The first issue of The Shield for the 2015-2016 school year features several stories that explore inclusion and exclusion: from the recent U.S. gay marriage of popular faculty member Tim Bjerke, to the controversial casting of a cisgender actor to play a transgender protagonist, to the repudiation of Confederate symbols in the wake of the tragic Charleston mass shooting. We also explore in depth, the national epidemic of mass shootings, and what is or is not being done to stop them. On the lighter side, we profile two new teachers, the school custodians, European exchange students, students with foreign-born parents, the recent production of "Sondeim on Sondeim," artist Sofia Mock and dual threat dancer and football star Will Loewen.