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McCallum High School / 5600 Sunshine / Austin, TX 78756 / Dec. 13, 2019 Volume 67 / Issue 3
WHAT’S INSIDE
THE STORY OF
GUS In the aftermath of tragedy, the Mac community rallies to find a dog a forever home
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AISD votes to close four elementary schools and to adopt a new sex ed curriculum. pages 3 & 5 TENS AND TWENTIES: Every new beginning starts with some other beginning’s end. pages 16 & 17 CHRISTMAS BAGGAGE: Why holiday season isn’t all glitz and glamour for many people. page 24
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After a final vote in November, four elementary schools are set to close in 2020 in an effort from AISD to reconsolidate funding and population.
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A new student led club is determined to assist and welcom refugees at Texas border in any way they can.
a&e The Glossier pop-up shop comes to Austin, attracting a large crowd of high school students and spreading its message of empowerment. Sophomore Ivy Jane Golyzniak discusses the intentions behind her poems and the experience of reading one aloud for the first time at Coffee House.
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As the world prepares for the start of the 2020s, look back at just how much life has changed in the last century ... and how much has stayed the same.
sports
Angus Sewell McCann performs his solo “Cool, Cool, Considerate Men” during the final dress rehearsal for McCallum Choir’s 2019 Cabaret, Heroes & Villains of Broadway . “All choirs really got into shape on such short notice,” Sewell McCann said. “Last year’s show was really fun, so we had high expectations without a lot of time; however, I think we really pulled it together despite our short practice time.” This year’s edition of Cabaret focused on Broadway shows and musicals, both classic and contemporary. Caption by Kien Johnson. Photo by Alysa Bijl-Spiro.66
Playing water polo at MAC is logistically challenging but fulfilling according to senior founders and captains Cole Keshner and Ivan Zaplatar.
Under microscope, Christmas isn’t as merry as it may seem; two Shield staffers explain all of the negative implications of the holiday season.
Avoid the stressful rush of finishing and sending in your college applications by writing your essay over the summer rather than last minute.
page 20 6RSKRPRUH 0LD *RPH] lines up a shot during a scrimmage at after-school tryouts on Dec. 4. Tryouts for girls and boys soccer teams started on Monday, Dec. 2 and carried through Wednesday. The soccer season kicks off in earnest with road scrimmages against arch-rival Anderson. The girls play Anderson today while the boys get their shot on Thursday. Photo by Risa Darlington-Horta.
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Final Exam: First, Second Period
Permanent principal to be announced at board meeting
Spirit Day: Long Winter’s Nap (PJ’s) Final Exam: Fifth, Sixth Period
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Senior Georgia Harrington may have to run between tech theatre and basketball, but she juggles her roles by staying positive and working hard.
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ANSWERS TO 1920s SLANG QUIZ: 1)C 2)G 3)D 4)E 5)A 6)B 7)F 8)H
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Assistant principal Andy Baxa sits for the latest Proust Questionnaire and shares his mottos, memories and the most important people in his life.
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A semester in the life of MAC is summed up with a crossword puzzle detailing the most iconic events that made up the first half of the school year.
Spirit Day: Tacky Tuesday (Holiday Sweaters)
Final Exam: Third, Fourth Period
Spirirt Day: Flannel Family Photo
Final Exam: Seventh, Eighth Period
Spirit Day: The End is Near -- Wear your Holiday Gear
Winter Break Begins
Girls Basketball vs. Lockhart @ Mac, 7 p.m.
Boys Basketball vs. Pflugerville Weiss @ Delco, 6 p.m. Boys Basketball Tournament @ Hays
Boys Basketball vs. Crockett @ Mac, 8 p.m.
Girls Basketball vs. Crockett @ Crockett, 7 p.m.
MacTheatre Parent Meeting @ Library, 6:30 p.m.
Girls Basketball vs. Northeast @ Northeast, 7 p.m. Boys Basketball vs. Northeast @ Mac, 8 p.m.
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Campus closures spark controversy AISD votes to close four elementary schools in order to save money, balance enrollment BELLA RUSSO assistant editor
The historical marker outside Pease Elementary School, celebrating the campus as the oldest continuously operating public school in Texas, has been sharing the spotlight with frantic handmade fliers and banners since early September. The signs, hung around the campus, read “Keep our school open to all,” or, in a young student’s handwriting, “Please save Pease.” These pleas come from the students at Austin’s oldest elementary school to the AISD school board, which had named their school as one of 12 potentials for closures back in September. In October, the board of trustees decided to slow down the process of closing all 12 school, leaving only Brooks, Sims, Metz and Pease elementary schools up for debate. After almost three months of push-back from these communities determined to save their schools, or at least to understand the process and the rationale behind the closures, the board of trustees voted 6-3 on Nov. 18 to move forward with its Changes plan. Starting in 2020, Brooke, Metz, Pease and Sims students will all be relocated to other campuses with more modernized facilities. The proposal’s goal is to consolidate schools with low enrollment in the hopes of better allocating funds to where they would most benefit students and teachers. Cost efficiency is what AISD says kept Brooke, Sims, Metz and Pease on the closure list while they delayed closing the eight other schools. Gilbert Hicks, AISD’s associate superintendent for elementary schools explained to community members that the four schools were all choices for closures as they wouldn’t take any extra money to consolidate. The district’s plan is to fund each consolidation with money from the 2017 bond. “The ultimate goal is to provide access and opportunity for scholars by investing money, currently being invested in empty seats, more directly into student learning,” AISD Superintendent Paul Cruz said at the Nov. 18 public board meeting where the board voted on the School Changes proposal. “With the implementation of the 2017 bond and without school changes, we would have over 13,000 empty seats. Modernized schools not only are better learning environments, but they are far less costly to maintain, allowing us to put our dollars where they belong: in the classroom.” The four closures would all take place in the 2020-2021 school year. Under the plan, students currently at Brooke will co-locate to Govalle Elementary, which is currently receiving a $32.5 million renovation and is scheduled to open this spring. Brooke’s boundaries will also be redrawn: any student living south of Lady Bird Lake will be rezoned to Linder. Pease Elementary, an all transfer school, will either combine with Zavala’s campus, or students will attend the schools they
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Pease Elementary, Texas’s oldest continuously operating public elementary school, is one of four campus closures taking place in the School Changes proposal that passed on Nov. 18.
ABOVE: A student-made flier hanging outside of the Pease playground reads “Pease is home.” Posters and banners with the same message still line the Pease campus, even though the board of trustees voted on Nov. 18 to continue with the School Changes plan that would shut down the school in 2020-21. RIGHT: The board of trustees listen to public comments at the August board meeting. Photos by Bella Russo. are zoned to attend. Metz and Sanchez students, currently co-located at Metz, will move to a modernized Sanchez campus, a $25 million bond investment. Metz will close, and its resources will be reallocated. Sims students will co-locate to a modernized Norman. Cruz also assured that all teachers of good standing who are affected by the school changes will be guaranteed a new job at their current staffing level or higher. Although the plans for the re-purposing of these closed campuses have not been released, the financial effects of closing these schools are clearly outlined under AISD’s proposal. The closure of both Metz and Pease would save the district more than $7 million in maintenance costs for each campus, the Sims (grouped with a possible Pecan Springs closure) re-purposing would save the district more than $8 million, and the closure of Brooke would save the district close to $10 million. The district hopes that these added savings would help combat AISD’s current debt and make up for the millions lost to state recapture each year. “AISD will send $612 million to the state in recapture from 2019-2020,” Cruz said at the meeting. “Our district carries a burden of $1.4 billion and needed repairs to our facilities.”
He also assured the community that the funds saved would go right back into the community through improved schools and new and improved programs. “School closures and consolidations are not in of themselves an equity strategy,” Cruz said. “The investments made from the resulting savings are the equity strategy.” The proposals have been met with a large amount of negative feedback from members of the AISD community. Since three of the four schools (all except Pease) are located on the east side, the School Changes plan has sparked debate over the ethics of targeting the increasingly gentrified area. Dr. Stephanie Hawley, the district’s chief equity officer, mirrored frustrations about the plan at the November board meeting. “The map that you have of the closures is a map of what 21st century racism looks like,” Hawley said to the board of trustees before their vote. “We desperately need an equity audit on our facilities, our finances, our academics, our data, our screening. We may be well-meaning, but we’re doing damage.” Hawley and her team of equity officers had filed an equity report on the school closings, but as the report is still under review, it was unavailable to the board and the public at the time of the vote. Her concerns also fell on the process itself, calling
it “very flawed,” and “not transparent.” “Most of these students [affected by the changes] are low income, most are from “minority groups,” [are] majority Hispanic,” said Noelita Lugo, a Pease parent and a member of the Save Austin Schools coalition. “It just doesn’t make sense that the district would throw away an opportunity to really serve families who need quality public education.” While the district has received positive feedback on a new plan for special education that would take place in the school changes plan, none of the public comments at the November board meeting supported the plan as a whole. Those arguing against recognize that the funding cuts are necessary but insist the process has room to be improved. “My biggest concern is that the district hasn’t offered concrete, workable solutions,” Lugo said. “[They’re] going to close these schools, and there’s no forethought, no planning with how to transition these programs effectively, how to make sure the children and families are supported when they see their school close.” AISD claims that communities will have the opportunity to provide input on the programming offered at the modernized campuses. Come spring, the debate over whether or not to continue with the closures will resume, and it will be decided if eight more AISD schools will join Brooke, Metz, Pease and Sims as official closures.
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When in Austin, The Tonight Show was a three-Knight show Jimmy Fallon brought The Tonight Show to Austin on Nov. 7 and filmed an episode centered around UT, highlighting both its students and campus. Fallon also included actor Matthew McConaughey, rapper Gucci Mane and TV stars Chip and Joanna Gaines. These celebrities, however, are not the only locals who had a role in the show. Three people who helped make it happen have McCallum roots: senior Stella Shenkman and alums Hannah Ilan and Ally Morales. Shenkman, a tech major, was hired to help set up the show before the crew arrived. “I was working with a group of adults, putting up speakers and just preparing the theater for Jimmy,” she said. Though only 17, Shenkman worked long hours doing intense work with seasoned professionals. “It’s really hard working with professionals who expect you to ‘go go go’ when you’re just a kid,” she said, “but it’s also one of the cool parts. When you actually get something right, everyone around you is proud of you because they want to see young people grow.” Shenkman said her backstage experience helped her handle the workload of producing a show. Ilan and Morales, Mac alumni and current UT students, were hired as extras for the skit titled “Jimmy Performs ‘Thank God I’m a Country Boy’ on the Streets of Austin.” They, along with other UT students, followed Fallon
McCallum alum and current UT student Hannah Ilan cheers behind Jimmy Fallon (to his immediate right) as she and the other extras walk to Bass Concert Hall for the opening skit to an episode of the Tonight Show. “It was cool to see how Jimmy interacted with us and how everyone interacted with him,” Ilan said. Screenshot from the video that appeared on The Tonight Show. on his “journey” throughout the skit: proving that he was a “country boy” who could fit in in Austin, Texas. “The idea is that Jimmy Fallon walks into Hole in the Wall, a bar on Guadalupe, and he meets students and gets us excited about [how he is] a Texan and a Longhorns fan,” Ilan said. “We follow him down to Sixth Street and then to campus and we run around campus. As we’re running around all over town, he picks up a bunch of different characters and students and then we all end up in
Montesinos listens and plays as Braun provides his instruction. Photo by Steven Ansures.
UT’s ace of bass teaches orchestra The McCallum orchestra had a rare opportunity on Dec. 2 when UT Butler School of Music’s double bass professor Joel Braun dropped in for a master class. “He’s a new professor at UT, so it was cool,” said senior Jack Montesinos, who had the opportunity to perform for Braun during the session. “It was everyone’s first time meeting him.” While it was Braun’s first master class at McCallum, it added to a long list of places where he has taught them. According to UT’s Butler School of Music website, Braun has presented master classes at the Universidad Nacional de Música in Lima, Perú, the University of Iowa, the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music, Michigan State University, the Cleveland Institute of Music, the University of Oregon and the Interlochen Center for the Arts. Montesinos told MacJournalism he was under the gun a bit because he did not know beforehand that Braun was coming to Mac so he had to scramble to figure out what to play. Despite this challenge, Montesinos said he learned a lot from Braun. “He taught me a lot about my bow control and my posture when I play,” he said. “He [also] had a lot of funny analogies.” —reporting by Lukas Bednar and Wyatt Cunningham
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the Bass Concert Hall.” Before they arrive at Bass, they make a stop at DKR where the crowd connects with a host of UT groups including the UT band led by drum major Morales. “Overall, it was a really cool and interesting experience,” Ilan said. “It was very interesting to see how much production goes into 2 to 3 minute intro video, and it was interesting to see how The Tonight Show staff interacted with us.” —Josie Bradsby
News in a
FLASH By the last week of the fundraiser, there were nearly 150 socks in the library donation bin. Photo by Kristen Tibbetts.
Heel-a-day drive continues Donations for the annual National Honor Society sock drive were accepted from Nov. 18 to Dec. 10 in the library. NHS members made and hung posters, wrote morning announcements, donated socks and prepared them with candy canes, festive ribbon and personal notes. The organization that collects the donations, Mobile Loaves and Fishes, distributes more than just socks. Their trucks hit the streets every night to provide the homeless with food, water, clothes and kindness. McCallum has donated hundreds of socks every year around the holidays for nearly five years. “A student who was involved in Mobile Loaves and Fishes came to me one year and said that this would be a good holiday project,” NHS sponsor Jane Farmer said. “It’s so doable and so useful for homeless people that we’ve continued to do it every year.” —Kristen Tibbetts
Macj wins 7 individual, 3 staff awards at DC convention MacJournalism had a very good Day 3 at the NSPA/JEA fall national journalism convention in Washington DC on Saturday Nov. 23. At the NSPA awards ceremony, MacJournalism defended its double national title in the Best Use of Social Media Contest. As it did last year, the MacJournalism Instagram account won first place for best social media reporting and first place for best social media promotion. MacJournalism also had a publication place in the Best of Show competition held among staffs attending the convention. The second issue of The Shield, which was published last month, placed third in the nation among tabloid newspapers 17 or more pages. Seven current or former Shield staff members were announced as winners in NSPA individual contests. Managing editor Stella Shenkman placed second in the nation in the Multimedia Journalist of the Year Competition. Class of 2019 graduate Townes Horbratschk and senior online editor in chief Max Rhodes placed second and third nationally in the Blog of the
Newspaper and yearbook staffers pose in the subway with all of the awards Macj won at the NSPA/JEA convention. Photo by Dave Winter. Year competition. Senior Kelsey Tasch, a 2018-2019 associate editor, won fourth place in the nation in the Design of the Year competition for her December 2018 cover depicting possible AISD budget cuts. Junior Olivia Watts, a 2018-2019 staff member, won fourth place in the Digital Story of the Year competition for her September 2018 interactive graphic featuring the public art of Austin. Junior visuals editor Bella Russo won fourth place in the News/Feature
Photo of the Year competition for her September 2018 photo of Blue Brigade dancer Addie Seckar Martinez performing a hoop routine at the MacLBJ game at Nelson Field. 2018-2019 Shield photo editor Gregory James earned honorable mention in the same category for his March 2019 photo of former Texas congressman Beto O’Rourke. MacJournalism’s good fortunes continued on Sunday when six MacJournalists placed in the JEA National Student Media Contest. MacJ had four honorable mention winners. Yearbook editor in chief Mira MacLaurin won in student life copy and caption writing; Shield editor in chief Kristen Tibbetts, in sports writing; Shield design editor Mia Terminella, in commentary writing, and Bella Russo in spot news photography (for her issue 2 cover photo of LBJ Fire Academy student battling a propane fire). Knight photojournalist Risa Darlington-Horta earned an excellent award in portrait photography, and Shield copy editor Alex Dowd earned a superior award in review writing.
