw that I had a dog,” Officer Andrew said. “So people came up and talked to me, and that was the segue into talking to people and them getting to know their officers.” Mr. Garrison did not have any specific memories that he and Rocco shared together, but he said that he enjoyed the groups of students who always surrounded Rocco when he visited the campus. “My favorite memories with Rocco would just be when Rocco was out in the hall, and all the kids would stop by to pet on him,” Mr. Garrison said. “And you could tell the students liked him as a dog and as a pet.” Even though Rocco was much beloved, he also had a job to do, one he did extremely well. He was brought on campus to keep the campus safe and free of narcotics. As far as the precise amount he kept off campus, that’s undetermined, but Garrison said he did his official job well. “Hopefully Rocco’s presence and Rocco’s expertise kept some drugs off McCallum High School,” Mr. Garrison said. “And that’s really the purpose of bringing Rocco or any other drug dog onto the campus.” Rocco recorded more than 1,000 positive drug finds, Officer Mike Reilly said, adding that every time Rocco came to McCallum he found something. “He’s found everything,” Officer Reilly said. “He’s trained to find all narcotics, so we’ve found just about everything.” Officer Reilly met Rocco and Officer Andrew back in 2011 but didn’t start working with them until about two and a half years ago. Some of his best memories with Rocco are said to be when Rocco and his dog have puppy play-dates. “Rocco and my dog are best friends,” Officer Reilly said. “I bring my dog over to Andrew’s house and vice versa, and we just let them play around. They love it.” Officer Reilly described Rocco as “excited.” “No matter if he’s just meeting people or finding drugs, he’s just the most happy and excited and chipper dog I’ve ever seen,” Officer Reilly said. “I thought he was 2, and he’s 11, just because he still acts like a puppy. He’s just so motivated to please and [to] make people happy.” According to several McCallum students, Rocco was a loving dog. The fact that he was on campus to find illegal drugs did not seem to bother them. “He’s a friendly and sweet dog,” junior Anika Verma said. “Even if there were no drugs for him to search for, occasionally they would bring him in rooms so we could play with him. I would also visit him in the halls and in Officer’s Andrew’s office.” According to junior Victoria Garcia, Rocco was (literally) a woman’s best friend. “Rocco was my best friend,” Garcia said. “I would go and not leave class, but I would go hang out with Officer Reilly, and Rocco would be in there and I would play with him. And we would go in the hallways and throw his ball all the way down the hall.”

Although most of the students at McCallum loved Rocco, according to Assistant Principal Andrew Baxa, one year Rocco was determined to be one of McCallum’s top rivals. “They did a poll saying something like, ‘What was McCallum’s top rivals?’ Of course LBJ, LASA, was up there, but Rocco made the top three,” Mr. Baxa said. “Pretty much every time he came here, somebody left in handcuffs, so that was probably why he got the reputation of being the biggest rival because it seemed like somebody was always getting busted every time Rocco showed up.” Even though many students were sad to see Rocco go, his hard work paid off over the nine years he worked with AISD. After Rocco retired, there was a post dedicated to him on MacJournalism that elicited several responses from current and former students. “Rocco is so iconic,” junior and former McCallum student Meena Anderson posted to @MacJournalism. “I’ll miss him.” “He was there when no one else was,” junior Abbi Richter said in a comment. Officer Andrew said he really appreciated the student comments to the post. “I saw one comment on the Instagram page and almost started crying because I didn’t know that many people cared about him,” Officer Andrew said. “Someone was like ‘Great. 2017 sucks already.’ So I went on there and commented and thanked everyone for the kind words.”

Photo by Dave Winter

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Oh, the places you’ll go Gap years prove to be viable plans for graduates looking for extended options GRACE SCHMIDHAUSER staff reporter