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File photo by Bella Russo from the Sept. 26 meeting
New curriculum, old debate
AISD Board of Trustees unanimously approves new, inclusive sex-education curriculum KATE BOYLE
guest reporter The Austin ISD board of trustees unanimously approved a new sex-ed curriculum on Tuesday, Oct. 22, but this did not happen overnight. The new curriculum is something that the school district has been working on for years and aims to be more comprehensive and inclusive. At the school board meeting discussing the program, 126 people signed up to give public comment, many in support of the curriculum but others against it. Students and other community members waited both inside and outside the building for their chance to voice their opinion, some even staying until the meeting adjourned at 1:30 a.m. Some of the main trailblazers of this curriculum are Sarah Bentley, who was co-chair on the School Health Care Advisory, or SHAC, while the curriculum was being reviewed, and Susanne Kerns, founder of Informed Parents of Austin, a group that advocated for the changes. Informed Parents of Austin was founded by Kerns nearly three years ago in response to another group called Concerned Parents of Texas, which heavily pushed back against passing the new curriculum. “An all-out war on the innocence of children is currently being waged in schools across Texas,” the CPT website states. “This ‘education’ removes the protective barrier of modesty, exposes children to all types of sexual behaviors, normalizes diverse sexual orientations and gender identities, and recruits kids to become LGBT and abortion activists.” Informed Parents of Austin’s goal was to rebut these arguments as inaccurate and ill-advised and to promote being inclusive toward the LGBTQ+ community in Austin ISD and teaching comprehensive lessons about consent. The new program hopes to limit cases of HIV and AIDS and teen pregnancies. Texas ranks third in the country for HIV and AIDS cases and fifth for teen pregnancies. “A typical sex-ed class would be based on a man and a woman and how babies are
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AISD board president Geronimo Rodriguez moderates the public comments during the board meeting on Aug. 28, which included defenders (top left) and critics (top right) of the new sex-ed curriculum. On Oct. 22, the board unanimously passed the new curriculum. Parents can fill out an opt-out form for their child to be excused from attending sexual-education classes. Photo by Bella Russo. created,” Kerns said. “These types of things [go] under the assumption that every couple is a man and a woman, which can be really isolating to someone who likes the same sex or who’s questioning. That in itself can be very isolating and practically insulting to a student who does not fit that particular model or even students who just don’t fit the mold of a traditional sex-ed lesson.” Supporters see the new curriculum as helping make Austin ISD and safe, healthy, and inclusive space for everyone, while those opposed believe that these new lessons are demoralizing and unnatural. “While the objective is to be more inclusive in educating youth about sex, the effect is to groom children for all effects of sexual behavior, even those that are demoralizing and risky,” Allison Wolfward said at the meeting. “This is a warning about the consequences. This [curriculum] is not loving, affirming or caring. A curriculum that
has the intent of introducing gender ideology in an effort to be inclusive and affirming of genders ignores biological truth.” One aspect of the curriculum that was relatively unchallenged was the concept of consent. “I just think it’s so important for kids of all ages to know that they have the right to tell someone not to do something they don’t want to be done,” Kerns said. “Whether it’s taking a toy when you’re in elementary school, or if someone is getting unwanted texts or continuously asking someone to go on a date with them, just knowing that they can say no to that and practicing saying no makes it much easier when they’re in a situation where it could be sexual consent.” The discussions that happened before the sex-ed curriculum meeting were held at the board and at SHAC meetings around town. The SHAC works with the district to help school communities support good health and
academic achievement. Bentley stated that the people she observed coming to speak out at board meetings were mostly parents who were in support of the curriculum. She said that the few parents who didn’t support the curriculum spoke out in concern about the lessons not being age-appropriate. Other people who didn’t support the curriculum, she said, were community members who weren’t part of Austin ISD families who came to speak on their own behalf. One critic of the new curriculum, Gary Moore, shared his beliefs on the consequences of the new curriculum at the board meeting. “If a pedophile wanted to create a program to isolate children and destroy their future of reproductive health, then your sex-education program would be perfect for them,” he said. “It’s targeting 16,000 children, AISD children. It questions the child’s self-identity and it undermines the parent roles in their children’s lives. Sex education is not about being tolerant. Not about biological education.” Although these board meetings did give many the ability to share their opinions throughout the process of approving the curriculum, there was also concern expressed about their accessibility. “The hard part about [passing the new curriculum] was these school board meetings,” Kerns said. “It’s really hard for parents and students to come to these meetings, whereas a lot of the people speaking against it are 60 years old. Plus, they’re not current parents; they kind of have all the time in the world to sit around till one in the morning and don’t have to worry about getting a kid ready for school [the next day].” Now that the new sex-ed curriculum has been unanimously passed by the school board, many advocates for the curriculum are relieved. “Comprehensive, accurate, age-appropriate sex education is a basic human right,” parent Katie Malinski said. The new lessons are now released on the Austin ISD website where parents and students can look over them.
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Welcoming immigrants to America
Club launches multiple projects to provide help, encouragement to refugees crossing Texas border OLIVIA CAPOCHIANO staff reporter Many people think of the refugee crisis on the Texas border say, “Well, what can I do about it?” The McCallum Refugee Club has found the answer—just about anything they can think of trying. From a poster campaign in the hallways to donating pounds of canned food, the group has thrown everything they have at the problem. Refugees are people who face violence in their own country and are forced to flee. Many asylum seekers cross at the Texas border. Trump policies have been attempting to slow immigration to the United States, particularly at the southern border. According to Refugee Services of Texas, resettlement of refugees decreased 79 percent between 2017 and 2018. In a grassroots attempt to reach out to refugees seeking asylum, co-presidents junior Georgia Dover and Peyton Dashiell founded the McCallum Refugee Club. Dashiell says the group’s goal is to simply “just do what we can to help.” “We were inspired by the refugee crisis at the border,” co-president Georgia Dover said. “We thought we could do something to raise awareness, especially here and locally in Texas.” The club, also known as Students Together Assisting Refugees or S.T.A.R., regards themselves as a student-run movement. “People definitely came out and were interested in the club and were interested in what we wanted to do,” Dover said. Last year, the club organized a book drive for the organization My Brother’s Brother, which provides educational, medical and humanitarian aid around the world. “Currently we’re having a canned food drive, the bins right out there [in the main hallway], for an organization called Raices that helps people coming from the border,” Dashiell said. To organize charity events, the group reaches out to nearby organizations in need of donations that cater to refugees. The group also writes cards to welcome refugees and make posters to spread awareness. The letter writing was started after Dashiell’s friend suggested a way to directly contact the refugees. “We write cards to welcome refugees. We thought it would be a fun and rewarding activity,” Dover said. The posters range from infographics detailing an unaccompanied child’s journey in the United States to loud advertisements for the canned food drive. Whenever the club members do not know how to continue helping during the refugee crisis, they participate in other community service events. “We’re trying to do community engagement type stuff even if it’s not specifically related to refugees,” Dashiell said. “So, in the spring, we’re going to volunteer at the food bank.” One challenge the group has faced is the difficultly of volunteering as a minor. Even for the food bank event, the club members need to be accompanied by two adults.
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Hoping to reach as many refugees in as many ways as they could, junior co-presidents Payton Dashiell and Georgia Dover started the club this year Photo by Olivia Capochiano.
Juniors Molly Odland and Madi Baylor lead a cheer at the end of the Refugee Club meeting on Nov. 21. “It’s nice to know that someone is trying to welcome refugees,” Odland said. Photo by Olivia Capochiano.
Moms in Prayer “ We write cards to welcome refugees. We thought it would be a fun and rewarding activity.”
—Peyton Dashiell, co-president, Students Together Assisting Refugees
One way to get involved directly in helping migrants in Texas is to volunteer at Foundation Communities. They provide a range of services, including housing, education, financial stability and health care. Volunteers can translate for migrant families, serve meals and even help with seemingly mundane activities like applying for scholarships or filing taxes. As for how to get involved with the club, students can talk to either Dover or Dashiell or reach out on the club’s Instagram account, @macrefugeeclub.
Meet at Covenant Presbyterian Church Library
(Fellowship Education Building, 1st floor) Tuesdays from 9:30-10:30 a.m.
November 5 &19 December 3 & 17 January 7 & 21 13
February 4 & 18 March 3 & 24 April 14 & 21
Contact Krista Sherwood for more information ksherwood7604@gmail.com 13 dec. 2019
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Say hey to While it was here, the Glossier pop-up store earned glowing reviews in more ways than one
JULIA KAY SMITH staff reporter
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hat’s pink, clean, and currently on South Congress? You guessed it! The Glossier pop up store is here, and it's everything you could ever imagine. The interior design, lighting and people combine make the space an exciting experience. The company started as the beauty blog “Into the Gloss,” quickly building into the multibillion dollar brand it is today. Glossier intends to be a minimalist makeup brand that works to include a diverse group of people with both their makeup and skincare. The brand is mostly online, only having a few permanent stores in more prominent cities such as Los Angeles and New York City; however, Glossier opens popup shops around the world in order to attract a wider audience, especially those in urban cities with large art-and-beauty communities like Austin. The new store downtown attracts such a large crowd that there is often an hourlong wait along the pink velvet ropes outside the storefront. The package deal of an original experience as well as high quality products attracts masses of young customers, specifically high schoolers. Several students at McCallum who are avid users of the brand made the trip to the store to see if it was everything they hoped it would be. When asked what makes the brand so appealing, senior Emmaline Benson explained that she loves the aesthetic. “I really love the whole aura of Glossier,” she said. “I like their idea of working towards the best version of yourself, not trying to change your face but rather embracing it.” One of the main company values is to empower their users, not trying to cast any sort of extra-commercial image onto their patrons. The products themselves are intended to to fight heavy-duty makeup and create glowy, natural looks with a minimal amount of product. Like many other teenagers, senior
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“I really love the whole aura of Glossier. I like their idea of working towards the best version of yourself.” —Emmaline Benson Apollonia Ferrante finds solace in the brand and its products. “I really like the aesthetic of Glossier because it's so simple,” Ferrante said. “It makes me feel like a calm, clean, put-together person when sometimes that’s not really the case.” Not only does Glossier produce makeup, but they also have a wide array of skin-care products. From acne serums to face wash to sunscreens, the brand intends to supply products that are simple and clean as to not unnecessarily irritate its users’ skin. At such a young age, many high schoolers find it difficult to find products or routines that work for them and their skin. “It makes you feel clean,” junior Aydan Howison said. “The skin care is mainly what I lean towards because it does its job without the harsh breakouts and oily skin that other brands give you.” With so many regimens on the market, many people look to Glossier as their final solution to skin problems. Another aspect of the clean and simple aesthetic are the employees. A favorite sight of many Glossier shoppers are the iconic pink jumpsuit uniforms, making it easy for customers to know who to ask about the products. McCallum alum Sophia Bastidas steps into her
light pink jumpsuit every day to go to work at the pop-up shop. “It’s a really fun environment because everyone that comes in actually wants to be there,” Bastidas said. Glossier employees play the role of living out the company’s values in real life. Each customer-service representative is ready to help new shoppers who are nervous about trying new products and getting involved with makeup. “I also really enjoy makeup itself, and I think it’s cool to be able to express myself in that way,” Bastidas said. “A lot of people that come in are new to makeup, and I enjoy being able to give them tips and get over their fear of makeup.” The Glossier pop-up store in Austin has been an interesting experience for many residents, especially those who are still in high school. In order to get the attention of young shoppers in this day in age, companies must mean much more than just their products. Glossier is the perfect example of a brand that has turned such simple products into cult classics by their attention to detail and limited physical presence. Even though the brand only parked itself in the rapidly growing urban city of Austin, Texas for a brief period of two months, the fact that Austin has this kind of attention speaks to the growing arts and beauty community’s respectively. As well as affecting the Austin community as a whole, the brand’s presence has turned many students into loyal Glossier shoppers. Apparently, the only thing more glowing than the faces of satisfied McCallum Glossier shoppers are the reviews of those Knights who shopped at the pop-up store while it was here.
WORKING WITH A SMILE: McCallum alum Sophia Bastidas recently worked at the Glossier pop-up store in downtown Austin. Her everyday work attire included the trademark light pink jumpsuit. Bastidas enjoyed the temporary position because it allowed her an outlet to enjoy one of her favorite hobbies, makeup. Photo courtesy of Bastidas.
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Poetry in motion
For sophomore Ivy Jane Golyzniak, true beauty lies in evoking emotions The Shield: How does speaking your poetry out loud adds to the impact or experience listeners get? Ivy Jane Golyzniak: I think it’s cool either way. If it’s being read by a person who didn’t write it, they can understand it and interpret it the way they want to so it has a different meaning. Sometimes they even find a different meaning from what the writer intended. On the other hand, if a writer is reading it out loud, you can hear the intonation and emphasis that the author wanted there to be in certain spots, which can change the meaning of the writing. TS: Do all your poems have an intended meaning? Or are some a little bit more abstract? IJG: I think a lot of mine do have an intended meaning. Like I said earlier though, they can change meanings depending on where the intonation is and who’s reading it. People can always interpret a poem differently. TS: What qualities do you look for when you’re choosing which poems to speak out loud? IJG: I really like the ones that have twists. Whenever I am reading poetry that has a twist at the end or has a different meaning than what I originally thought, it gives me this amazing reaction; it gives me chills down my spine because it’s so unexpected. I think when I’m choosing which of my poems I’m going to read out loud, I try and go for the ones that I think would give other people that same response. TS: Considering the vulnerability of your poetry, do you ever get nervous performing in front of people? IJG: All the time. Coffeehouse was my first performance of any of my written stuff. It was really nerve-wracking because not only did I have to get up in front of people, but I was doing it for the first time ever. TS: What motivated you to bite the bullet? IJG: Well, I had been thinking about it for a while. Since I’m in Excalibur, who organized the event, there were a lot of people saying things like, “Oh, you should read one of your things!” So I finally decided to just say, “You know what? Screw it. I’m scared. But I’m going to do it anyway.” The community of artists at this school is so welcoming and I immediately felt accepted. TS: Let’s talk about the process and inspiration for your writing. Where do you draw a bulk of your inspiration from? IJG: Mostly personal feelings that I just get. Whenever I’m feeling a strong emotion, I’ll write about it. I don’t always write a poem specifically talking about my experience. Instead, I will create a poem that creates the mood and atmosphere of how I’m feeling. So if I’m feeling sad, I’ll write a poem that, even if it’s not talking about me being actively being sad, will have a sad tone to it. TS: Do you have a specific place where you write your poetry? Do your surroundings affect what you write? IJG: I think I’m actually really lucky because I can get inspiration anywhere. This sort of sounds bad, but sometimes I’ll be drifting off in class, and I’ll just get one sentence in my head. I then I find myself writing an entire poem from that one sentence. I keep a journal in my backpack that I write in. I also have a poetry folder in the notes app on my iPhone that has over 300 poems in it. TS: Any authors or songwriters that you look up to?
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Ivy Jane Golyzniak performs her spoken word poetry at the annual Coffee House hosted by Excalibur. Photo by Ellen Fox. Border done by Golyzniak.
ARTISTICALLY SPEAKING
“I finally decided to just say, ‘You know what? Screw it. I’m scared. But I’m going to do it anyway.’”
— Ivy Jane Golyzniak
IJG: Rupi Kaur. Her writing is what ultimately inspired me to write my own poetry. The summer of freshman year I read The Sun and Her Flowers, her first book. I loved it so much. I was so jealous and wanted to write just like her. I started writing my own poetry because of that book. For Christmas, I asked for a ton of poetry books. I think I got around 10 poetry books that year. Those books really made me even more inspired to write. TS: l’d love to discuss the visual element of some of your poems, like the collages you make. What do you think these collages add to your poetry? IJG: I think the first time I did collages with my poetry was for an assignment in creative writing. We were making our own magazines and it’s very freeformed and unstructured, so we could create whatever we wanted. I wanted to make my poems look pretty. I was like, “OK, I’ll collage the edges and cover.” I was already into collages, but I wasn’t doing it as much as I’d like. So these collages turned into a way for me to keep doing collages while making my writing visually interesting as well. TS: You said that when you’re reading your poetry out loud, the vocal element emphasizes the twists and turns of what you write. What do your collages add to your poetry? IJG: I think it can emphasize a mood that’s already in
the poem. For example, if you’re working with red colors or sharp, aggressive photos, it can translate to anger and can make the mood of the poem more clear. TS: You said the other day that you’re dipping your feet into songwriting. How’s that going? IJG: Well, I have one song. It’s really hard. I didn’t realize how difficult songwriting is when I was younger. I’m seeing all these people from our school that have bands and write such incredible songs and I’m so much more impressed because I now know just how difficult it is. It’s definitely a lot more difficult than writing poetry. Right now, it’s just me and my guitar, but I would love to have a band one day. TS: How do you think that poetry and music are similar? Did one inspire a love for the other? IJG: I’ve grown up with music and loved it throughout my life. I think from music stemmed a love for writing, then from writing stemmed a love for songwriting. TS: Do poetry, music and songwriting all have an underlying theme or concept that attracts you? IJG: Emotions, definitely. I’m inspired by emotions. TS: Do you think your new passion for poetry has affected your everyday actions and your life in general? IJG: Yes. I feel like this is also cheesy, but I find myself seeing more beauty in things. I think that’s because I’m looking for inspiration constantly. Like every second. You never know when inspiration is going to come and where it’s going to come from, so I try to pay attention to everything, just in case. TS: Is there anything you’d say to budding songwriters or poets too nervous to share their work? IJG: Share it anyway. You sharing your art could improve someone’s life. Always remember that. —interview by Alysa Spiro For the full interview and an exclusive gallery of Ivy’s poetry, visit macshieldonline.com.
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This film is ‘Rotten’ but not rotten
McCallum duo that delivered thrice award-winning ‘Cravings’ aims for more with second film ANGUS SEWELL-McCANN guest reporter
The purple and pink-tinted LED lights are set. The handheld DSLR camera rig is rolling. The boom pole is propped over the awaiting actors, and the sound is recording. The director of photography, Bella Rothenflue, films in her bedroom, which is covered in ’80s posters and paraphernalia and filled with a dead silent film crew, braced and prepared for the next shot. Action... Co-directing the film with Emily Steinbomer, a Griffin School student, senior Maryanna Tollemache intently watches lead actress Katherine Holmes’ performance as she envelops the role of Veronica, a young girl who falls back into the trauma of an abusive past relationship. The crew holds their breath as Ryan, played by senior Edward Fotinos, aggressively grabs Veronica’s hair and menacingly growls in her ear. “Do you like that?” Those four words echo throughout Tollemache and Steinbomer ’s film like the unwanted demons of abuse that the film reflects. Rotten, a collaboration between the two directors, is an experimental short film produced by the students of Youth Cinema Collective about the haunting effects of a traumatic sexual assault episode. The film is set to come out at around 6 minutes long, but despite its brevity, the film is packed with disturbing imagery reflecting the reality of sexual abuse with a Midsommar type feel. “It is an introspective look on modern sexual assault and how just one bad experience can really ruin your entire life,” Fotinos said. “That can be, obviously, hard, so it’s just some way to deal with that and let other people know that they’re not alone.” This process of creating a story to influence other people’s lives is an important element of filmmaking to the YCC crew. “Film is such an important and visual storytelling process that can affect how people view each other,” Tollemache said. “Some people’s purpose, like myself or Bella Rothenflue, is to make films that create change or influence society to think about a new perspective. We make films about people’s voices who are not being heard that then everyone can hear them.” YCC member and senior Zion Flores said it takes courage to tell stories about traumatic experiences. “It is important to not be afraid to tell the stories that people don’t
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MALICIOUS MISCONDUCT: Eyes aggressively locked with each other, Ryan (senior Edward Fotinos) holds down Veronica (Austin High junior Katherine Holmes) in Rotten’s third scene. “It’s interesting to play a character like that where you can just kind of really be bad without consequence and truly believe what you’re doing is right,” Fotinos said. “So as much as it is kind of terrible to say, I was a little excited.” Still capture of video by Bella Rothenflue. DUO DIRECTORS: Director of photography Bella Rothenflue, boom operator Theo Roe, and director Maryanna Tollemache watch as character Ryan pins down character Veronica. Even though the film was a collaboration between the two directors, Tollemache and Griffin School senior Emily Steinbomer, it wasn’t difficult for the crew to combine the two different creative perspectives into one work. “The two directors and I work really well together,” Rothenflue said. “It was super easy to get on the same page and then shoot something even whenever there was a misunderstanding.” Photo by Emily Steinbomer. know about,” Flores said. “It’s hard to be open about trauma that happens in your life. If you’re open about your trauma, it helps another person open up, and it helps other people feel seen.” This idea about filmmaking a societal impact is a central value for the Youth Cinema Collective. Creative Action, the mother program to YCC and two other social changeoriented art programs, is a nonprofit, arts-based youth development organization which pays ninth through 12th graders each semester to create art about social justice. “I think YCC is an incredible place to get involved due to YCC’s intense encouragement to find diverse voices within their program,” Tollemache said. “There is every type of person that there could be in Austin.” Students from all over Austin meet at Creative Actions center twice a
week to work on various projects assigned to them. “The two times I get to go there a week is probably the most refreshing time for me,” Rothenflue said. Rotten isn’t the first YCC film to be produced by this crew. YCC’s 2018 fall film Cravings, an experimental horror about the gruesome realistic details of eating disorders, was also written and directed by Maryanna Tollemache and filmed by Bella Rothenflue. Despite it being Tollemache’s first film, it was quite successful at Austin Youth Film Festival, winning an impressive three awards: Best of Fest First Runner-Up, Best Experimental and Best Cinematography. Despite the three-award standard Cravings set, the crew is confident that Rotten will perform even better at AYFF in the experimental film group this year. In past years, films with deeper
societal messages have been more likely to win more awards at the festival so the YCC crew members are especially optimistic about the outcome. “I am really hoping that we win Best of Fest due to the powerful message of the film and all the hard work that went into it,” Tollemache said. The film will be entered into the Austin Youth Film Festival in early spring where it will compete against a vast variety of other different short films. The crew hopes that the film will stand out from the pack with its disturbing experimentalism, powerful message and important purpose. “I think everyone’s purpose in film is different,” Rothenflue said. “I think some people’s purpose is to create and tell stories that are entertaining; I feel my purpose is to tell stories that give insight to other people’s lives or to make a difference.”
With this optimism and hopeful spirit in mind, Tollemache, Rothenflue and Steinbomer look over the raw footage. Settled back at the Creative Action YCC building, the three gather in front of their computer, replaying the listed shots over and over again. It is the first time Rothenflue has seen this footage since she needed her editors to distance it from her before she viewed it in its entirety. They are pleased with the results of the shoot. They start sorting and arranging the takes in chronological order before sifting out the unfortunate clips that didn’t quite make the cut. No matter how raw, you can see the story take shape through these unedited clips compiled onto a desktop folder. With big plans in mind, the three begin the editing process. A story with so much social depth emerges one clip at a time.
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They could be heroes (and villains)
Choir program performs Broadway songs chronicling the never-ending battle between good, evil THEIR OWN TWIST: Performing a featured duet, sophomore Abigail Lehman and senior Zion Flores sing with a dramatic glance down, a reference to the lyrics in their song. The two joined forces to create their own choreography for the piece. “I really loved the collaboration of this song,” Lehman said. “Getting to work with Zion is so much fun, and to get the song and make it our own was a great experience.” Photo by Madelynn Niles.
A CHILSTROM CINDERELLA: Portraying the role of Cinderella, senior Kat Chilstrom sings a solo in the Cabaret showcase. Soon after this moment, senior Sami Gade came out on stage, playing the role of her fairy godmother, and transformed her into a princess ready for the ball. “Basically, I’m singing about how my life sucks,” Chilstrom said. “It was fun, because I have never done a solo before in Cabaret, so the fact that I got one for my senior year felt really great.” Caption by Madelynn Niles. Photo by Anna Bausman.
SHINE TOGETHER: Junior Trini De La Garza, far right, smiles and reaches up as he sings “Waiting for the Light to Shine” alongside his fellow choir members. According to De La Garza, the number had “a lot of choreography to learn, but [he] was able to get it all together when it came time to perform.” Caption by Anna Bausman and Elly Schottman. Photo by Kennedy Weatherby.
LAST MINUTE EDITION: Flanked by backup singers Darian Deitrich, Janael Copeland and River Rutledge, senior Duval Bignham performs “Hard to Be the Bard” during McCallum Choir’s Cabaret on Saturday night in the McCallum Arts Center. Bingham wasn’t assigned the singing role until the day the show opened, but when pressed into service he answered the call of duty. “I told Ms. Kashdan I would learn it that night,” Bignham said, “And then I learned the song and performed it on opening night.” Bingham is a member of the top choir, First Edition and had three solos in the show in this year’s show. “Cabaret is the best part of the year,” Bingham said, “because it’s the closest thing [in choir] to musical theatre.” Caption by Samantha Powers. Photo by Madelynn Niles.
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BEING THERE TOGETHER: Junior Marlee Foster performs “I Know Where I’ve Been” from Hairspray: The Musical. The song began as the final solo of the evening, then the rest of the choir joined Foster on stage. “I get to see everyone back me up, which is a magnificent feeling,” Foster said. “Cabaret is really cool because you get to see all the different choirs come together and make something” together. Caption by Anna Bausman and Elly Schottman. Photo by Bausman.
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When in Denton, do as the locals do It’s a college town, a county seat and a respite from the infernal highway that leads you to it MAX RHODES
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online editor in chief
icture this: You’ve b e e n driving down a stretch of highway for many hours and hundreds of miles. You’ve passed through more small towns than you can count, and a handful of huge cities as well. Your phone is getting one bar of service, if any, and the only music on the radio is either country, religious or high school sports. On the road it’s complete anarchy. The Ford F-250s and Ram 2500s are passing you in the right lane pushing 95 mph and the left lane is consumed by the herd of seniors in their 1990s Buicks. Amidst all of this, you see the green highway sign on the right side of the road: Denton — 17 miles away. While perhaps not the cultural metropolis that some cities are, anything is better than the hostility of that highway. That’s right folks, next up on Rhodes Traveled is the highly anticipated Denton, Texas.
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enton is home to 136,000 lucky residents and is almost a four hour drive up everyone’s favorite stretch of pavement known as Interstate 35. This may seem like a long drive, but you don’t have to do it all in one stretch. There are plenty of places to stop along the way, such as the world famous Waco and West, Texas. Not just a region of the state, West is a town with a population of 3,000. There are multiple Czech themed restaurants and stores here, such as Slovack’s, Czech Stop, Gerik’s Ole Czech Bakery & Deli and Czech American. I couldn’t find anything about Eastern European immigrants here, so maybe it’s just something the locals are into. After you survive the traffic of Fort Worth,and pass by Arlington, you enter Denton. Being situated along one of the busiest highways in the country, there are a surplus of “travelers hotels,” your Holiday Inns and what have you. While a little generic, these hotels are consistently clean and not too expensive. If you’re on the hunt for a college to attend, the University of North Texas is in Denton. It’s a midsize college and is not overly difficult to get into. I’m not going to go into too much detail, as this is not my area of expertise, but I thought it was worth mentioning. It also brings up an important question: Is Denton a college town? It depends on your definition of college town I suppose. True, most of the businesses around town have several college-aged employees, but there are also a lot of non-college aged residents. If about 38,000 people attend the university, that still leaves almost 100,000 other residents. Now, if you want a college town, take a look at San Marcos. The university there, Texas State, is a similar size to UNT, but the entire population of the city is only about 60,000. The student body makes up more than half of the city’s population.
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The historic Denton County Courthouse-on-the square was opened in 1895 and now serves as a museum on the history of the building and all things Denton. The courthouse is also the final resting place of John B. Denton, the founder of the town and namesake for the county.
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nother thing worthy of note is that Denton is the County seat of, appropriately enough, Denton County. This means it’s the biggest town in the county and sees a little more traffic than say, Dish, Krum or Ponder, which are a couple miles west (yes, those are real town names). So, apart from other things, Denton has a courthouse. No longer used to convict Denton county’s most wanted criminals, it now functions as a museum. The grounds outside the courthouse are nice and a central part of the town square. Its a good spot to take pictures, which are needed to remember the wonderful times had in Denton. Just make sure to take them on the side of the square that doesn’t have the Confederate soldier monument. Denton, being a small town, may not offer the same level of entertainment as, say Austin, but there are plenty of things to do here to occupy your time. It’s got a small-town charm, and while there isn’t much in the way of nightlife, as most businesses close by 7 p.m, there are some unique restaurants and stores to capture your attention. Restaurants are a great unique way to get an idea of the place you’re in. And even if you’re on a budget, try to avoid any chains. You can eat at McDonald’s or Dairy Queen back home. A local spot will give you an idea of what food is popular in the area and of the locals who eat there. When choosing a good spot to eat in a new place, you’ve got a few options. Either you can read a “professional’s” account
of a place and pick where to go based on their descriptions, or you could choose a place on your own. A good way to find such a place, I’ve found, is to look up a list of the oldest or the best restaurants in town, then head over to Yelp or a similar site to read a few customer reviews. Take these people’s opinions with a grain of salt, and keep an eye out for the average rating and the number of reviews; usually, the more reviews the better. Also make sure to check the hours of operation. In these small-town places, restaurants or otherwise, will be randomly closed one day and not open till noon another. Now let me keep up my end of the deal. Here are a few restaurants in Denton.
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arley & Board is on the main square, at the corner of Oak and Locust streets. It’s a brew pub, but they offer more than just alcoholic beverages. They’ve got a classic selection of American cuisine, baby back ribs, hamburgers, etc., including unique “matchstick fries,” which are smaller and more crunchy than ordinary french fries. Good soft pretzels and local sodas (well, if you consider Dublin local. Not Ireland, Texas) make this one of the better spots on the Denton square. If you’re looking for a more bizarre spot, just down the block from Barley & Board is a little place called Gnome Cones. True to its name, this is a gnome-themed ice cream restaurant. Inside,
the seats around the tables resemble logs and large mushrooms and all of the employees are dressed with little red hats. When they call out an order, the microphone has been changed to make their voice a higher pitch, and therefore more gnome-like I suppose. The snowcones themselves are in cups with a gnome faces on them, and the ice makes up the pointy hats. It’s an unusual spot and worth a visit. As for other businesses, I’d suggest going to the used bookstore on the square in Denton, called Recycled Books Records and CDs. It’s like Half Price Books books. Inside they have three stories filled with thousands of books, with just about any genre one could ask for. They also have a huge selection of vinyl records, with a section of old country records, something the locals must be interested in. They also have a spot downstairs dedicated to books favoring the Confederacy in the Civil War. Take what you will from that. My last suggestion for getting the most out of your stay in Denton is to allow time for spur-ofthe-moment activities. Just take a walk around the square and see what looks interesting. You could ask some of the locals their favorite things to do; sometimes these suggestions can be more fun than the preplanned stuff. Whatever ends up happening, it’s usually just fun to go to a new place, even if it is just old Denton.
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Primary events, puzzle style.
Test your knowledge of key events from the first semester of the 2019-2020 MAC school year MADELYNN NILES staff reporter
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Aug. 20: 9 a.m. The school bell rings overhead, the familiar hallways empty of students. Schedules are handed out in advisory classes, students analyzing which classes they share, which they look forward to, and which will bring new beginnings. The bell rings again, and the school year begins. ...
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DOWN 1. New principal Brandi _________ stands in the hallways and greets her new students at the start of this momentous day.
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2. Aug. 29: Several weeks later, under the Thursday night lights at House Park, the 2019 football season kicks off at the Taco Shack _______ against Anderson High School, McCallum’s annual tradition.
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3. Oct. 4: The student body buzzes with excitement at the start of the yearly Austin City Limits Music Festival attended by many students, with 2019 headliners including Lizzo and ________ Gambino. 4 Oct. 19: The MAC dance program kicks off the year with its first showcase entitled “__________”.
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5 Oct. 29: Spike, bump, set — the MAC varsity volleyball team finishes off its 2019 district season. In addition to a 30-win season overall, the varsity volleyball team enjoyed an ___________ district season with the exception of competitive losses to one drippy opponent.
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6 Nov. 4: At the climax of its season, the MAC band marches all the way to the 5A _______ Championships in San Antonio, placing 14th out of the 253 5A high school bands in Texas.
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7 Although their season has come to a close, the band’s 2019 show, “Forever in ______,” will remain forever etched in our memories. ACROSS 8. Nov. 7: The varsity football team claims a 42-0 victory over Travis in the rivalry game known as the “Battle of the _______”. 9. Nov. 12: Classes are delayed by two hours — it is the first “_____” day of the year (although that name may be slightly misleading). 10. Nov. 14: It’s time to light the spotlights and don the costumes because it’s opening night of the theatre program’s first 2019-20 straight play, “_________ on the Orient Express.” 11. Nov. 15: Whether you identify more with Cinderella or with her evil stepmother, the choir’s Cabaret showcase, “Heroes and ________,” was sure to entertain on this night in the MAC.
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12. Nov. 15: Meanwhile, the bowling teams took center lane at Spare Time in Pflugerville for an opening night of their own, as the girls won and the boys lost a non-district match against ____________ High School.
15. Dec. 20: The final bell of the year rings — the first _________ of the 2019-20 McCallum school year is complete!
13. Nov. 16: MAC students dominate at the Texas _______ Conference on this Saturday afternoon with a quartet and two solos coming out with top rankings.
Senior Joe Roddy performs his trumpet solo at the band’s last halftime performance. Photo by Anna McClellan. Sophomore Samantha Powers performs in McCallum’s first dance showcase of the year. Photo by David Winter. With arms in the air, members of the McCallum choir sing the last note of their Cabaret showcase. Photo by Kennedy Weatherby.
14. In anticipation of winter ________, students study for their finals exams (or they don’t) and begin to count down the last school days of the decade.
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Senior Dexter Murphy performs in the production of McCallum’s first straight play of the year. Photo by JK Smith. Junior Sophia Henderson goes in for a bump at the varsity volleyball team’s road victory over LBJ. Photo by Olive Embry. Blue Brigade members Harper Cummings and Lily Brown perform at the football game against Travis at House Park. Photo by Caleb Melville. Seniors Riley Edwards and Bryn Lewis show their 2020 spirit after the senior class won the spirit stick at pep rally commemorating a rivalry game named after ... a certain chain restaurant in town. Photo by Gabby Sherwood. Want to check your answers? See page 26.