At this point of the year, almost every senior is facing the dreaded question, “So… where are you going to college?” From teachers, friends, parents and likely themselves. But while immediately heading off to university post-graduation is still largely the societal standard, many students are finding alternate routes for their post secondary-school journeys. For students opting for a slightly more non-traditional route for life after high school, a gap year can be an opportunity to experience the real world and find a real life purpose before heading off to receive more schooling. Nancy Nitardy, McCallum’s college counselor, feels that gap years can be great opportunities for students to grow if they use the year productively. “I think it’s a really good option for students, as long as it’s something that’s going to help them grow up and get to know themselves,” Nitardy said. “You learn more about people and more about the world.” Many students utilize gap years to get a glimpse of the world outside of their hometown and push beyond the scope of their high school experiences. Whether it be through traveling the world, working or participating in volunteering or communityoriented programs, the possibilities are endless. Recent McCallum graduate Lev Baker (‘16) took a gap year to backpack across Europe for two months. “Near the end of my senior year, I knew I was not ready to go to college,” Baker said. “I needed some time to work things out.” Baker took to Europe in June of 2016 and traveled from Germany to Spain to Italy across the span of two months. “I couldn’t have been happier with my decision to travel,” Baker said. “I gained so much worldly knowledge and met so many people from around the globe. It really put things into perspective for me.” Since many colleges value global experience in their applicants, taking a year abroad can be a way for graduates to gain more knowledge and become a more well-rounded applicant. Though some may be under the impression that colleges look down upon students for taking a year off before school, Nitardy pointed out that on the contrary, most schools are fine with it and often even encourage gap years. Many schools give students the option of deferring their enrollment for a year after they are admitted so that they can expand their horizons while still having a spot secured for the school of their choice when the year is up. “Colleges don’t mind that, and they sometimes prefer that over a brand new freshman,” Nitardy said. “If you’re applying, you’re typically going to get admitted since you’ve had that real-world experience.” Gap years can also be practical financial decisions for students who may not be absolutely certain in what they’d like to major in

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Illustration by Rachel Wolleben.

“

I gained so much worldly knowledge and met so many people from around the globe. [My gap year] really put things into perspective for me. -Lev Baker, Class of 2016

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once in college. Many students have to face the arduous task of switching majors during their time at university, which forces students to take extra years to graduate and adds on the cost of additional required credits. Taking a year off can help graduates clarify their college and career goals, and subsequently save time and money. Given the fact that a private education typically costs $25,000 a year and generates massive student debt, graduates figuring out what they want to do before entering college can save them a good chunk of change. In addition to saving money, graduates can also use gap years to serve others. Students often utilize gap years to participate in programs in which they can engage the community. Senior Henry Epperson is planning on taking a year off after graduation to participate in City Year, a yearlong mentorship and tutoring program for students grades three through nine who are at risk of dropping out of school. The program, which is run by AmeriCorp, has locations all over

the nation, but Epperson chose to apply to the one in New York City. “It’s better financially for me, and it’s good to get a grasp on life outside of school first before I go to college just so I know what to expect after I’m finished with all of my schooling,” Epperson said. “I think it would be nice to take a year off and be in the real world.” The City Year program pays its mentors for their work and additionally provides them with a scholarship to the school of their choosing upon their completion of the program. The program helps them set up their futures as well as providing a fulfilling experience for everyone involved. Though there’s still a slight social stigma regarding students who choose not to attend college their first year out of high school, the popularity and credibility of gap years has grown significantly in recent years. The National Gap Year Fair comes through Austin every year at St. Stephen’s Episcopal school and gives students the opportunity to peruse the many options they have if they decide to take a gap year. The American Gap Association reports on its website that attendance rates of National Gap Year Fairs are at an all-time high, and studies have found that students who take gap years are more likely to over-perform academically compared to their projected academic performance throughout their four years at university. Though it still may make parents and college counselors around the world slightly anxious, it turns out that taking a year off before college can be a financially and logistically efficient option for graduating seniors.

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Spring Sports Round-Up After fun-filled Senior Night, Lady Knights head to playoffs The Lady Knights defeated Reagan 18-1 on Tuesday, which put the varsity softball team in third place at the end of the season and qualified them for the state playoffs. This was an especially sweet victory for senior softball players. “I think that it was special that all the seniors got to finish out their season playing positions they wanted to play,” shortstop Nathalie Muñoz said. Muñoz got to pitch the first inning which brought back many fond memories for her. “I started off my softball career pitching when I was young,” Muñoz said. “And after about three years of pitching, I decided I wanted to move to the left side of the infield.” Seniors cherished playing one last district game with their teammates. “It was really special feeling to be surrounded by girls who have supported me for the past two years,” senior Ella Whitaker said. “We knew that it was our last district game together but that we would make it as memorable

and fun as it could be.” Whitaker had two triples and 6 RBI’s in the game, which was one of her favorite parts of this season. “Hitting the triples felt great,” Whitaker said, “but I really liked the ceremony after the game.” The junior softball players made posters for the ceremony to help celebrate the graduating seniors. “At the end of the game, each senior was announced by our coach as our family members escorted us down the third-base line,” Whitaker said. “When each senior got to home plate, they were greeted by a junior softball player and presented flowers, a gift bag, balloons and a hug.” This was a good chance for the seniors to reflect on their seasons past and look forward to their futures. “I’m probably going to miss the fact that all four years I have played, every team we have had has always been so united and always got along well,” Muñoz said. “ And of course I’ll miss Coach Matz.” —Maddie Doran