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We check Baxa off the interview list
Administrator values his family, honesty, creative takes on his last name and occasional craziness The Proust Questionnaire, named after French writer Marcel Proust, is a series of 35 questions meant to gauge the personality and values of the answerer. Elisha Scott caught up with assistant principal Andy Baxa, the latest Maculty member to sit for our version of the Proust Questionnaire. The Shield: What is your idea of perfect happiness? Andy Baxa: For me, perfect happiness a stress-free day hanging out with my girls. My girls being my wife and my daughters. That would probably be about as perfect happy of a day that I could have. Throw in a Texas Tech football win, and it’s about perfect. TS: What’s your greatest fear? AB: Not living to see that my kids make it in life. I want to see that they make it, I want to know that they’re going to be OK. TS: Which living person do you most admire? AB: Mr. Garrison popped in my head, and I was like, ‘No, that’d be cheesy. I’m not going to say that.’ But I do admire him. He worked hard, and he made it far. TS: There’s nothing wrong with cheesy. I think a lot of people admire him. AB: I definitely learned a lot in the 15 years that I worked underneath him. I learned a lot about mutual respect from working with Mr. Garrison over the last 15 years. It wouldn’t be a bad one to say, but that’s the cliché answer, the cheesy answer. TS: What is your current state of mind? AB: That’s a tough question on a Monday morning, especially after the weekend I’ve dealt with. My current state of mind is controlled chaos. That would probably be the best way to describe my mind right now. There’s a lot of craziness, but it’s all controlled. TS: Which living person do you most despise? AB: Probably the creator of Snap[chat]... no I’m just kidding. Right now I’m probably despising AISD PD for moving Reilly, but I won’t say that. I really don’t despise anybody. I know that sounds hokey and everything, but despise is an emotion that I really don’t have time for. It really doesn’t enter into my frame of mind. If there’s something I don’t like about something, I deal with it, or I move on. I believe in what I say to other kids, “Focus on what you can deal with, and if you have no control over it, don’t let it have any control over you.” TS: Who is the greatest love of your life? AB: My kids are my greatest love of my life. I love my wife, but I’ve always said children are kind of the purpose of life because it’s your way to leave a lasting mark on society. There is a lot of deliberate stuff I’ve done throughout raising my children to break cycles of things that I went through as a kid, so my kids are definitely my greatest love. TS: Which talent would you most like to have? AB: If you’re talking about special abilities, I would love to be able to read minds. That would be a blessing and a curse. And really I’d only want to be able to read my wife’s mind. But as far as a talent, I would love to be able to play drums. I can read music, [but] I can’t make my left and my right hand do different things. Drums was always something I thought was cool and would love to be able to play, but I know I do not have the talent or the ability to play drums.
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Senior Janael Copeland and junior Andrea Paredes wrap assistant principal Andy Baxa in blue streamers at the Back to Mac pep rally on Aug. 14 in the gym. Photo by Bella Russo.
PROUST QUESTIONNAIRE TS: If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be? AB: My love of chocolate. I love chocolate entirely too much. If I could get rid of my love of chocolate and sodas, that’d be awesome. TS: What would you consider your greatest achievement? AB: I don’t think I’ve reached my greatest achievement yet. Again, focusing on what is my greatest love and what I think is the purpose, I have to see my kids make it. Whenever I know they’re successful and they’re on their path, then I feel like that’ll be my greatest achievement. Other than that, everything else is just built in to help them and to get them set up to be as wonderful people as they can be. TS: Interesting, I like that. If you were to die and come back as a person or a thing, what would it be? AB: I always thought some sort of a bird that can travel across wherever they want to be would be kind of cool. But also, I grew up in the water; I lived in the water. I mean, every job I’ve ever done up until this [one] pretty much has had water and aquatics, from training lifeguards to lifeguarding to building pools to maintaining pools to running swim team programs to oddity lifeguards here with the City of Austin. I’ve done a lot of aquatic work, so being a sea creature, being a shark or something would be pretty cool too. TS: What do you most value in your friends or the people around you?
Assistant principal Andy Baxa talks to junior Emmett McCormick in the main hallway where he supervises during passing period Monday morning. “What I would encourage [students] to do is do whatever you want to do, do whatever you feel passionate about, “ he said. “Good things will happen if you follow your passion.” Photo by Elisha Scott. AB: Truth and loyalty. Because at the end of the day, you have to trust that your friends are going to be honest with you. If your friends aren’t going to be honest with you, who the hell will be? Be honest with me, be loyal to me. I’ll be honest and loyal to you. That right there I think goes a long way in most friendships. It’s whenever people are faking, not honest, when we really run into issues. TS: What are your favorite names? AB: What do you mean by names? Like names that I’ve heard [myself] called or just names like in general? TS: I think you can take any kind of interpretation. AB: So if we’re saying names that I’ve been called, I actually had a class, it was the Class of ’07. They came in, and we’re talking about my last name. My last name being Baxa, it gets picked on a little bit, and I’ve heard all the jokes. “Are you a boxer?” “Do you live in a box?” I’ve heard them all. So I told that class, I said “You know what? I’ve heard them all, but if you guys can come up with something original, I will let you guys call me that.” So this girl’s sitting there, raises her hand, “How about Mr. ‘Chewbaxa?’” I said, “Go for it. I have never heard that one before, I will respond to that throughout the rest of this year.” So throughout the rest of the year, she called me Mr. Chewbaxa. TS: What is your greatest regret? AB: It’s hard to call things a great regret because again, everything you’ve done led you to the position that you’re in today, so a decision that I change along the way could lead me to a
different spot altogether, here and now today. I would have probably played sports in high school. When I was in high school, I was not anywhere near this size. I was like a 5’6, maybe a 130-pound freshman trying to play those tackles; it wasn’t going to work. I was going up against people that are 6’2, 6’3, 340 pounds. If I’d known I was going to end up being this size, I would take my lumps my first two years. And by my junior and senior year, I would have been the biggest kid on the team, and it would have given me the chance to explore an athletic dream that I never got to do. I felt like I had to make a decision at my school. My school was so huge that you couldn’t do everything that you can here. If you’re gonna do band, you had to do band. If you wanted to do sports, you had to do sports. There wasn’t really an opportunity to do both. So looking at my size, I was like, “I’m gonna be killed if I try to go do football,” let me switch over here and focus on band. What I would encourage [students] to do is do whatever you want to do; do whatever you feel passionate about. Good things will happen if you follow your passion. TS: The last one is, what is your motto? AB: I’ve actually lived by this most of my life, “You gotta go crazy from time to time to keep from going insane.” I say think about those people that have gone postal; those people have probably never had a crazy moment in their life. If you keep it bottled up, that’s how you end up going insane. You’ve got to do something a little bit crazy to break the monotony of everyday life so you don’t go completely insane. —interview by Elisha Scott
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n the 14th anniversary of her own father passing away from cancer, McCallum teacher Deirdre McGahon sat at the front of room 138 A and checked her email. She read a note from guidance counselor Mickey Folger, whose best friend Sawyer Smith recently passed away from cancer. Folger was looking for a home for her friend’s gigantic 180-pound Anatolian Shepherd. “I just can’t let this sweet boy go into a county shelter,” Folger wrote in her email. “He is a part of my precious friend!” Smith and Folger met around 16 years ago through mutual friends. Smith’s former husband played bass guitar with Folger’s former boyfriend, and the two became friends immediately. “We hit it off instantly,” she said. “We had an instant chemistry. We just fell in love with each other. We had this great best friend romance going on, and she was my ride or die.” It was evident early on in their friendship that Smith deeply cared about animals, specifically rescue dogs. In fact, her two dogs before she met Gus were both personally rescued from an abusive puppy mill. “She’s always been a huge advocate of ‘adopt don’t shop,’” Folger said. “So, about 10 or 11 years ago, she spearheaded a group in Lubbock, Texas, to shut down puppy mills.” Her group was successful, closing a mill that was mass breeding labrador retrievers, where she rescued two dogs: Faith and Merideth. “She brought them home, and they were her babies,” Folger said. “They were her girls.” Unfortunately, both dogs passed away, leaving Smith once again searching for a new furry companion. “She started praying for a dog,” Folger said. “She has never not had a dog, a big dog, she’s always loved big dogs.” Luckily for Smith, her longtime friend Kelly Searles came across the perfect opportunity for a surprise. While she was at the store, Searles noticed that there was someone outside the front door giving away puppies. Knowing how much Smith loved dogs, her friend brought Gus, one of the puppies, home to her. When she first brought him home, Gus was 125 pounds and still growing. “He was a big puppy,” Folger said. “He was her gigantic cuddle bug.” Unfortunately, Smith and Gus’s time together was cut short. In August of 2018, a few months before adopting her fur baby, Smith was diagnosed with breast cancer. Before her health took a turn for the worse, she and Folger spent the next few months checking off things on her bucket list. “When she passed away in September, the big question was ‘What about Gus?’” Folger said. Before she passed away, Smith’s friend Neil Ard planned on taking Gus back to his home in New York, but with two dogs already, one of which was not keen on welcoming a new dog into the family, he was unable to bring Gus home. Smith’s daughter, Taylor, was unable to take in Gus because her apartment could not accommodate him, and Smith’s mother, in her 80s, wasn’t able to care for him either. So, Ard and Folger made it their mission to find the best possible home for their best friend’s baby. “It was really important to find a good home for Gus because he kind of embodies my best friend right about now,” Folger said. “I had intended on bringing Gus home with me, but I have three dogs of my own. I just knew that we wouldn’t be able to give Gus the kind of attention and love that he needed if he came home with me.” Folger and Ard also had to act fast. Gus was still living at home with Taylor, who was cleaning out Smith’s house, but the pair only had until the end of October until they had to move out. To speed up the process, Folger and Ard decided to send out a blast through a rescue organization specifically for Anatolian Shepherds like Gus. “We had a few nibbles, but we were going to have to travel him and that made us nervous,” Folger said. “The fact that we would never have access to him ever again was really disconcerting for me and Neil because Gus was her baby, literally her baby, just a piece of Sawyer.” As the Halloween deadline quickly approached, Folger decided to try a new strategy. On Oct. 23, she sent out an email blast to the McCallum faculty asking if anyone could take care of Gus. Soon after, Macjournalism reposted Gus’s story on its Instagram page. “People just started crawling out of the woodwork wanting Gus, wanting Gus and wanting Gus,” she said. McGahon was the first person to reply. “[When I saw the picture of Smith and Gus] I could tell she was sick and how much love he brought, and I melted,” she said. “We
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A FETCHING YOUNG LAD: Gus, a 2-year-old Anatolian Shepherd mix, (left) smiles in the sunlight on a warm day at Zilker Park. Even though Gus loves to meet new people and dogs, he is very much a couch potato. “He jumps on the bed and snuggles with us, [and] he hangs out on the couch,” McGahon said. “He’s loving and friendly and does not realize that he’s 180 pounds. He just wants to snuggle and sit in your lap.” Photo by Kristen Tibbetts.
ENJOYING the future but never
FORGETTING the past How one dog found a new home though Mac after tragedy
ON HIS WAY HOME: After picking him up from the kennel, Folger drove Gus and all of his belongings to his new home with McGahon. “He’s in Austin with someone who I have a lot of love and respect for,” she said. “[This] means I can see him whenever I want.” Photo courtesy of Folger.
Story by Kristen Tibbetts LOVED FROM THE START: Smith and Gus (left) both smile for the last picture taken of the two of them together. Smith was diagnosed with breast cancer in August of 2018, just a few months before meeting Gus. When he arrived at her home, Gus was just a puppy, a very large puppy. They spent almost a year together before Smith passed away in September 2019. “When she passed away, the big question was ‘What about Gus?’” Folger said. “It was really important to find a good home for Gus because he kind of embodies my best friend right about now.” This picture was sent out to McCallum faculty on Oct. 23 and reposted on the Macjournalism Insta soon after. “People just started crawling out of the woodwork wanting Gus, wanting Gus and wanting Gus,” Folger said. Photo courtesy of Folger.
thought it would be cool to get a big dog, but we were thinking more like 60 or 70 pounds. So, when we found out about Gus, we were like ‘OK, what’s 100 more pounds?’” McGahon sent the picture to her boyfriend, Phil O’Neill, who encouraged her to get more information before jumping into anything. She quickly set up meetings with Folger to express her interest in taking Gus home. With four pets already (three cats and a frog), she and O’Neill were worried that their home might be too full
to accommodate such a large dog. After talking with Folger, however, they knew that Gus belonged with them. “We sat with one another and talked about our philosophy with pets,” Folger said. “He had to be a part of the family. He has to be [treated like] a human because he is; he’s a giant part of everything that made Sawyer.” While they were still working out details, Taylor Smith had to return to her home in Dallas, checking Gus into a kennel on the
way. He did not stay there for long. The week before Halloween, Folger drove to Smith’s mother’s house to pick up all of Gus’s earthly possessions, checked him out of the kennel, and drove him to his new forever home with McGahon, O’Neill, three cats and a frog. For Gus, the transition took a little bit of getting used to. “You could see on his face that he was sad and depressed, so the two of us sat down,” McGahon said. “I talk to my animals, and we had a conversation that he’s safe and he’s home. It’s OK that he will always love Sawyer, his original mommy, and it’s OK to have love for both of us. I told him that he never has to forget her and that we’ll always love and honor her.” Knowing how important Gus was to everyone who knew and loved Smith, McGahon created an Instagram account for him the night he arrived home. “I made an Instagram account so that all of the people who’ve loved him before could see how he’s doing and that he’s properly taken care of and worshipped and loved,” she explained. “Plus, he’s adorable so I think everybody would want to see his big giant face.” The account, @gusthebfd, was much appreciated. “It’s wonderful because we get to see our boy pretty much every
13 dec. 2019
“We had a conversation that he’s safe and he’s home. It’s OK that ge will always love Sawyer, his original mommy, and it’s OK to have love for both of us.”
—Deirdre McGahon
day,” Folger said. “He’s in Austin with someone who I have a lot of love and respect for, which means I can see him whenever I want.” Once he adjusted to the new environment, Gus’s friendly personality began to show. “He’s loving and friendly and does not realize that he’s 180 pounds,” McGahon said. “He just wants to snuggle and sit in your lap.” Aside from cuddling with his new family (even though his feline siblings do not appreciate his tendency to cuddle very much), Gus has gotten into a bit of mischief. “We realized very quickly that he can reach the counter,” McGahon said. “The second night he was home we made steaks. They were big steaks, probably about a pound each. Phill and I were eating and left the third steak on the counter, and we heard something. We went running over, and Gus ate the entire steak in one gulp.” Folger and Ard still try to be a part of Gus’s life by helping out McGahon as often as they can. When he got in trouble for digging in the trash, all three of them brainstormed ways to keep him out of the garbage. “I think that Deirdre has the just-right personality for Gus,” Folger said. “She’s very loving, and she’s also whimsical and quirky, which is the kind of personality that Sawyer and I both have and appreciate.” The whole process of finding Gus a home was incredibly important to her and Neil, not just because of the love they have for him.
SNEAKING TREATS: McGahon quickly realized that Gus was tall enough to reach the counter and was prepared to use that for his advantage. “The second night he was home we made steaks,” McGahon said. “Phil and I were eating and left the third steak on the counter and we heard something. We went running over and Gus ate the entire steak in one gulp.” Photo courtesy of McGahon. “It felt like my last act of service for Sawyer,” Folger said. “She was full of love and light, just an amazing human being, and she brought all kinds of people around her.” Now, with McGahon, Folger is confident that she made the right decision for Gus. “This dog just embodies so much love, and he is so loved,” Folger said. “I think that any other place would be a mistake. I think he’s right where he’s supposed to be, and I think [Smith] would feel the same way.”