Grand slam sends Knights to 11-1 victory over Lanier Junior Mason Bryant hit a grand slam home run, plating Eric Worden, Cameron Stahl and Adam Vasquez as the Knights run-ruled the Lanier Vikings, 11-1, at Northwest Park on Tuesday. “It felt great off the bat, and I knew it was out,” Bryant said. “I’m happy I helped my team get a win, and I hope we can keep it up as we roll into playoffs.” The Knights are undefeated in district play and have already clinched a playoff berth. The Knights hope to continue their success when they play Lanier again Friday April 21 at Nelson Field. —Delaney Carter and Charlie Holden

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Wins

Austin Crockett McCallum LBJ Travis Lanier Reagan

12 10 7 6 5 2 0

Losses 0 2 5 6 7 10 12

Junior Mason Bryant rounds third base and high fives Coach Houston after hitting a grand slam that secured the Knights’ win Tuesday. Photo by Adrian Peña.

Coach Rachael Matz hugs senior Nathalie Muñoz during Senior Night. Photo by Joe Contreras.

Sophomore advances to tennis regionals At the tennis district meet on Tuesday and Wednesday, sophomore Steven Tibbetts lost his match but was the only McCallum student to advance to regionals. “You have to get second in districts to move on, and I placed third last year, so I just missed out last year,” Tibbetts said. “I was happy to see the improvement from last year to this year.” Although Tibbetts placed fourth at regionals, meaning he did not advance to area, his second-place finish at district was

21 April 2017

a personal win and a win for the McCallum tennis team. “I played well in the semifinals of district and won pretty easily. I [played] well in the finals but lost in a close match. Hopefully I can get back to regionals next year and do even better.” A lot of practice went into Tibbetts well deserved victory at districts. “I’ve been practicing at least two hours a day six days a week,” Tibbetts said. —Madison Olsen

BASEBALL School

Wins

Losses

McCallum Austin LBJ Travis Lanier Crockett Reagan

9 8 5 4 4 3 0

0 2 4 5 7 6 9 Sports 19

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Cannon sounds off on stellar season Bowling coach Randy Cannon’s team hoped to make it to regions; when they finally got there, they bowled their way to State. The Shield: How do you feel about the team’s performance this season? Randy Cannon: I am proud of the performance of the team this season. We entered the year with the goal of making it to the regional tournament and ended up not only making it to the regionals but going ahead and finishing third and qualifying for the state finals. The team worked well together for most of the season. I wish we could have produced a couple singles entries this season but fell a little short. TS: Can you talk a little bit about the team’s road to state? RC: The road to the state finals was not as wild as just making it through district to qualify for the regional tournament. We bowled half of our matches in district short-handed, competing with a five-onfour disadvantage. One of the biggest boosts we had this season was winning the match against the defending state champion, the Georgetown Eagles, in week four. This victory gave the team some additional confidence and started a three-match win streak.

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The final match of the season against the Round Rock Dragons came down to the final game of the season to determine third place in the district. The team fought hard but came up just one point short of a victory. At the regional event, our first match was against Round Rock, and we won that match by nine and went on to shoot a season-high, 221 points in the second match. After each match, an announcement was made with the position of each of the teams. With each announcement, the team would hear its name moving up the list. The team was getting excited, the parents were going nuts; it was a wild atmosphere. When the final games were bowled, we finished third— almost 300 pins ahead of the last qualifier. TS: What have been some of the key games they have played this season? RC: In this district almost every match is a key match. I would have to say the win over Georgetown was the one that validated the season for these bowlers. In talking to the team, I think they have developed a self-imposed rivalry with

Photo by Sydney Amell.

Round Rock for some reason. I know there was a couple times this season they had their backs against the wall and could have quit, but instead made key shots in matches to come from behind and hold on. TS: Can you talk a little bit about how the team practices? RC: Team practices are spent working on the basics of the game. Not all of these players are at the same place with their games, but the goal is still the same: get spares. I will work with the members on how to make adjustments, improve consistency, mental adjustments, and score improvements. Before match play begins, we will practice two or three times a week. We have fun playing different games at times, such as doubles, scotch doubles, Bakers and beat the coach. The bowling center, Dart Bowl, is awesome and has welcomed us with open arms. I hope that as the popularity of the team grows we might have some spectators come over and watch the team in action. If we plan on being a contender in the state finals next season, we will have to amp the practices up for sure. TS: What is your favorite thing about coaching the team? RC: My favorite thing about coaching the team is watching the joy on the faces of these athletes when they accomplish something like they did this year. I have been working with youth and bowling for a number of years, and one of my favorite things is to see the joy a bowler getting their first strike or picking up a split. Watching these young men light up when they got their medals for making it to regionals was such an awesome feeling, and then to see them gain a spot in the state finals ... it made my season. At our last practice we had before going to Fort Worth, the starting

lineup got measured for their jackets— that was another priceless moment. TS: What is the hardest part about being a coach? RC: The hardest part about coaching the team is to remember that these are just young men and that they do not have years of experience. I am not a perfectionist, but I do expect to see some improvement and increased effort. There are times when the team has trouble staying focused. It also is a challenge to sometimes separate a serious practice session from a practice where we just enjoy a relaxing and unwinding afternoon. I had a hard time convincing these guys the importance of spares, but after winning one of their matches in the regional event without a strike they finally realized what I was talking about. TS: How can students join the team next year? RC: The actual bowling season is from Oct. 1 through April 1, but anyone interested in being part of the program can reach out to myself, any of the current members or Coach Amaro, our sponsor. I know we had a few students come over to practice with the team the last couple weeks, and I am hoping to have enough to field not only a boys varsity, but a girls varsity as well as a JV team. I am going to also recommend to anyone that is seriously considering joining the program to check out the Saturday morning youth bowling program at Dart Bowl. I am the youth coordinator and coach at the center and hope to get most of the team involved with the program to greatly improve their game. To be a serious competitor at the state level requires more than just a couple hours a week: it means a commitment. —interview by Maddie Doran

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For the love of Frisbee

An ultimate player since he was born, junior reflects on the growth of the Mac Flatball team The Shield: How long have you been playing ultimate Frisbee? Hayden Stone: Ever since I was born, my dad has been having me throw a disc around, but I have been playing competitively since third grade. TS: How did you get involved with the team at McCallum? HS: My freshman year an old Frisbee friend of my dad’s was the coach, and his son was a senior, so I played freshman year for Coach Wes and then I just kept going from there. TS: Can you explain a little bit about how ultimate actually works? HS: There are two teams, seven on seven; It kind of starts out like football. One team throws the disc off to the other team, then you try to advance the disc by throwing it to your teammates, but you can’t run with it. Then you just have to run it into the end zone to get points. TS: What comes with playing on a team that isn’t considered a UIL team? HS: Challenges. We have to fight for field space and also we sometimes don’t get to practice at McCallum. Other than that, it is pretty normal. TS: How does the team get funding? HS: Everyone pays for themselves, but if people need funding, then we can get scholarships through a league in Austin. They make a fund for lower-income kids to help spread ultimate. TS: Why are there two teams this year? HS: We wanted to have two teams because so many people signed up, and we wanted people to get playing time. We split it up by freshman and upperclassmen, not really based off skill. TS: Who is the coach of your team? Is there a coach for each team? HS: My dad, Chris Stone, coaches the A team and Chris Pur-

Stone looks downfield for a chance to pass the Frisbee to a teammate as an Austin High player guards him. Stone’s knee was bleeding from a dive earlier in the game (see photo at right). Photo by Charlie Holden.