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n the 14th anniversary of her own father passing away from cancer, McCallum teacher Deirdre McGahon sat at the front of room 138 A and checked her email. She read a note from guidance counselor Mickey Folger, whose best friend Sawyer Smith recently passed away from cancer. Folger was looking for a home for her friend’s gigantic 180-pound Anatolian Shepherd. “I just can’t let this sweet boy go into a county shelter,” Folger wrote in her email. “He is a part of my precious friend!” Smith and Folger met around 16 years ago through mutual friends. Smith’s former husband played bass guitar with Folger’s former boyfriend, and the two became friends immediately. “We hit it off instantly,” she said. “We had an instant chemistry. We just fell in love with each other. We had this great best friend romance going on, and she was my ride or die.” It was evident early on in their friendship that Smith deeply cared about animals, specifically rescue dogs. In fact, her two dogs before she met Gus were both personally rescued from an abusive puppy mill. “She’s always been a huge advocate of ‘adopt don’t shop,’” Folger said. “So, about 10 or 11 years ago, she spearheaded a group in Lubbock, Texas, to shut down puppy mills.” Her group was successful, closing a mill that was mass breeding labrador retrievers, where she rescued two dogs: Faith and Merideth. “She brought them home, and they were her babies,” Folger said. “They were her girls.” Unfortunately, both dogs passed away, leaving Smith once again searching for a new furry companion. “She started praying for a dog,” Folger said. “She has never not had a dog, a big dog, she’s always loved big dogs.” Luckily for Smith, her longtime friend Kelly Searles came across the perfect opportunity for a surprise. While she was at the store, Searles noticed that there was someone outside the front door giving away puppies. Knowing how much Smith loved dogs, her friend brought Gus, one of the puppies, home to her. When she first brought him home, Gus was 125 pounds and still growing. “He was a big puppy,” Folger said. “He was her gigantic cuddle bug.” Unfortunately, Smith and Gus’s time together was cut short. In August of 2018, a few months before adopting her fur baby, Smith was diagnosed with breast cancer. Before her health took a turn for the worse, she and Folger spent the next few months checking off things on her bucket list. “When she passed away in September, the big question was ‘What about Gus?’” Folger said. Before she passed away, Smith’s friend Neil Ard planned on taking Gus back to his home in New York, but with two dogs already, one of which was not keen on welcoming a new dog into the family, he was unable to bring Gus home. Smith’s daughter, Taylor, was unable to take in Gus because her apartment could not accommodate him, and Smith’s mother, in her 80s, wasn’t able to care for him either. So, Ard and Folger made it their mission to find the best possible home for their best friend’s baby. “It was really important to find a good home for Gus because he kind of embodies my best friend right about now,” Folger said. “I had intended on bringing Gus home with me, but I have three dogs of my own. I just knew that we wouldn’t be able to give Gus the kind of attention and love that he needed if he came home with me.” Folger and Ard also had to act fast. Gus was still living at home with Taylor, who was cleaning out Smith’s house, but the pair only had until the end of October until they had to move out. To speed up the process, Folger and Ard decided to send out a blast through a rescue organization specifically for Anatolian Shepherds like Gus. “We had a few nibbles, but we were going to have to travel him and that made us nervous,” Folger said. “The fact that we would never have access to him ever again was really disconcerting for me and Neil because Gus was her baby, literally her baby, just a piece of Sawyer.” As the Halloween deadline quickly approached, Folger decided to try a new strategy. On Oct. 23, she sent out an email blast to the McCallum faculty asking if anyone could take care of Gus. Soon after, Macjournalism reposted Gus’s story on its Instagram page. “People just started crawling out of the woodwork wanting Gus, wanting Gus and wanting Gus,” she said. McGahon was the first person to reply. “[When I saw the picture of Smith and Gus] I could tell she was sick and how much love he brought, and I melted,” she said. “We
14 people (and dogs)
A FETCHING YOUNG LAD: Gus, a 2-year-old Anatolian Shepherd mix, (left) smiles in the sunlight on a warm day at Zilker Park. Even though Gus loves to meet new people and dogs, he is very much a couch potato. “He jumps on the bed and snuggles with us, [and] he hangs out on the couch,” McGahon said. “He’s loving and friendly and does not realize that he’s 180 pounds. He just wants to snuggle and sit in your lap.” Photo by Kristen Tibbetts.
ENJOYING the future but never
FORGETTING the past How one dog found a new home though Mac after tragedy
ON HIS WAY HOME: After picking him up from the kennel, Folger drove Gus and all of his belongings to his new home with McGahon. “He’s in Austin with someone who I have a lot of love and respect for,” she said. “[This] means I can see him whenever I want.” Photo courtesy of Folger.
Story by Kristen Tibbetts LOVED FROM THE START: Smith and Gus (left) both smile for the last picture taken of the two of them together. Smith was diagnosed with breast cancer in August of 2018, just a few months before meeting Gus. When he arrived at her home, Gus was just a puppy, a very large puppy. They spent almost a year together before Smith passed away in September 2019. “When she passed away, the big question was ‘What about Gus?’” Folger said. “It was really important to find a good home for Gus because he kind of embodies my best friend right about now.” This picture was sent out to McCallum faculty on Oct. 23 and reposted on the Macjournalism Insta soon after. “People just started crawling out of the woodwork wanting Gus, wanting Gus and wanting Gus,” Folger said. Photo courtesy of Folger.
thought it would be cool to get a big dog, but we were thinking more like 60 or 70 pounds. So, when we found out about Gus, we were like ‘OK, what’s 100 more pounds?’” McGahon sent the picture to her boyfriend, Phil O’Neill, who encouraged her to get more information before jumping into anything. She quickly set up meetings with Folger to express her interest in taking Gus home. With four pets already (three cats and a frog), she and O’Neill were worried that their home might be too full
to accommodate such a large dog. After talking with Folger, however, they knew that Gus belonged with them. “We sat with one another and talked about our philosophy with pets,” Folger said. “He had to be a part of the family. He has to be [treated like] a human because he is; he’s a giant part of everything that made Sawyer.” While they were still working out details, Taylor Smith had to return to her home in Dallas, checking Gus into a kennel on the
way. He did not stay there for long. The week before Halloween, Folger drove to Smith’s mother’s house to pick up all of Gus’s earthly possessions, checked him out of the kennel, and drove him to his new forever home with McGahon, O’Neill, three cats and a frog. For Gus, the transition took a little bit of getting used to. “You could see on his face that he was sad and depressed, so the two of us sat down,” McGahon said. “I talk to my animals, and we had a conversation that he’s safe and he’s home. It’s OK that he will always love Sawyer, his original mommy, and it’s OK to have love for both of us. I told him that he never has to forget her and that we’ll always love and honor her.” Knowing how important Gus was to everyone who knew and loved Smith, McGahon created an Instagram account for him the night he arrived home. “I made an Instagram account so that all of the people who’ve loved him before could see how he’s doing and that he’s properly taken care of and worshipped and loved,” she explained. “Plus, he’s adorable so I think everybody would want to see his big giant face.” The account, @gusthebfd, was much appreciated. “It’s wonderful because we get to see our boy pretty much every
13 dec. 2019
“We had a conversation that he’s safe and he’s home. It’s OK that ge will always love Sawyer, his original mommy, and it’s OK to have love for both of us.”
—Deirdre McGahon
day,” Folger said. “He’s in Austin with someone who I have a lot of love and respect for, which means I can see him whenever I want.” Once he adjusted to the new environment, Gus’s friendly personality began to show. “He’s loving and friendly and does not realize that he’s 180 pounds,” McGahon said. “He just wants to snuggle and sit in your lap.” Aside from cuddling with his new family (even though his feline siblings do not appreciate his tendency to cuddle very much), Gus has gotten into a bit of mischief. “We realized very quickly that he can reach the counter,” McGahon said. “The second night he was home we made steaks. They were big steaks, probably about a pound each. Phill and I were eating and left the third steak on the counter, and we heard something. We went running over, and Gus ate the entire steak in one gulp.” Folger and Ard still try to be a part of Gus’s life by helping out McGahon as often as they can. When he got in trouble for digging in the trash, all three of them brainstormed ways to keep him out of the garbage. “I think that Deirdre has the just-right personality for Gus,” Folger said. “She’s very loving, and she’s also whimsical and quirky, which is the kind of personality that Sawyer and I both have and appreciate.” The whole process of finding Gus a home was incredibly important to her and Neil, not just because of the love they have for him.
SNEAKING TREATS: McGahon quickly realized that Gus was tall enough to reach the counter and was prepared to use that for his advantage. “The second night he was home we made steaks,” McGahon said. “Phil and I were eating and left the third steak on the counter and we heard something. We went running over and Gus ate the entire steak in one gulp.” Photo courtesy of McGahon. “It felt like my last act of service for Sawyer,” Folger said. “She was full of love and light, just an amazing human being, and she brought all kinds of people around her.” Now, with McGahon, Folger is confident that she made the right decision for Gus. “This dog just embodies so much love, and he is so loved,” Folger said. “I think that any other place would be a mistake. I think he’s right where he’s supposed to be, and I think [Smith] would feel the same way.”
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End of the ’10s
A decade of cultural highlights remembered The 2010s are coming to an end, and for some it’s the end of an era. Milestones have been reached, records broken and precedents set. At McCallum, we saw former principal Mike Garrison’s last 10 years of his 16-year run as principal, our football team made it to the state semifinals, and our girls’ and boys’ varsity soccer teams were district champions, and we welcomed interim principal Brandi Hosack to McCallum. Austin became home to many big businesses and also many Californians. The United States legalized gay marraige, and the first image of a black hole was captured more than 53 million lightyears away. The U.S. Women’s National Soccer team won gold at the Olympics as well as two World Cups. NFL quarterback Tom Brady won three Super Bowls out of the six he played in, and tennis legend Serena Williams broke the record for most grand slams at 23 with her last win in 2017. The Warriors went to the NBA Finals five times winning three titles, and Micheal Phelps became the most decorated Olympian of all time with 28 medals. Drake and Ed Sheeran were Spotify’s “most-streamed artists of the decade.” Taylor Swift released five albums, winning 10 Grammys, and both the Jonas Brothers and One Direction broke up. Although, the Jonas Brothers got back together before the decade came to a close. Lucasfilm produced the final trilogy of the Star Wars “Skywalker Saga” and Marvel Studios concluded their 23-film Infinity Saga with the now highestgrossing film of all time: Avengers: Endgame, which was released earlier this year. We’ve also seen seven different generations of iPhones, have gone from Angry Birds to Pokemon Go and now Mario Kart. Snapchat and Instagram became two of the most popular forms of social media, and TikTok took over. As we go into this new decade, there is much to look forward to, but we also need to be aware of the roads that lie ahead. Some are clear, others we can barely see, and there are ones that we don’t even have a clue about yet. 2020 is a big year; first of all, it’s a “leap year,” and there’s also a presidential election. A musical about Princess Diana will open on Broadway, and the 2020 Summer Olympics will be held in Tokyo. The 2010s were exciting, setting precedents for generations to come. Records were broken, and many cultural phenomenons were discovered. Now it’s time to move on and into a new decade with new expectations and new adventures awaiting. —Anna McClellan (Images taken from Creative Commons)
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Resuming the Roaring ’20s
Just weeks from the 2020s, we look back to the 1920s to see how we’ve changed, stayed the same MADELYNN NILES staff reporter
Betty admired herself in the mirror, smoothing down the curls of her bob and adjusting the position of her ribbon headband ever so slightly. She glanced at the clock — 11:58 p.m.? Grabbing her fur coat, she rushed back to her living room, the rich jazz spilling from the record player as her friends danced. Balloons, bright reds and yellows, floating at the ceiling, champagne bottles at each table, waiting to be popped. 3… 2… 1… Happy New Year — it’s 1920! As we look forward into this new year, it is striking to reflect upon the ways our country has shifted over the past century, all the way from 1920 to the upcoming 2020. From hairstyles to music to the political and economic makeup of the country, it seems that one of the only things these two time periods have in common are the last two digits of their years. Fashion grew to be one of the key reforms of the era, and, despite popular belief, the newest Nike sneakers and cropped tees were not sported in the 1920s. Girls tended to dress in long, brightly colored dresses paired with large hats or headbands, and, as fashion tends to follow the political and social trends of its time period, boys often wore bomber jackets to emulate their fathers who had fought in World War I. Junior fashion designer and previous winner of the McCallum Fashion Show Veronica Crist agrees that fashion follows this pattern of societal imitation. “With fashion now, it’s all about how you can express who you are. It’s no longer about fitting in with the crowd,” she stated. “With people being more open to expressing their sexuality, beliefs, stuff like that, how you dress has become more of an individually based thing.” Crist also described modern-day teen fashion as “more loose, more street-like, more comfortable,” addressing another major transformation the U.S. has made over this past century with direct roots in this early time period: beauty standards, particularly for women. With the introduction of flappers, young women began doing the things least expected of them by society—smoking and drinking alcohol in public, applying heavier makeup and wearing outfits deemed as outrageously provocative at the time. This was a major shift. I mean… women? Actually making a lasting appearance in the public eye for something other than a familial task? Simply scandalous. As this flapper fashion and lifestyle evolved, the rights of women began to change right alongside it. On Aug. 18, 1920, the 19th Amendment was ratified, granting women suffrage. According to BBC, the number of working women during this time period also increased by 25 percent, and they began to drop old habits of wearing constrictive clothing that was inconvenient for activity. According to The Houston Chronicle, as of July 2018 men still dominate the workforce, but by a slimmer margin, with approximately 66 percent workers being male and 54.6 percent female
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THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS: Junior Ellen Fox looks upon on a Roaring 1920s reflection of herself in the mirror. The reflection flaunts the staples of the time period: a flapper dress, a pearl necklace, and red lipstick. In the modern 2020’s version, she wears modern equivalents; a Madewell dress, hoops, a scrunchie and Chapstick. Original photos and digital illustration by Ellen Fox. For answers to quiz below, see page 2. (numbers do not add up to 100 percent because of reporting differences), a major shift in roles. And let’s not gloss over the wild vocabulary used during this changing time—the slang terms, to use language we are familiar with. Just as there are now in America, plenty of colloquialisms and trending words were used in common 1920s culture. To describe something in a positive light, you could call something “the bee’s knees,” or simple just “berries.” However, if what you are describing is a person you find attractive, perhaps calling them “hotsy-totsy” would prove more effective. If your luck is good with this person, you might even end up giving them a “cash,” or kiss, hoping to have a “whoopee,” another word for a good time. Plenty of these phrases are still referenced in our society today, although not as prominently, while others faded along with the time period. Exclaiming “applesauce!” or referring to alcohol as “giggle water” are just two examples of this. Just like in our current decade, there were societal shifts, both political and economic. According to financial website The Balance, economic activity increased by 42 percent in the decade alone due to the temptations of new consumer goods such as radios, vacuums and beauty products. With the approaching decline of the economy in the ‘30s, however, the mass production of these products outweighed consumerism, and the economy came to a decline, just as it has in recent years. Mirroring the changing economy, life was shifting for people of the ‘20s who would have been our age. This was also the period in which high schools started to take shape, redefining the lives of students. U.S. historians today also
1920s Slang Quiz Can you match these these terms with their definitions?
1
Applesauce
2
The bee's knees
3
Cash
4
Hotsy-totsy
5
Sinker
6
Mazuma
7
Whoopee
8
Berries
suggest that this was the first time the “teenager” age group began to develop— forming a new and distinct division between the younger and older youth groups. Popular teen culture, similar to the way it has developed now, had a heavy emphasis on music. While rap, hip hop, and alternative music have come to surface in this decade, the 1920s had its roots deep in the world of jazz. The U.S. was not only an adapter and influencer of jazz music, but the birthplace of it—the 1920’s in America was even deemed
(A) A doughnut (B) Money (C) Nonsense (D) A kiss (E) Pleasing to the eye (F) A good time (G) Simply the best (H) Delightful as “The Jazz Age.” It was a time for dancing and for celebration, a time to pick up your feet and groove to a tune. Looking back upon this decade and the strides that have been taken since illustrate a strong pattern of advancement and change, from the clothes people wore to the way people described those clothes, from melodies and music to the woman’s role in society, and everything in between. It is the classic story of evolution and imitation.
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Spring sports preview
We are pleased to present our exclusive look ahead to the Mac sports that will be active during the spring semester, plus some of the goals the teams have in mind going into their 2020 season
Golf Team rejects traditional sterotypes, already preparing for another successful season
Sophomore Micheal Alverson competes at the 2019 District tennis meet on Oct. 1. Photo by Esme Moreno-Bernacki.
Tennis New, improved, larger team looks to gain experience, develop stronger team chemistry Since finishing third in districts for the fall season, the McCallum tennis team has been preparing for the start of the spring season after winter break. The spring season allows players to amass points individually, competing in doubles or singles, rather than as a team. “The second semester we shift gears and we have a whole different format [so] instead of team tennis where we’re playing together as a group against another school, we’re doing individual tennis in the spring,” said assistant coach Chris Purkiss. Under co-captains senior Wyeth Purkiss and sophomore Jewel New, the team is creating new goals for improvement and growth for the upcoming season. “I want to improve as a player and gain more experience,” New said. “I hope we can grow closer as a team.” For most of the team, the main goal is refining their play and finding ways to coordinate with each other. “I hope that the entire team can improve upon the doubles playing and communication,” said sophomore Lily Christie. “I’m excited for more tournaments and more opportunities for the team to thrive.” With an influx of freshman members and many more players than in previous years, coming together as a team has been very different than in the past. “With the large numbers, it’s kind of made it a little bit different,” Coach Purkiss said. “Last semester, there was the group that was going to the tournaments and the group that’s not. Our goal as coaches is to keep the team playing together, working together, encouraging each other [and] challenging each other.” “Practice has been really fun because of all the new people,” Christie said. “We’re starting to get closer as a team and working together.” As a new player this year, freshman Elle Deitrich enjoyed watching and collaborating with her teammates last season as well. “I think my favorite part was just practicing as a team and watching everyone grow and play because we all love tennis,” Dietrich said. “I’m excited to play in more tournaments and to experiment with my doubles partner.” Now is the time for the team members to make any drastic changes to their play and master them without fear of weakening their game during tournaments. In January, the team will begin playing duel matches and tournaments with other schools around Texas. “We want to encourage everyone to practice in that format that they’ll be playing in during the tournament,” Coach Purkiss said. “I’ve seen a lot of players work hard, so I think improving, working on skills that are challenging, and what [they’re] already doing well, [are some things] I want them to keep doing.” — Elisha Scott
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Looking for a lifelong sport with long term benefits and ongoing challenges? Then give golf a swing. Even though practice is just beginning, the 2019-20 McCallum Knights golf team is off to a good start. “This year’s boys team has a very good chance of making it to Regionals again,” says Coach Nitardy, the head coach of the golf team. “We have four boys back from last year’s Regional team: Zach Masterson, Henry Sandlin, August Evans and Ethan Vandament. Luke Lozano has been a great addition to the team, and he’ll likely help us qualify for Regionals.” Now this is not the little putt-putt golf you played at Peter Pan when you were a kid. This is the real deal, difficult and slow golf. In her 14th year coaching the golf team, Coach Nitardy said that the hardest part of golf is consistency. Some members on the team also believe that golf is a challenging sport because it relies heavily on both mental and physical talent, as players have to stay out of their own heads. “I’d say the most challenging part of golf is how mental the game is,” Lozano said. “If you have a good shot, your next few will also be good, and you may end up having a pretty good round. But if you have a bad shot it can be extremely frustrating, and you will end up doing horribly on your round.” Golf, according to the players, sometimes gets looked down on, but the team believes this disregard for the sport is unfounded. “Everyone kinda gives golf a bad rep,” Masterson said. “It’s always labeled as an ‘inferior’ sport, when in reality, it takes as much skill a precision as baseball or lacrosse.” As for the stereotype about golf being for men, though golf has a ways to go, the Knights seem to be making progress, as many female players are returning this year, and the coach herself is also
Junior Lucy Borowski is one of the returning McCallum golf players who made Regionals last year. Photo by Abby Robison. a woman. “Luci Borowski, a Regional qualifier from last year, is back,” Nitardy said. “And newbies Charlie Ortiz and Cate Thompson have started out strong. We need one more girl to make a team and they will most definitely make it to Regionals!” Though many wonder what makes golf enjoyable, the McCallum players have no doubts about spending their time practicing, since they believe being successful after all the hours of practice is the most rewarding part of golf. “Sitting down at the scoring table and turning in a score you are really proud of is most rewarding,” Masterson said. “That makes all the practice and hard work worth it. Coach Nitardy loves seeing all her players’ hard work pay off and feels inspired by watching her players grow stronger. “As the golf coach, my favorite part is watching my players develop and make the shots they’ve been practicing,” Nitardy said. “I also enjoy having players come back and tell me how much they enjoy playing after high school.” Golf is a great sport for many reasons, one of them being that you can play golf from cradle to grave. “Golf is one of the few sports that you can truly play your whole life,” Lozano said. “It can also be a good way to relax and wind down. Being able to play golf will give a pastime for later in life.” — Lucy Marco
Boys Soccer Seniors eye upcoming 2020 season with great excitement but also a tinge of sadness
90 minutes. That’s all a soccer game is—90 minutes. But for senior boys on the McCallum soccer team, senior sadness always comes around because for the seniors, it will be their last time playing high school sports. Eagerness and nervousness are what goes through their mind and body as they step on the field that one last time. “I started playing soccer when I was 6,” senior Rey Bernacki said. “I wanted to start playing because it looked really fun on television, and my parents wanted me play, too.” Bernacki started playing soccer for enjoyment, and he’s continued playing soccer at McCallum for all four years of his high school career for the same reason. “All my friends are in [soccer], and it’s a good experience for us,” Bernacki said. “I wanted to keep playing a sport that I started to play at a young age to show commitment. We would always hang out together, and it made playing with each other much more fun.” Now, the senior boys are approaching the end of their high school soccer careers, and it’s bringing up new emotions in all of them. Bernacki is sad to leave high school soccer behind after this season but is ready for a new adventure: college. “I am kind of sad,” Bernacki said. “I’ve been with it for four years but I feel like I am going to play more soccer in college.” Though some players are excited for new experiences in college, others have a bleaker outlook. “I’m kinda sad cause I’ve been playing with all the guys for a while,” senior Jimmy Walker said. “And it’s sad to move on from that [at the end of the season], but it should be fun.” Now that these players are seniors, they’ve stepped up into
Senior Jimmy Walker makes a break for the goal at soccer tryouts on Dec. 9. Photo by Thomas Melina Raab. leadership roles on the team and have worked together to show leadership to the younger ones. “Being a goalkeeper, you can really see the field and like a different point of view, so I just try and give insight on what I’m seeing to see to help the players,” senior Bryn Lewis said. Most of the seniors have played on the team for a long time, and have lots of memories, both of the team and of their own experiences, to mark that time. “I played freshman year as a goalkeeper,” Lewis said. “And then partway through the season, we had a lot of injuries so coach put me up to forward. I’m not good with my feet like all the other guys are, but the first game I played, I scored 2 goals and everyone was like ‘What’s going on with this kid?’” The seniors also have some wisdom to share with incoming players, some advice they wish they had been given when they were first starting. “Just try your best, stay on the grind and have fun,” Lewis said. “It goes by so fast. It’s like yesterday I was a freshman playing soccer; now, I’m a senior. Just enjoy [it] while you can. Time flies by when you’re having fun.” —Sophia Dawson
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Girls Soccer
How high the boys varsity team soars this season depends on how well junior Rob Wade and his teammates step into some big shoes to fill. In Tuesday’s 59-46 non-district loss at Burnet, Wade led the team in scoring with 21 points. Photo by Kennedy Weatherby.
Team believes that bonding, communication will lead to success and a win over Drip Post tryout the girls’ soccer class is in full swing. As the team prepares for the upcoming season, big goals loom large in their eyes. “[Our goals are] to beat Drip twice, to get further in playoffs and to take it all the way to state if we can,” senior Cynthia Maldonado said. Two wins over Dripping Springs would get McCallum the district title, but this undertaking will require some effort. “We have a couple of spots that we need to fill from last year, so that’s what I’m keeping my eyes open for heading into the season,” Coach Watson said. Coach Watson will be faced with the task of replacing many key players, like midfielders and captains Delaney Carter and Gillian Rashid, who graduated last year. She will also be challenged with replacing a center midfielder, senior Karen Esparza, who suffered an ACL injury over the summer. Despite not being able to play, she will remain a part of the team, and it’s her job to find someone who can replace her. “Even though we won’t have her on the field, I still think she’s going to be a really big asset,” Coach Watson said. “She’s going to help me fill that spot, essentially, because she plays that center midfielder position so well, so she’s the best player to help us fill it. I know that it’s disappointing for her to not be able to play, but if anybody can groom a center midfielder, it’s going to be her.” “I think I have Carly Johnson in mind [for center midfielder],” Esparza said. “She was the freshman last year playing with me, so I think she would do a really good job this year.” Through Esparza’s injury, her teammates have stuck by her. “Even though I’m not going to be playing this year, I feel like I’m still going to be part of the team,” Esparza said. “I think that they have become a really close-knit family, so I think that’s one strength that we have,” Watson said. “I think that the fact that they really care for each other off the field as
Boys Basketball During the last day of soccer tryouts on Wednesday Dec. 4, junior Avery Miller dribbles down the field looking to pass to an open player. “I want [us] to go to playoffs again,” Miller said. “And I want [us] to try and make first in district [and] also beat Dripping Springs again.” Last year the Knights became the first varsity team to beat Dripping Springs in district play. Photo by Risa Darlington-Horta. well translates to better attitudes and more encouragement.” The girls are receptive to Watson’s encouragement and truly enjoy playing with each other. “We do team dinners, and before games, we’ll go and eat together,” sophomore Mia Gomez said. “So I think spending time [together] off the field is really important.” Through it all, the girls have each other. “You always have to think, today’s a new day,” junior Avery Miller said. “Even if you do bad, the next day it’s always going to get better.” The team has a scrimmage at Anderson today. — Samantha Powers
Junior Thomas Lucey competes in a wrestling match against Weiss on Thursday, Dec. 5 at Austin High. “It was kind of a struggle but I think it taught me a good lesson of never giving up, and the match was successful in the end.” Photo by Tallulah Wilson.
Wrestling A team that showed promise last year returns to the mat a year wiser and ready to rumble After several people made it to regionals last season, with a few team members almost advancing to state, the McCallum wrestling team is determined to do even better this season. “It used to be seen as a slack-off period,” boys captain Sam Buford said. This year, however, he is determined to create a better team dynamic where people want to put in the work required for such a strength-based sport. “I’ve started really becoming friends with my teammates and working with them a lot more,” Buford said.
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So far, he says, his strategy has worked and he is happy with the improvement. According to head coach Ray Amaro, wrestling comes with many lifestyle changes relating to diet and exercise to keep team members in their weight classes. “It shows a lot of loyalty,” Amaro said. “It shows a lot of honesty, it shows a lot of discipline.” Last season, the wrestling team won five tournaments out of 11. This season, with 25 eager wrestlers, the team is optimistic about going further and thinks that they can achieve their goal of more players making it past regionals and on to state. “Last year we only had like four or five returning students that had wrestled,” said Buford. “Now the whole team is planning to step it up.” —Evelyn Griffin
Graduated players leave big shoes to fill on the court, in some aspects quite literally It’s Friday, Jan. 11, 2019 and the stakes are high in double overtime in the McCallum varsity boys basketball game. 30 seconds on the clock, their opponent, Lanier, scores a layup to take a onepoint lead. Five seconds remain. There are two attempts at a basket one by junior Takai Satberry and another by sophomore Rob Wade. Wade rebounds his own miss and takes a final shot at the basket; the buzzer sounds while Wade’s hopeful shot still hangs in the air. The room goes silent as everyone’s breath is caught in their mouth, their eyes trained to the ball as it bounces on the rim for what feels like forever before it falls through the net and sends the Knights to a glorious one-point win. Nine months later, the roster is a bit different. The 2018-2019 team won 20 games, something McCallum hadn’t done in a long time. With only one returning varsity starter, the Knights had a lot of maturing to do in a short time. “We had to bring up four sophomores and a freshman,” head coach Daniel Fuentes said. “We knew we had talent. I just didn’t know how quickly we could come together.” “Going from the freshman or JV to varsity,” junior and varsity starter Rob Wade said, “we had no experience but I think we [underclassmen] showed that we were capable to play at the next level.” Along with the hard work, there was another key player in the success of the 2018-19 basketball season: Norman Boyd. “Norman’s are big shoes to fill, but I think we have some good candidates that will do a great job for us this year,” Fuentes said. “I think that scoring will be more spread out and that will make it difficult for teams to just focus on a single player.” Boyd wasn’t the only starting varsity player who left. Senior Darius Lewis has transferred to Del Valle High School. Lewis was a strong player, with impeccable speed and good ball-handling. “We also lost Darius because he transferred, but I think our guards are good enough to handle the pressure and I think we’ll be fine,” Wade said. Wade knows a little something about handling pressure after moving from the freshman team to the varsity last season. “I had to learn how to play tougher in the paint,” Wade said. “It was just a hard year for me moving up, but it paid off.” “During class, we will lift weights and work on all parts of the game,” Fuentes said. “We do a lot of running. By the time the season starts, we are pretty much in game shape.” Maintaining consistency from year to year can be a challenge for a coach, with changes in the roster every season. The coaches at McCallum work extra hard to maintain the consistency in their program, keeping similar offense and defense. “A lot of repetition usually helps out also,” Fuentes said. “Having the same coaching staff is an important factor for consistency that many people overlook.” The eight returning varsity players are still hyped up from last season. Many of the players believe they can make it to playoffs again. “I’m excited about everything this season, I want to win district so bad this year and I think we could make a run in the playoffs, we’ve got a good team,” Wade said. —Kennedy Weatherby
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Work ethic keeps Georgia on our minds Senior balances basketball and technical theatre The Shield: How do you balance technical theatre and basketball? Georgia Harrington: Really poorly. It’s hard, I basically run from one building to the next, but I have to talk to all of my bosses and directors and coaches, so it’s a lot of work. TS: Which is more time-consuming? GH: Probably tech because it goes year-round, and basketball is really time-consuming during the winter, but I also played/play other sports, so life is always crazy. TS: As a senior what are your plans to lead the team and your hopes for the upcoming season? GH: We are really excited; we are trying to change the culture and how we approach practice. To get started really hard every day and getting pumped up for the season. There is a lot of stuff that we are putting into that like the way we do practice and the way we play games. TS: What have you learned playing varsity basketball? GH: I’ve learned a lot, I think it’s a lot about learning about other people not just yourself. You learn how to work and play with others. I’ve played varsity for three years, and I’ve seen lots of different classes come and go. It’s really nice to play with different people and its always changing and learning. TS: What have you learned doing tech? GH: Tech is very weirdly similar and different [than basketball]. In tech, I also usually have a sort of leadership role. [Most recently, I stage-managed] the play [Murder on the Orient Express]. It’s the same idea of thinking and figuring out what’s best for the group as a whole and not necessarily the individual. TS: What was your favorite moment playing basketball? GH: My favorite moment playing basketball is probably this one game last year where right before the game all of us turned up a speaker so we were blasting music in the locker room. We were blasting music in the locker room and screaming our heads off. So we all got super hyped, and we did it together as a team. TS: Favorite moment doing tech? GH: Honestly, my freshman year because I had a really fun time with the first shows I did. I was friends with a lot of the seniors, and I learned a lot from them. Once, we were all in the dressing room before a show and
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“I never sit down during games. I walk behind the bench. It’s just a way for me be there. I have to be in it the whole time and be completely focused on the game.”
—Georgia Harrington
ABOVE: Harrington makes an entry pass during the Lady Knights’ victory over the Eastside Memorial Lady Panthers. Photo by Camille Wilson. LEFT: Harrington and a teammate fight for a loose ball against the Panthers. Photo by Grace Nugent.
Above: Georgia Harrington readies to shoot a free throw during the girls varsity basketball win over the Eastside Memorial lady Panthers. Photo by Sophia Dawson.
SPORTS PROFILE we were just singing Christmas music, and everyone was having fun, the tech and the actors. TS: Least favorite moment in basketball? GH: Well, there was this one practice where we were running up and down the court, and we kept turning the ball over, losing it, mis- dribbling or hitting it out. Every time we had a turnover, our coach would add a sprint, so we had to do a sprint for each turnover. There was a catch because if we didn’t finish the sprint within a certain amount of time, we would have to do it again. We ended up having to run 162 sprints over the next two practices. It was hell. That was two years ago, and last year we had to do a wall sit for five minutes, and a bunch of people couldn’t do it, so every time somebody fell, we had to start over. We ended up having to do a wall sit for 15 minutes straight; one girl was crying and one girl threw up. It’s no joke. TS: What is the difference being in a leadership position in tech compared to being in a leadership position in basketball?
GH: Leadership in basketball is different because we are all kinda doing the same things. We are all part of almost the exact same goal. During tech, everyone has very specific roles, and in tech, we have very specific roles. We work together, but it’s more about individuals doing different parts. TS: Why do you participate in tech theatre? GH: I do tech mostly because I’m not in the McCallum district, and I thought, “How am I able to attend McCallum” because it’s only like five minutes away from my house. I knew how to build and construct things
because my parents are country so I thought I would try tech theatre. I also like having leadership roles where I can direct other people towards a common goal, so it worked out very well. Throughout the four years, I have made peace with it in a way because at the beginning it was so weird because I was surrounded by theatre people who I didn’t know, and I did not fit in with them that well. Now I feel accepted and loved, and I have found a way to make it my own and get what I want out of it. TS: What was your proudest moment on tech? GH: Not to toot my own horn but a lot of time things are so close
to going wrong, and we are always on the precipice of something going horribly wrong. My proudest moment was probably the first show I stage-managed which was Our Town my junior year. That one was fun to do because I had never worked with that director before because he was a guest director, Michael Harlan. He was very appreciative of all the work I was doing and it was very rewarding to be able to work with him in that environment. TS: What was your proudest moment on basketball? GH: My personal proudest moment on basketball was when we first got our freshmen this year, and they were trying out and Coach Campbell let us coach the freshman for a practice. It felt great because we were teaching them the plays, and we got to help mold the next generation of McCallum girls basketball. TS: What are your college plans? GH: I am applying to lots of liberal arts colleges all over the country, and I’m hoping to major in global relations and international health. It’s a very specific major, but I’m looking forward to it, and I have large aspirations for college, but I think I can get there. —interview by Grace Nugent
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This season, Garza’s game is on point
Junior guard finds himself in a role he did not expect to have: directing offense and staying upbeat The Shield: What got you into basketball? Albert Garza: My parents are what got me into basketball. Ever since I was 6, my parents put me in different basketball leagues and just playing against older kids, and it’s just stuck with me since then. TS: What teams/programs/leagues have you played for? AG: I’ve really played with a lot of leagues since I was a kid, from YMCA youth basketball to this past summer’s AAU team. The most recent team I’ve played with is ATX Power. TS: What has basketball taught you over the years? AG: Over the years, basketball has taught me even through the lows and highs, to just focus on the end point. My coach always tells me this when I’m having a rough game or even just [in] life generally. You can get through things even when they get tough. TS: How has basketball shaped your high school experience? AG: Basketball has shaped my high school experience in a really positive way. It has really turned me into a stronger, more mature person. It has really turned me into a leader [who shows] people the right thing to do and just feels great setting examples for the JV and freshman team. TS: Were you expecting to play starting point guard in the preseason? AG: No, I was not. In the preseason, there was a very low chance that I would be playing the point guard. TS: What do you like about playing point guard? Dislike? AG: Being able to orchestrate the offense, playing good defense and just being able to call out the plays and just set everybody up. I don’t dislike playing the point guard; it’s just when I’m having an off game, it affects my teammates, so I always try to stay positive even through the rough games. TS: What have been some of the challenges when stepping into this role? AG: Learning all the plays from a new position, trying to keep the ball alive at the top of the key while coach is calling the offense with a man pressuring me, and just getting more comfortable playing the point guard position. TS: What have you learned from playing at the varsity level? AG: Things are way different from freshman ball. It’s a faster, more aggressive, and tougher pace. There is way more physicality, and just shooting the ball and decision-making has to be way more quicker. TS: How is the atmosphere of this season different from the last? AG: We lost a big teammate [Norman Boyd] that we would go to almost every play, averaging 30 points a game, and this year we had to build team chemistry and learn how to move the ball around to find open lanes and shots. TS: What are some of the coach’s expectations for this year? AG: He wants to build team chemistry, to have a winning record and make the playoffs, be one of the best defensive teams in our district and just to work as a team and play to the best of our ability.