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kiss, one of the special-ed teachers, coaches the other team. TS: What is it like to have your dad as a coach? HS: It is interesting; he has been coaching me for a long time. We get to talk about it a lot and strategize. TS: How often does the team practice? HS: We try to practice twice a week. Whenever we can get field space at McCallum or at Brentwood, that’s when we play. TS: What other teams do you play? HS: This year 19 teams signed up for spring league. There is no division between 5A and 6A; we are all together. We play Austin High, Westlake, Lake Travis and even Belton. It’s just all around central Texas. TS: Who is your biggest rival? HS: I think it is Austin High for sure. We know a lot of those guys, and we have been playing them for a long time. Those games are always really fun and competitive. TS: What is it like to play ultimate on a co-ed team? HS: It’s great. It helps us at state because there are two divisions. There is mixed, which is boys and girls, and then there is open, which is just boys. We get to have two teams at state. It’s also just fun to play with the girls, and they play differently. TS: How does the team get along? HS: Awesome! We all love playing ultimate; we all love playing with each other. We are all just friends throwing a Frisbee. —interview by Maddie Doran

Stone dives to try to save the Frisbee during the Austin HighMcCallum game on April 1. Stone narrowly missed the catch, but the Knights still won their game 11-7. Photo by Charlie Holden.

Ultimate splits a pair of games at East Metro McCallum ultimate Frisbee played a doubleheader this past Saturday, April 15. In the first game, against Bowie, McCallum lost, 13-7, but went down fighting. “We didn’t play very well against Bowie,” junior Gabe Martinez said. “I think it was because not many people have been showing up to practice, and we can see the result of that.” McCallum beat Anderson, 13-7, later that afternoon. “We played well except for the very end where they scored four points in a row at the end of the game,” Martinez said, “but we still won.” The team’s next games are on April 22 against Hays and Veritas high schools at East Metropolitan Fields in from noon to 3 p.m. —Maddie Doran

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Row, Row, Rowing to College The Shield: How long have you been involved in rowing? Kate Knifton: I have been rowing since August of sophomore year so for about a year and a half. TS: How did you get into rowing? KK: My dad owns Texas Rowing Center, which is the club that I row at. He is a really serious about rowing, so he got me into it. TS: How did it feel to be committing to University of Texas and knowing you’ll be able to go there? KK: It was really exciting because ever since I had my unofficial visit to UT earlier in the school year, I knew I wanted to go there, and whenever I had an offer made, it was the most exciting thing, and it really took a huge weight off, but it also gave me a goal to keep working hard for the rest of my high school career. But it’s super nice because I know exactly where I am going and I know what I need to do to be the best at I can be when I get there. TS: What are you thinking of studying in college? KK: I think I am leaning towards studying business or pre-med. TS: Is it common for someone who has not been rowing for very long to be committing to a D1 school? KK: I think that committing to UT this early is not that common, but with rowing you don’t really have to start very young because you have to wait until your muscles can be as strong as they can be, and you’re fully grown, so it kind of ranges because a lot of people have been rowing since middle school, and a lot of people joined freshman and sophomore year like I did. TS: How many people are there on your team? KK: Our team has 45 people; that’s the girls team. Our club total has probably more than 100 people. There’s also different boat sizes. There’s a four-person, a double, an

22 Sports

Junior Kate Knifton trains for rowing in college, discusses what it takes to get there

Kate Knifton Fast Facts Fastest row time

2,000 meter ERG was 7 minutes and 21 seconds

Favorite place to compete Boston

Tips for someone just starting

“Stick with it through the tough times. It can be frustrating to get technique down, but the longer you row, the more natural the motion becomes and the more fun the process is.” Top: Knifton practicing on Lady Bird Lake. Left: Knifton and crew members huddling up before rowing at a regatta. Photos provided by Kate Knifton. eight-person and a single. TS: What is your favorite boat to row? KK: My favorite is probably the four- or eight-person because I like the bigger boats because they go faster. TS: What does a normal day of training look like for you? KK: This isn’t everyday, but if we’re training for a regatta competition and need extra training, then I wake up at 4:30 for 5:15 practice that goes until 7. Then we have practice everyday after school from 5-7. Sometimes I like to go to the gym or go home and train on my ERG and lift weights in the morning or after practice in the afternoon. TS: What is a regatta? KK: A regatta is where a bunch of different crews come together and you race. There are three different types of distances that I have raced: the 5,000 meters, 2,000

meters and 1,000 meters. Depending on the regatta, people will come from all over the country or even sometimes other countries. TS: How often do you travel to other places for regattas? KK: I travel to other states pretty often for regattas, especially during the spring. We go to Tennessee, San Diego, Oklahoma two times, and during the summer I went to Canada and Ohio. TS: What sort of U.S. team were you just accepted on? KK: I was accepted on the U.S. High Performance team, and it is people from all different states, and there are other people from different countries, too. They train for the U.S. Team and compete. Depending on what team you make you can compete with other countries or just compete within the U.S.

TS: How did you get recruited for that? KK: My coach had been sending in my stats and results from different regattas this year and then I was invited to this virtual camp where you do a bunch of workouts and send in all your scores for them to evaluate you. I went to Boston a few weeks ago where you do aERG test for them and you do some rowing and they get your height, weight, and all your stats and then that’s how they identify who they pick for the U.S. team. TS: What is your goal for rowing? KK: My goal for the end of summer of my senior year is to be on the Juniors National Team which is the highest level of the camp that I go to. That is the team that competes in Lithuania against teams from all over the world. —Julie Robertson

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Home is where the heart is 25 things to do in the Austin area before you leave for college

18. Exercise your newfound freedom and spend a night on Sixth Street.

1. See the bats. 2. Jump into Barton Springs one last time.

19. Go to Schlitterbahn no matter how gross it may seem now that you’re older.

3. Float down the San Marcos River with a cold drink in one hand and a hot dog in the other.

20. Visit the Bob Bullock museum and learn about the city you’re leaving.

4. Visit the Capitol, take a nap on the lawn, look up and spin around in the rotunda and worship at the foot of the portrait of Anne Richards.

21. See a show at The Mohawk, Emo’s, Hotel Vegas, or another Austin institution. This is the live music capital of the world after all.

5. Watch the sunset on top of Mount Bonnell. We’re not saying that this isn’t also a great date idea, but it is.

22. See and/or participate in spoken word poetry night at the Spiderhouse Ballroom.

6. Go two-stepping at the Broken Spoke. Be sure to wear your blue jeans and cowboy boots!

Photo by Ty Nguyen.

7. Enjoy the good Mexican food and good BBQ while you can, especially if you’re moving north.

10. Play Peter Pan Mini-Golf and remember how much fun you had there when you were a kid.

8. Watch the Fourth of July fireworks over Ladybird Lake. Bonus points if you rent a boat to watch from the lake itself.

11. Wait in line at Franklin’s BBQ. You don’t have to buy anything, just wait in line.

9. Go to Pinballz Arcade.

23. Stop by the Pecan St. Arts Festival 24. Catch a movie at the Blue Starlite Drive-In. 25. Climb to the top of the UT Tower and look out over the city. -Anna Addison

12. Go to the Cathedral of Junk. 13. Go see a movie at the Paramount Theatre. They screen classics all summer. 14. Hike the Green Belt. Bring a picnic, your swimsuit and your dog. 15. Visit The Blanton, sit in front of your favorite painting and feel like you’re the lead in an indie film. 16. Window shop and people watch on South Congress. Go to stores like Lucy in Disguise and Uncommon Objects and admire the oddities they have there.

Photo by Enoch Lai.

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17. Take a picture in front of all the iconic murals. I Love You So Much, Hi How Are You?, You’re My Butter Half ... et cetera et cetera.

The Cathedral of Junk, made by Vince Hannemann. Photo by Fuzzy Gerdes.

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Top Left: Seaside, Florida as pictured in the summer. Photo by Maddie Doran Top Right: Florence, Italy pictured from above. Photo via Flickr creative commons Bottom Left: Cancun, Mexico on the beautiful white sand beaches. Photo by Maddie Doran. Bottom Right: Loch Vale, Coloardo in Rocky Mountain Natioal Park. Photo by Julie Robertson.