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Garza eyes the basket from beyond the 3-point arc during Tuesday’s road loss at Burnet. It was Garza’s first game back on the court since he sustained an injury in the alumni basketball game on Nov. 22. Garza sank a pair of free throws in the game, but as point guard, his primary job is to set up the offense. Garza looks to pass during the annual alumni game on Friday Nov 22. Before the varsity game, the program honored Jay Arnette, a 1956 McCallum graduate who played basketball at Mac throughout his high school career and went on to play in the Olympics and in the NBA. Photos by Kennedy Weatherby.
SPORTS PROFILE TS: What are some of your expectations for this year? AG: My expectations for this year are pretty high. We definitely want to have a winning record, and I think we can be capable of coming top two in district. TS: Do you find it difficult to play with some of the new players? AG: No, we just have to teach them everything and just get them caught up on all the plays and how coach runs stuff. TS: Do you think having a strong team bond is important for success on the court? AG: Yes, because you just trust your teammates
to make the right play and you just believe in them to hit shots especially if it’s a close game. TS: How do you build that bond? AG: Not just being together in practice or when it’s just basketball; [instead,] hanging outside of school and just having fun with your team outside of school really helps. TS: How has playing at McCallum changed you as a player? AG: Playing at Mac has really changed me as a player. It’s helped me become more responsible [by] showing up to practice on time, being a leader and just maturing as a person. Especially this year playing a different position, I’ve really became a stronger leader just talking and helping my teammates stay positive when things aren’t going well.
TS: What do you like about the Mac basketball program? AG: I enjoy all my coaches and all the things they do for us as players. I enjoy my teammates because we all know we have each other’s back no matter the situation. It’s just more of a family in the Mac program. TS: What is your favorite memory from playing at McCallum? AG: My favorite memory from playing at McCallum is when we went to Marble Falls my sophomore year for a tournament. That is what really got us closer for our varsity season. TS: What are you most excited for this upcoming season? AG: Playing with my teammates and just focusing on winning this year and making a run in the playoffs and just balling out this season with my brothers. —interview by Kennedy Weatherby
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Knights sports round-up Knights split four games to finish fourth at Marble Falls
Sam Werkenthin, who scored nine points, lines up his shot. Photo by Kennedy Weatherby.
The varsity boys basketball team lost on the road against the Burnet Bulldogs on Tuesday, Dec. 10. The Knights trailed by more than 10 points at the end of the first. By the third quarter, the boys were able to make it a three point game, but couldn’t get past the slow start and lost with a final score of 59-46. “We came into it over confident,” said junior Rob Wade, who led all Knight scorers with 21 points. “We started slow and it affected the whole game.” This past weekend, the Knights had their first tournament game of the season. In the team’s final game of group play at the Subway Classic, the Knights faced a team from Marble Falls, after they had beaten another Marble Falls team earlier that day. “We need to play as a unit this game if we want to win this early,” senior Sam Werkenthin told the team. The Knights did exactly that, cruising to a 65-34 win that earned the team a second-place finish in group play and a third-place game match up later that afternoon. In their game against Liberty Hill, playing for third place, Werkenthin sank 10 3-pointers en route to a 31-point game. It wasn’t enough, however, as the Panthers prevailed in the end, 72-68. With the win the Panthers finished in third place in the Subway Classic. The Knights meanwhile were fourth in the nine-team field. — reporting by Jakob Broaders and Kennedy Weatherby
Boys, girls soccer tryouts attract ‘staggering’ turnout During the swim meet in Tomball on Dec. 7, Luke Gordon swims the butterfly. Photo by Maggie Provost.
Boys win Tomball swim meet The boys swim team finished first while the girls team placed third at Tomball Big Cat Invitational. The teams combined for a second place overall finish. Two senior swimmers placed in two events. Senior Cole Kershner placed second in 100-meter backstroke and third in 50 meters, and senior Madi Baylor placed second in the 200-meter freestyle, and third in the 100-meter butterfly. Senior Jordan Trimyer finished first in the the boys 200-meter freestyle, as did senior Izak Zaplatar in the boys 100-meter breaststroke. Jack Hester and Kyle Larson both won silver medals in the boys 200-meter IM and the boys 500-meter freestyle respectively. Other victories at the meet include gold medals in the boys 200-meter medley relay, and the boys 400-meter relay. and Hannah Gates won bronze in the girls 200 IM. —Sarah Slaten
Mac, LBJ to drop to 5A D2; Drip, Seguin to stay 5A D1 On Tuesday, Dec. 3, the Texas University Interscholastic League released the conference cut off numbers, and many Austin schools, including McCallum, have been affected in the change. McCallum has moved down from a 5A, D1 school to a 5A, D2 school, along with LBJ, Crockett, Travis, Navarro and Northeast. Leander and Anderson are also moving down to 5A, D1, which makes Anderson the largest class 5 school in the state. More importantly, this means that the 5A, D2 football division will look very different next year as many of the division teams McCallum lost against will no longer be in our division. Drippings Springs and Seguin, two schools who defeated Mac the past two seasons in district play, will remain 5A D1 schools in 2020-2022. —Sarah Slaten
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Soccer tryouts started Monday, Dec. 2, after school at the practice fields, and both teams had an impressive turnout. “The numbers are staggering,” boys varsity head coach Nick Martin said. “We had at least 70 out there.” Girls head coach Stephanie Watson echoed the same theme. “I was very impressed by the number of girls who came out.” Both coaches said the players were also very talented players. “There are a lot of players with excellent ball skills and speed, On the first day of tryouts so I’m looking forward to building on Dec. 2, senior Cynthia two strong and competitive teams Maldonado warms up. for the season,” Watson said. Photo by Reagan Dias. Martin also was impressed with the talent he saw. “I tell the boys to make my life miserable in making roster decisions,” Martin said. “They are doing their part.” -MacJournalism Sports Team
ARNETTE’S ARMY: At the boys basketball alumni basketball game on Nov. 22, Jay Arnette poses with the players and Coach Fuentes after the game. Photo by Kennedy Weatherby.
Mac hoops honors Arnette’s career by retiring his jersey The boys basketball teams had their annual alumni game on Nov. 22. They host the event in order to bring back the basketball alumni and celebrate them and the history of the program. This year, the team had the pleasure to meet and honor Jay Arnette, a 1956 McCallum graduate who played basketball at Mac throughout his high school career and went on to play in the Olympics and in the NBA. To honor Arnette, the booster club presented him with a plaque and a banner with his jersey number 12, which is displayed in the gym. Throughout his career, Arnette enjoyed many successes. In high school, he was a star player. In 1956, he was chosen for the 1st Team All-State for basketball and baseball, as well as setting the single-game scoring record at 47 points. After his graduation from McCallum in ’56, he played at the University of Texas, where he lettered in three varsity sports: basketball, baseball and track. Following his graduation from UT, he joined the Olympic basketball team. This team is considered one of the greatest amateur basketball teams of all time, and left Rome adorned in gold, having defeated all their opponents. —MacJournalism Sports Team For more information on Jay Arnette, read the story by Kennedy Weatherby on our website, macshieldonline.com.
Girls varsity cages Panthers Sophomore Fayth Schumann led all scorers with 16 points as the girls varsity defeated Eastside, 44-17, on Friday night at home. It was the Knights’ second victory over the Panthers on the young season. The Knights also beat the Panthers 54-32, on Nov. 12 at Eastside. In that game Makayla Mason sank five 3-point field goals as part of a 21-point game. On Friday night, the Knights benefited from a solid team effort in all statistical categories. Georgia Harrington scored eight points and grabbed six rebounds while Abby “Big Red” Robison swiped six steals. Forward Natalie Suri led the team with seven deflections. The girls did not play on Tuesday. They open district play tonight with a road rivalry test against the LBJ Jags. —MacJournalism Sports Team
IN-BETWEEN: Against Eastside on Dec. 5, sophomore Fayth Schumann shoots a floater over a Panther defender. Schumann had a team-high 16 points in the game. Photo by Camille Wilson.
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Water polo captains know the score
When two seniors discovered that high school water polo was a thing, they brought the sport to Mac ALEX DOWD copy editor
Are you 6 feet tall and looking to score? There’s a group at McCallum in search of strong swimmers who can stay on a man. If you fit this description, and you’re wondering “Who wants me?” the Knights’ water polo team does. The McCallum water polo team was created two years ago by the current captains, now seniors, Ivan Zaplatar and Cole Kershner, who are both competitive swimmers on the McCallum team. Kershner, along with swimming for McCallum, also played club water polo for Texas Longhorn Aquatics, or TXLA, in his free time. That’s when he realized that a water polo team was something that McCallum was lacking. “I noticed a lot of other schools had teams,” Kershner said, “so I thought that we should have one too.” Once the idea was there, the process of creating a new sports team that was recognized by the school didn’t require too many complex steps. “I mean there’s some paperwork for getting a club,” Kershner said, “but that’s kind of it.” After the official paperwork was accepted, the founders needed to find a faculty sponsor, a coach and players to fill out the roster. The team is currently operating without a sponsor. According to Zaplatar, they are “beating the system” by doing so. Though there isn’t an official McCallum faculty sponsor, they do have a coach, Andrew Nagle, a University of Texas student whom the McCallum captains found through their connections to TXLA. “[The water polo team] is basically run by Cole and me,” Zaplatar said. According to Kershner and Zaplatar, finding members for the team was the most timeconsuming part, though it didn’t require too much strategy or effort. “It was easy to build a good team,” Kershner said. “A lot of swimmers wanted to play.” Water polo seems to be the natural next step for a McCallum swimmer wanting more from the pool. Most of the players on the team came from a swimming background, which makes sense since swimming is to water polo what running is to soccer. While experienced swimmers are preferred, the team has always welcomed newcomers who are willing to learn. “[In the beginning], we literally just walked around the school and asked people if they wanted to play water polo,” Zaplatar said, “and they were like ‘ya.’ Anyone can join. We are the most amazing people, and it’s a great environment. Everyone is there to have fun, and you get like an 80 percent chance to go to state and put it on your resume.” Since the team practices every Thursday for two hours during their off-season and two to three hours nearly every day during their regular season, the novice members have plenty of time to get the feel of the game. The rules of water polo are surprisingly simple. A game is played between two opposing teams of six.
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PRINCE OF POLO: Senior Cole Kershner warms up during a water polo practice. “It takes a lot of stamina because you’re constantly sprinting back and forth, but I have pretty good stamina,” Kershner said. Photo by Gabby Sherwood. BACK TO THE DRAWING BOARD: Kershner and Zaplatar regroup with the team during halftime of their first scrimmage. “We threw everybody in [the first scrimmage], and nobody knew what was going on” Zaplatar said. “Cole and I were trying to explain positions and where everyone needed to be”.
The players are required to tread water for the entire game, avoiding touching the bottom of the pool. While swimming, players advance the ball by completing one-handed passes (touching the ball with both hands is a foul) to teammates or by “dribbling” with both the ball and the player’s head above the water. The teams don’t have set positions except for the set, set D and goalie. The sets are the two players stationed in front of the goalie with the only difference being that set is for offense and set D is for defense. These three players spend their time in front of the goal, a floating net that resembles a soccer or lacrosse goal only a little bit smaller, Zaplatar said. “It’s about six or seven feet, maybe eight. You just throw [the ball] in there, and you score.
There’s a goalie that [tries to] block it too.” According to both captains, scoring is the best part of the sport, but it comes at a price. Water polo is known for being a grueling sport for a reason. While one team is doing everything in its power to get the ball in the goal, the other team is doing everything in its power to stop them. If the referee can’t see what’s happening, then it’s legal (or at least unpunished) in the game. Because what happens underwater is hard to monitor, fouling is common in water polo. The punishments vary based on the severity of the foul. If a defender fouls an offensive player within five meters of the goal and the foul prevents a likely goal, the offensive team is awarded a penalty shot from the 5-meter line. “People are constantly on you,” Kershner
said. “There’s always a lot of weight on you, and you have to be able to tread while someone is pressing on your shoulder. A lot of times, you’ll get injuries because people will kick you and a bunch of other [stuff]. People will punch you underwater too. It hurts if they’re close enough.” Zaplatar agreed. “There’s a lot of [stuff]. It’s brutal—suit grabbing, punching under the water—you’ll get elbowed too and kicked. Kicking is the worst. One time I got kicked in the balls [when] we were in California for a tournament. I just started crying. I couldn’t play. It was terrible.” The players established that playing water polo is both painful and tiring work, but for some reason, they keep coming back for more, trying to expand the program and leave their mark on the McCallum community. “Water polo is just so fun,” Zaplatar said. “To me, it’s something different. It’s like a blend of sports. The best sports. We’re trying to expand and maybe make a girls team.” The captain’s short-term goal is to be competitive in the pool and make a run at state. The long-term goal is to grow Knight water polo in involvement and in recognition so that the sport becomes established enough to stay afloat long after Kershner and Zaplatar are gone.
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Baggage under the tree
graphic by Bella Russo
What many fail to see behind the glitz of the holiday season SAMANTHA POWERS GRACE NUGENT staff reporters Starting from the day after Thanksgiving and spanning to the last minutes of Christmas Eve, excitement and joy ring throughout America. Kids begin to scribble down what they want for Christmas and recite their lists in the laps of chubby mall Santas. Companies advertise the latest Elsa dolls, JoJo Siwa Christmas bows, and ugly Christmas sweaters. Thus, the countdown to Christmas begins. Behind all of this holiday cheer, it’s easy to overlook some of the baggage under the Christmas tree. For some, Christmas is indeed the most wonderful time of the year, but for others, the holiday marks a period of stress, pollution and exclusion. The holiday season leaves many high school students feeling drained. Some students feel the effects of the economic and environmental strains caused by the consumerism of Christmas. Beyond that, students are drowned in work for midterms and college applications, which takes up time they should be spending with their families. Originally, no matter how involved in faith you were, Christmas was a time of peace and togetherness. Somehow, it got twisted into a massive trip of consumerism that lasts for months. Even in October, stores desperate to profit off of this widely recognized holiday will put out Christmas decorations and products while totally ignoring Thanksgiving and Halloween. This causes the Christmas season to drag on for too long and subsequently drains the holiday of its original meaning. Christmas has turned into a time when you have to buy as much as possible, and if you don’t, you’re Scrooge. Some families feel an economic strain during this time. Children are taught that how much their parents love them should be measured by how many presents there are under the tree. This lesson seems to have followed kids all the way to high school. In a recent Macjournalism Instagram poll, students expressed that picking the perfect gift is a source of stress for them during the holiday season.
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The consumerism of Christmas also creates a lot of waste, which causes environmental ramifications. Many toys that kids receive are wrapped in layers of hard plastic. Inevitably, a good portion of that ends up in a landfill, where it will take 400 years or more to disintegrate, according to The Telegraph. According to the Peninsula Sanitary Service, Inc. and the Stanford Recycling Center at Stanford University, Americans produce 25 percent more trash during the holidays than any other time of the year, and that amounts to about 25 million tons of garbage. Stanford offers some solutions to this problem, like wrapping presents with reused or recycled paper, choosing durable gifts and canceling subscriptions for the overabundance of ads and magazines received during the holiday season. Presents and cards are fun and all, but it’s important to be mindful of the environment during this time when one can get swept up in the glitz of the holiday season. After Thanksgiving the pressure is on; the holiday season is not always full of Christmas cheer and chestnuts roasting on an open fire. For students, the tough reality of college applications and frantically studying for midterms takes the place of family time during the holidays. The holiday season is underscored with one overarching theme for students: stress. According to a poll on the Mac Journalism Instagram, many students feel stressed during the holiday season due to midterm study guides, end-of-year projects and college applications. According to a study from the University of Phoenix College of Education, high school students have on average 3.5 hours of homework per night. According to that same study, homework and studying increase by 50 percent during the weeks leading up to finals week. That coveted quality family time has just been snatched up by the toils of the school … once again. As the holidays approach, we encourage everyone to get their rest and make time for their families. For those who celebrate Christmas, we encourage you to think twice about buying that shiny Barbie for your sibling, cousin, niece or nephew that is encased in plastic packaging. Instead, consider some modest, eco-friendly gift options. It’s the thought that counts. And most of all, no matter what you celebrate, we wish you happy holidays.
Happy Challahdays! ALYSA SPIRO staff reporter
My fondest Christmas memory is my fourth-grade “holiday” concert. After months of practicing Christmas songs, ranging from the lighthearted “Jingle Bell Rock” to the heavily religious “Oh! Holy Night,” I was feeling a little dispirited. In a courageous moment, I politely but firmly asked my choir teacher why our concert had absolutely no Hanukkah songs. A look of shock appeared on her face, and she immediately started apologizing. She told me that it was an innocent oversight. It was too late to add any songs to the concert; next year, she promised, the concert would be more inclusive. Flash forward a week later, our concert. Out of nowhere my choir director came up to me and told me that if I wanted to sing a Hanukkah song, I could. Shocked, excited and nervous, fourth grade me walked up to the stage with a microphone in hand. I opened my mouth and began to sing a beautiful Hebrew song. For audience members, it was a moment of multiculturalism. For my choir director, it was an olive branch. But for any Jewish person in the audience, it had quite a different meaning. The truth is, the song I sang that night, the “HaMotzi,” was not about Hanukkah. It wasn’t exactly about the holidays at all. It was about bread. Even though the song I sang had no correlation to Hanukkah, it still felt good to step on stage and represent a culture and religion typically overshadowed during the holidays. Religious minority representation during the holidays exists, but it’s often an afterthought. A lone menorah standing in a classroom full of Christmas decorations or a “Christmas party” turned “holiday party” in deference to parents and students of non-Christian backgrounds. It’s important to understand that these acts aren’t fueled by animosity towards minority religions but simply acts guided by cultural and religious insensitivity. Holiday music concerts should equally represent all cultures. The religious demographics of a school shouldn’t influence the religions represented at a holiday concert. On a district level, AISD must be more sensitive to the experience of non-Christian students. The Jewish High Holidays, which are celebrated in September or October and are considered the holiest days of the Jewish year, yet they aren’t district holidays. Often, teachers forget the Jewish holidays even exist and schedule tests and graded class discussions. Students feel pressure to come to school out of fear for getting behind in classes, while their Christian friends enjoy three blissful weeks without homework to celebrate a singular day. To fix the problem of religious and cultural insensitivity, one must first acknowledge it. The first step is acknowledging that small acts of Christmas culture that may be harmless in intent, are exclusionary in practice. This holiday season, I challenge students to take the time to explore different cultural traditions. Try listening to some Hebrew music, play spin the dreidel, try a latke. Shalom, my friends!
Students in the library play dreidel. Photo by Alysa Spiro.
13 dec. 2019
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Be polite, but know your rights The fact (and fiction) of getting pulled over, what police can (and can’t) do
TOMAS MARRERO
“With your rights comes the necessity to exercise them. Allowing police to conduct searches as they please, although sometimes easier, slowly erodes the public’s rights. Stay calm, respectful, and polite, but never willingly give up your civil liberties.”
staff reporter
As more and more McCallum students get their driver’s licenses as the year goes on, the likelihood of you or a friend getting pulled over by the police increases with it. There seems to be a general fear and lack of knowledge about what to do when this happens. Students, as well as teachers, should know what limitations police officers have when conducting a traffic stop. Knowing the Bill of Rights and what privileges you have as a U.S. citizen is very useful in a traffic stop and important to know in general. Possibly more important is the responsibility of exercising them in a calm and collected manner. If you or a friend ever gets pulled over, here are some tips and advice for how to best handle the situation. This article is by no means an excuse to be rude or belligerent towards police officers. There is a difference between exercising your rights properly and forcing your interpretation of the Bill of Rights in the face of police. Take the classic example of “sovereign citizens” during a traffic stop. Sovereign citizens are a group that maintain they are completely above the U.S. government, including laws and currency. They only care about their own interpretation of laws and the constitution. This group insists that the “right to travel” is a constitutional right and therefore do not have to have a driver’s license. This imaginary right holds up in court just about as well as you’d expect. Don’t be like these people. Often times they can be rude and unnecessarily difficult to police, which oftentimes lands them in a worse situation than they were in when they were stopped. Always be calm and respectful towards police. Many times being polite can get you out of a ticket or worse. But there is a fine line between being compliant and giving up your rights. A traffic stop is a perfect example. Driving is considered a privilege and not a right, so there are many exceptions to law that would not apply if an encounter occurs elsewhere. As a result, you should approach a traffic stop diplomatically. If an officer is attempting to pull you over, comply. This seems like a no-brainier, but some will argue a traffic stop is an illegal detention, which is simply untrue. An officer can pull you over for nearly anything, and failing to comply will almost certainly land you in jail. After you comply, many officers will ask you the question, “Do you know why I pulled you over today?” This question is designed to compel you to admit to whatever offense they suspect you of committing. Even if you know you were speeding or whatever the case may be, it is a best practice to either deny any knowledge or answer the question with a question. For example, when asked the question “Do you know why I pulled you over today?” simply answer “Was it for speeding officer?” Many people want to be reasonable and polite to police officers, but it is never in your
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ALWAYS VIGILANT: Austin ISD Police car remaining on guard outside of McCallum. Although this car is mainly for show, police presence at McCallum is not. Photo by Tomas Marrero. interest to admit to a crime during a traffic stop. Some might still say that being cooperative is more important, but LawFirms.com (a website providing free legal advice and help finding a lawyer) and many other sources disagree: “Never make any admissions regarding how you were driving, nor admit that you were speeding or committed any traffic violation. If you decide to fight or contest your ticket at a later date, admitting guilt will lessen your chances for a successful outcome.” Sometimes it’s the case that officers have no evidence to actually write a ticket or make an arrest and will instead try to coax a confession out of you. The courts have upheld that police officers can lie to you with the intent of getting a confession, such as in Oregon v. Mathiason, 1977, where the police claimed they found fingerprints at the crime scene when they had not which compelled the suspect to admit to the crime. The most important thing to remember if things take a turn for the worse during a traffic stop is to keep calm. Becoming angry or irritated only serves to escalate the situation. The First, Fourth, and Fifth amendments are your three new best friends in this situation. The First Amendment protects your right to free speech, including filming police officers. In general, filming police officers is a good idea. Even though many police officers have body cameras, they can turn it on and off, and footage can sometimes be hard to obtain after the fact. Courts have consistently held up the public’s right to film police, making it a
constitutionally protected action. In Glik v. Cunniffe, the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the right of citizens to film police under the First Amendment. The Fourth Amendment also protects a citizen by providing protection from unlawful search and seizure. To conduct a search, a police officer must have probable cause, a warrant, permission from the person who owns the place or thing, or make an arrest. Essentially, they must have concrete evidence that a crime has been committed to obtain a search warrant or claim probable cause. This restriction only applies to situations where people have a “reasonable expectation to privacy.” Essentially, a situation where a judge would believe a person to have privacy, like in a public restroom or in one’s home. Many warrantless searches do occur, and there are rules for conducting them. Police officers may conduct a warrantless search if the owner has been arrested, if the officer believes the integrity of the evidence is at risk, if the owner has given consent, if evidence is in plain view, or if the officer has probable cause. Although some police departments have a policy in place requiring officers to tell the suspect what crime they suspect them of committing or why they are being searched, but they are not required by law to share this. Warrants and warrantless searches generally apply to vehicles or buildings. Police, however, do not need a warrant to search your person. If an officer has a reasonable suspicion that a crime has been, is being, or will be committed, they can search your person. At this point, they also may legally ask to identify
you. Unless you are in a vehicle, an officer must have reasonable suspicion to demand identification. This is a much looser definition and courts have consistently upheld broader interpretations of reasonable suspicion. Once an officer has a reasonable suspicion, they can perform what’s called a terry frisk. This is essentially a pat down if the officer believes you may have weapons on your person or present bodily harm in some way. This right, however, does not give them the authority to search your car or other belongings not on your person. In a search situation, it is important to make it clear you do not consent to any form of search. Even if you have “nothing to hide,” things might be in your car that you may not know about. Maybe that illicit substance really was your friend’s, but at the end of the day, you are responsible for what is in your car. In many cases, if an officer wants to perform a search, they will. It is imperative you do not interfere with that search in any way. This can be considered obstruction of justice or obstructing a police officer, both of which are felonies. If you believe an officer’s search to be unconstitutional, contest it in court. Any evidence seized illegally cannot be used in court, including “fruit from the poisonous tree,” which includes any evidence discovered along with the original inadmissible evidence. With your rights comes the necessity to exercise them. Allowing police to conduct searches as they please, although sometimes easier, slowly erodes the public’s rights. Stay calm, respectful, and polite but never willingly give up your civil liberties. Being an informed citizen can be the most valuable tool you have. Just as police can weaponize intimidation tactics, a well-informed citizen has the tools to defend themselves.
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Start college applications early Put some time and effort into your academic future in summer and you’ll be a — happy senior!
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Nov. 1. A day of fear, a day of chaos, a day of stress. A day filled with seniors running around the school like chickens with their heads cut off, trying to make sure they had their college applications finished by the midnight deadline. All around the school, McCallum seniors were putting the finishing touches on their essays, begging teachers to submit their recommendations, even reminding their counselor to send in their transcripts, foregoing doing their actual school work. It doesn’t have to be like this. If you’re smart, you can be the one person sitting back and relaxing in class while you watch all the other seniors scramble to get their college applications in order. And, in this case, being smart means doing your college applications over the summer. The summer before senior year is a time of relaxation for most people. But, not all seniors spend their summers relaxing. Some people have summer jobs, some people go on trips, some people volunteer, and some people, the wise few, do their college applications. Though this isn’t a super popular idea with most seniors, we at The Shield would recommend this course of action to everyone already planning ahead for college. Understandably, people don’t want to spend their summer completing college applications. Summers are supposed to be free of homework (except the summer assignments that, though we don’t recommend it, everyone already waits until the last minute to do anyway). And college applications are even worse—they’re not even required for school. So no, you’re not going to want to do your college applications over the summer. But you’re going to want to do them even less during the school year. Doing the work during the summer isn’t exactly desirable, it’s much, much better than scrambling to finish it in the little pockets of free time you have when school starts. During the school year you have eight hours of
APPLYING TO COLLEGE school, extracurriculars and hours of homework. In the summer, you have much more free time to devote to creating your academic future. Don’t wait until the last minute, or the last day to start doing your work, because, honestly, it won’t get done. It takes time for a transcript request to be processed, and for your teachers to write their recommendations. You also need time to write your essays—and even if they seem easy, they’re not. At least write your essays over the summer, so you can edit and revise them in school and get feedback from teachers. If you write drafts of your essays early, it’ll be easier to catch mistakes, and teachers are more willing to help you at the beginning of the year, when things are relatively calm. Finishing your applications early leaves lots of time to change and adjust them. You’ll have lots of time to edit and proofread all your essays, and
will have ample time to have your teachers look over your short-answer questions. You’ll also have more than enough time to make sure all your materials get submitted in time, so you won’t be worrying about getting it all together when the deadline rolls around, especially since it takes a couple of days for all of the materials to get to the school. Getting an early start also gives you time to double-check your transcripts and review your recommendations with your teachers. Not only does doing your college applications during the summer help with timing, it also decreases your overall stress. You won’t have to worry about writing all your essays during the year, and, when all the other seniors start freaking out about college applications they haven’t done, you’ll be able to sit back in your chair and relax, while everyone else runs around in panic mode.
Submitting your college applications early also ensures that technical issues will not interfere with your submission. In the past, Common App has crashed the day before applications were due, and made it impossible for applicants to submit their applications on time. If you submit your applications even a couple of weeks before the deadline, the chance for technical issues to derail your timely submission will be minimized. Some schools even offer rolling admissions, which means that they review applications as they receive them, instead of waiting until a deadline to start going through them. In this case, completing and submitting your application early will not only increase your chances of getting admitted into the college but might also increase the amount of financial aid colleges offer you. Many colleges dole out money as they see fit, but they start with a set amount and have more money to give away at the top end of the application period as opposed to the tail end. Don’t be a tail-end senior. Be a top-tier senior. Doing college applications over the summer is especially wise for early-decision and early-action applications, since the Nov. 1 deadline is right in the middle of the second six-week grading period. Getting everything done to make the Nov. 1 deadline is challenging, and finishing the application early will give you enough time to submit the application with time to spare. Even for regular-decision applications, finishing early is important. Even if the school doesn’t have rolling admissions, many schools make note of when the applicant submits their application. Though submitting your application early isn’t a guarantee that the college will review your application any sooner, many colleges track when you apply, and can use it for campus assignments, among other things. Besides, there’s no better time for you to make an early effort to make a good first impression.
Key for crossword puzzle: 1. Hosack, 2. Bowl, 3. Childish, 4. Elemental, 5. Undefeated, 6. State, 7. Stone, 8. Bell, 9. Snow, 10. Murder, 11. Villains, 12. Hendrickson, 13. Guitar, 14. Break, 15. Semester
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A.N. McCallum High School 5600 Sunshine Drive Austin, TX 78756 (512) 414-7539 fax (512) 453-2599 contact.macshield@gmail.com
assistant editors
editors-in-chief KRISTEN TIBBETTS AND JANSSEN TRANSIER
ALEX DOWD, ELLEN FOX, MAX RHODES, BELLA RUSSO, ELISHA SCOTT, STELLA SHENKMAN, SARAH SLATEN, MIA TERMINELLA reporters
adviser DAVE WINTER
ALYSA BIJL-SPIRO, OLIVIA CAPOCHIANO, KATHRYN CHILSTROM, GRAYSON CRUISE, EVELYN GRIFFIN, COHEN JOHNSON-DYE, LASZLO KING-HOVIS, LUCY MARCO, TOMAS MARRERO, ANNA MCCLELLAN, CALEB MELVILLE, ASLY MENDEZ RUIZ, JESSICA MONTOYA-MORENO, MADELYNN NILES, GRACE NUGENT, SAMANTHA POWERS, JULIA KAY SMITH, KAYCEE STROTHER, ISABELA TAPPERSON, GRACE VAN GORDER, JAVIER VELA, KENNEDY WEATHERBY, LOKI WILSON The Shield is published by journalism students in the newspaper production class. Although students work under the guidance of a professional faculty member, the student staff ultimately determines the content. Students may not publish material that is obscene, libelous or that which will cause a “substantial disruption to the educational process.” Content that may stimulate heated
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13 dec. 2019
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Battle of Bands Pax a big (Pit) Punch Contest raises $1,650 for guitar trip scholarships. Pax, Pit Punch win gigs at Stubb’s in 2020.
Junior Diego Orrick of User Unauthorized plays bass guitar at the Battle of the Bands. The band also includes juniors Isabella Hunt and Johnny Cash and middle school student Rooster Underwood. ‘There was good energy there, especially considering that our music ... has something to say, and we want people to hear it,” Orrick said. “[The audience] was very interactive with us and cheering, and that showed us that they wanted to actually hear what we were saying.”
The Battle of the Bands began with an original set by folk-rock band Flip45 (seniors Jazz Aguilar and Riley Edwards). “Battle of the Bands was really fun to experience because we got to see people that we go to school with everyday bring out that side of them that loves music as much as we do,” Aguilar said. “We could bring our own originality to it, and sometimes that can be nerve-wracking, but people responded very well.” All photos by Ellie Sullivan.
Pit Punch—seniors Abby Green, Louisa Najar (bottom left) and Ruby Henson (center left) played a combination of covers and original pieces. “Louisa and Ruby are my best friends,” Green said. “We just were messing around and making music together,” Green said. Every year, two bands are awarded with the opportunity of playing a live show at Stubb’s concert venue. Pit Punch earned one slot as the audience favorite. “It was surprising honestly.” Green said. “We got together the first day of school for our first band practice and as Battle of the Bands came closer, we got kinda nervous about sounding good. All three of us sort of reminded ourselves we were just doing it for fun and then we were excited again. We were not expecting to win in the slightest.”
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Westwood seniors Justin Rideout and Grant Sechter formed Swag A$$ Mofo Bros along with Mac senior Drake Snider. “Just being able to perform at all, we’re very thankful for that,” Snider said.
Junior Evan Dodds of Toad Hollow performs at the Battle of the Bands. Toad Hollow also includes juniors Milo Froese, Elliot Ruggero, Evan Dodds and Joseph Fassiotto. “As a new band,” Froese said, “it was a really fun experience and a good first show to get us recognized by many faces. It’s also great because we met a couple great bands from the show that want to collaborate with us.”
Senior Austin Rummel of Pax contributed some heartfelt, energetic songs on guitar. Pax, which won Battle of the Bands and will play a gig at Stubb’s, also includes freshman Nathan Dart and junior Johnny Curtis, “This was a very fun year,” Rummel said. “There was a crowd for us the whole time. ... The other [winning] band, Pit Punch, they did really good, and really, everyone was amazing this year.”
13 dec. 2019