24 Opinion

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Keep Austin profitable

Austin’s celebrated weirdness simply marketing strategy costumed as identity GRACE SCHMIDHAUSER staff reporter “That’s just so Austin!” is something you’ve probably heard often if you’ve lived here long enough. It’s usually prompted by a slightly “quirky” situation or a sassy logo on a T-shirt or storefront, and the person saying it is probably wearing a tie-dyed T-shirt donned with the classic “Keep Austin Weird” logo spread across the back in pride. But is Austin really even that weird? Austin loves to celebrate its self-proclaimed weirdness. Expressions of it that come to mind include murals like the painstakingly over-Instagrammed “I love you so much” spray-painted on the side of Jo’s Coffee or the South Austin graffiti park, Castle Hill. Maybe you think of that one guy who rides his bike around town so scantily clad that your parents shielded your middle-school eyes from the sight of him when you were in the sixth grade. Many images come to mind when we think of Austin’s weirdness, but it’s worth noting that almost all of those images are usually available for sale in the form of mugs, keychains, hats, T-shirts, and practically anything a business can sell for $5.99 or more. Though many iconic Austin landmarks and “scenes” have elements of sincerity and authenticity to them, this obsession with the identity of a quirky, different culture has sapped up any real presence of culture there was left in town. Austin’s obsession with its own weirdness is akin to an insecure teenager desperately trying to fit into an identity that they’re not really quite comfortable with but think is going to make them seem cool to their peers. The intentions may be fine, but the execution is half-hearted and reeks of insincerity and an awkward desire to fit in. And once you go looking for it, it’s not hard to find within Austin’s culture. I’ve lived here all my life, and though I’m not quite old enough to claim that I truly remember what Austin was like back in the Good Old’ Days, it’s undeniable that things have changed even in the 17 years I’ve been around. As Austin has been included in list after list of the topranked U.S. cities in which to live, we’ve welcomed an influx of people coming from all over the country and the world. Young business owners with tech startups and families from L.A. and New York have come to Austin (probably after an “eye-opening” trip to SXSW in which the weather was suspiciously perfect) to seek refuge from the hustle and bustle of their city lives and to capitalize on the market of what they see as a population of impressionable “Texan hippies.” Austin represents a laid-back environment, a quirky, liberal island that sticks out like a sore thumb amidst the largely conservative state of Texas. Though this tableau may be true in some ways, the authenticity of Austin culture has been compromised by city

21 April 2017

Cartoon by Charlie Holden

officials’ insistence on marketing Austin’s weirdness in order to promote the city. Just like any societal medium like music and fashion, Austin’s “weirdness” has become a product to be consumed and sold, usually for the highest sums of money possible. This isn’t to say that economic growth and stimulation haven’t been good for the city as far as development goes, but “Keep Austin Weird” should be seen for what it is and has always been: a marketing strategy. The “Keep Austin Weird” slogan started as a strategy to keep Austinites invested in local businesses instead of the looming threat of chains planting their locations in the city. In the early 2000s, Bookpeople and Waterloo Records decided to lead this effort by printing thousands of stickers donned with the famous slogan. It was an immediate success, and the slogan was officially adopted by the Austin Independent Business Alliance. There and then began Austin’s love affair with its own weirdness, at least in a capacity that was being actively sold to consumers. Though this reinforcement of the “weird” identity may seem on the surface to be harmless, it ignores a lot of the realities that Austin faces and has often become a distractor and quick fix for issues that should be addressed more substantively. The packaging of Austin contains many elements that are marketed as making our city unique. We proudly hail ourselves as the “live music capital of the world,” yet a huge portion of Austin musicians are living below the poverty

line. We are apparently a haven for liberal politics and equality, yet Austin has been proven to be one of the most increasingly racially segregated cities in the nation due to mass gentrification. That’s a pretty weird contradiction, but try selling that sentiment on a T-shirt. Austin puts on a facade of embracing all different cultures and professions, but the city has shown a theme of embracing things on a very surface level in order to conform to an identity that’s becoming increasingly calculated. This has in turn created a consumer culture in which people pick and choose the most digestible aspects of the city to focus on, living in a utopia in which societal issues are cloaked by a veil of shallow, aesthetically pleasing marketing strategies that distract from real issues. The idea of embracing people’s differences and outsidethe-box thinking is great, and Austin often does provide a more accepting environment for people of all walks of life than many other places may. That being said, we shouldn’t be so quick to declare ourselves a haven for acceptance and weirdness without doing the dirty work to make sure that this culture is genuinely inclusive to the groups around which it forms this identity. We can’t just pick and choose the aspects of people’s art, lives and work to use it as marketing strategies and then just leave them in the dust when it isn’t convenient to acknowledge their needs. So yes, keep Austin weird, but the real goal should be to keep Austin inclusive, genuine and self-aware.

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Hey Texas, SLO down with the testing Heavy standardized testing ends up hurting students, teachers and schools as a whole “We Are More Than Tests,” read one memorable sign seen at the recent Save Texas Schools rally at the Capitol. It’s not just a pithy phrase. It’s a message that, now more than ever, is worth repeating. Between the PSAT, the STAAR, AP exams and now the SLOs, or Student Learning Objectives (and that’s not even counting out-of-school tests like the ACTs, the SATs or the TSI), testing activity takes up between 28 to 45 days out of each school year in Texas. Though this number may not seem inordinate, Texas has fallen behind other states in practically every academic category (to name a few, math, science and English), but when it comes to time spent on standardized testing, Texas leads the pack. This is unaccaptable. Teachers should be given more time and resources to focus on simply teaching their students without so much pressure on testing outcomes; excessive testing creates distractions and unneeded stress for both teachers and students. On that note, standardized tests also factor heavily into both individual and

Cartoon by Rachel Wolleben

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bathroom time. This creates a breeding ground for unhealthy anxiety and competition that takes away from the primary purpose of education: to learn. Georgia, one of the first states to implement the SLO to measure teacher and student success, recently heavily cut back on the program just as Texas education officials were becoming SLO learners. Instead of increasing the amount of standardized tests and assigning such a heavy value to them, the state should begin to view standardized tests purely as a tool with which to understand the overall progress of schools. Texas Rep. Jason Isaac recently proposed a bill which would allow schools to seek alternative test providers, and it’s reform measures like these that will decrease the amount of tests as well as the amount they affect school, teacher and student assessments. The state of Texas, and our education system overall, need to understand that while testing is a key part of understanding strengths and weaknesses in our school, it is not the end-all-be-all.

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

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students, who often have less preparation for testing than their more advantaged peers. Students with learning disabilities and language barriers also have the odds stacked against them. The testing environment itself is also stressful; students are given a strict four-hour time limit to complete the test, and the district takes such extreme precautions as to have teachers release students one-at-a-time for monitored

school-wide assessments; the STAAR alone currently factors for 55 percent of schools’ accountability ratings. This puts increasing pressure on teachers and administration; schools with below-average test scores often suffer as a result of government intervention (forced turnovers of teachers and staff), and the new SLO grades will be used as a factor in individual teacher assessments. It also puts undue stress on students; under the STAAR, students must pass anywhere from five to 15 EOC assessments or they cannot graduate. This requirement unfairly targeting lower-income

editors-in-chief JULIE ROBERTSON and Rachel Wolleben assistant editors MADDIE DORAN

adviser zoë hocker

charlie holden

DAVE WINTER

reporters

ANNA ADDISON, JOSEPH CARDENAS, ANNA COMPTON, MILES HANSEN, GREGORY JAMES, MADISON OLSEN, SOPHIE RYLAND, GRACE SCHMIDHAUSER, D’AZHANE YANCEY and LORENZO ZARZOZA

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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

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Track team makes mark at districts

Boys, girls qualify for this week’s area meet; check macshieldonline.com for latest results Junior Vinay Patel passes the baton to sophomore Deron Gage during the team’s fifthplace finish in the 4x200-meter relay on Day 2 of the district meet on April 7. “My favorite part about track is competing against all the other schools and trying to be first,” Patel said. “In a district championship, it’s fun to be around some of the fastest people in Austin and compete against them.” Photo by Maddy Stine. Junior and team captain Jasmine Davis runs in the varsity district meet on April 6. Davis usually runs the 400-meter relay, the 800-meter relay, and the 100-meter dash. On some occasions, she runs the 200-meter dash and the 100-meter hurdles. “I like the atmosphere, [the] competition, being able to be a leader, [and] meeting new people,” Davis said. Photo by Maddy Stine. Freshman Georgia Harrington competes in the triple jump at the district meet. In addition to the triple jump, Harrington ran the 400-meter dash, the 800-meter dash and on the 4x400 relay. “It’s good to experience all the good days and the bad days,” Harrington said, “We come together more when it’s a bad day and work hard.” Photo by Amurri Davis.

At Burger Stadium on April 6, senior Laney Hawn practices the pole vault en route to her district title in the event. Placing first qualified Hawn for the area meet on April 19. “I like that it’s a technical sport, and it’s fun to run as hard as you can and get propelled from that energy,” Hawn said, “Anyone that likes physics would be fascinated with pole vaulting.” Photo by Amurri Davis. Junior Tyrell Washington slows after passing the baton to his cousin, senior Brandon Wooley, during Mac’s second-place finish in the 4x100 relay. “These guys are like family,” Washington said. “We always know how to have fun and play jokes on each other,” said Washington, who also placed second in the 100 meters and third in the 200. Photo by Maddy Stine.

28 Photo Essay

21 April 2017