The Shield: Vol 66, Issue 1 (Oct. 5, 2018)

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McCallum High School / 5600 Sunshine / Austin, TX 78756 / Oct. 5, 2018 Volume 66 / Issue 1

WHAT’S INSIDE

STARMITES REALLY WAS

OUT OF THIS WORLD page 10

Controversial church rents out AISD Performing Arts Center page 3

An introduction to McCallum’s newest faculty members pages 18-19

Twenty-year-old UT student runs for Board of Trustees page 22

Why AISD received a B grade from the Texas Education Agency page 28

inside

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Austin ISD decision to rent out its Performing Arts Center to controversial church group sparks protests at the PAC.

the issue

Just because you can’t vote, doesn’t mean that you can’t make a difference in next month’s midterm elections.

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On his recent trip to Colorado, our intrepid travel writer learned there is more to the Centennial State than mountains.

Our Page of the Month features inside information on where you can find street art, liege waffles and recycled reads.

feature Junior Jackson Sutton is one of three Texas artists honored at the inaugural VSA Texas Artist of the Year Awards ceremony.

The city has backed a soccer stadium plan, but that doesn’t mean that Major League Soccer in Austin is a done deal.

Champion cycler Eli Husted overcomes serious injury to win third straight national title, then looks towards the future.

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ABOVE: Ten members of Boy Scout Troop 28 ride the mountain trails in the hills next to Buena Vista, Colo. Photo by Max Rhodes. Left: Junior Jackson Sutton received the Director’s Commendation Award at the inaugural Very Special Artists Texas Artist of the Year ceremony. Photo by Anna McClellan. COVER PHOTO: Sophomore Corin Vandenberg’s character, Trinkulus, leads the ensemble of MacTheatre’s fall musical, “Starmites,” in the song “The Cruelty Stomp.” The show finished its final run this past weekend. Photo by Dave Winter.

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If you want to make movies, bake goodies, debate world politics or dabble in virtual reality, Mac has the club for you.

Austin ISD receives an 89 for new Texas Education Agency rating system, but some say it’s not a fair evaluation.

The separation of LBJ and LASA no longer up for debate, but answering that questions has created more questions.

Editorial: Austin ISD can and should do more for students when it comes to providing mental health services.

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Spirit Day: Pride/Rainbow

Volleyball vs. Travis @ Mac, 7:30 p.m.

Football vs. Seguin @ House Park, 7:30 p.m.

Volleyball vs. Lanier @ Mac, 7:30 p.m.

Late Start

Spirit Day: America

Football vs. Reagan @ Nelson Field, 7:30 p.m.

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Fall Dance Concert @ Mac Theatre @ 7 p.m.

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Homecoming Game vs. Crockett @ House Park, 7:30 p.m.

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Boys Basketball vs. Anderson/Elgin @ Mac, 6 p.m.

Spirit Day: Camo Day

Battle of the Bell vs. Travis @ Burger, @ 7:30 p.m.

Girls Basketball Tournament @ Crockett

Boys Basketball Alumni Game @ Mac @ 7 p.m.

Thanksgiving Holiday Begins

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Church holds services in the PAC Protesters contest use of Austin ISD facility by religious group that rejects gay marriage

JAZZABELLE DAVISHINES staff reporter

The AISD Performing Arts Center, a community center for district schools to showcase their fine arts performances, is an unlikely location to find hordes of shouting protesters surrounded by police. On recent Sunday mornings, however, the crowds are hard to miss.

On Aug. 26, the Celebration Church launched its new location at the AISD Performing Arts Center. The PAC is owned by the Austin Independent School District and is now being rented out weekly to an organization that has sparked criticism from many Austin residents.

Though Celebration Church describes itself on its website as welcoming of “all people regardless of age, race, sexual orientation, religion or political beliefs,” many people have taken issue with church’s positions that marriage is only for a union between a man and a woman and that transgender and same-sex marriage are sins.

At their first service since opening the Mueller location, a group of shouting protesters stood outside the PAC for the entire service in order to draw attention to AISD associating with an institution that restricts marriage to heterosexual couples.

“This organization has known homophobic and transphobic policies,” said Pride Interfaith Partnership coordinator Joy Butler.

“They state their beliefs clearly, comparing homosexuality to bestiality and pedophilia.”

The service inside, however, continued on despite the protests outside. Contrary to the controversial views published on their website, celebration.church, Celebration Church’s Sunday service did not address the claims of intolerance, but instead focused on the member’s commitment to their relationship with God. A live band performed several Christian rock songs all centered around a love of Christ and his teachings. This musical performance was followed by a sermon from the Mueller Campus Pastor Riis Lewis. Throughout the sermon, the focus remained on a love of God and the acceptance of others.

“This is not a church where you have to be afraid of showing your doubt,” Lewis said. “This is a safe space.”

Executive Pastor Jim Kuykendall insisted that in spite of what those opposing the church may think, their institution is not a hateful one.

“Celebration Church promotes

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Protesters bring signs and musical instruments outside of the AISD PAC on Sunday, Sept. 2. during the service by Celebration Church.

“I’m protesting AISD renting out this space to an organization with homophobic policies,” protester Joy Butler said. “They say all are welcome at their services, and I understand that to be true; however, if you volunteer with them you are required to sign a contact condoning these beliefs.” Photo by Jazzabelle Davishines.

Protesters stand outside the Austin ISD Performing Arts Center on Sunday, Sept. 2 during Celebration Church’s service with signs and flags to protest the church’s stance against gay marriage and AISD’s decision to rent the PAC facility to the church for Sunday services. Photo by Jazzabelle Davishines.

Members of the Celebration Church begin their service by performing Christian music onstage on Sunday, Sept. 2. The service continued with a sermon from Pastor Riis Lewis. Photo by Jazzabelle Davishines. acceptance,” Kuykendall said. “We clearly state that on our website.”

Despite the message being preached throughout the service, the protesters held their ground.

Many people speaking out against Celebration Church were concerned about the conflict of AISD’s “No Place For Hate” campaign with the beliefs of the church.

“I feel it is in direct conflict with

the policies of AISD and No Place For Hate to rent this space to this organization,” Butler said. “My daughter graduated from AISD and had a great experience and felt safe, but I’m here for the other kids.”

The school district, however, insists that the views of Celebration Church should not be used as a reason to contest their use of the space.

“The use of district properties by outside organizations does not create an endorsement of, or an association of that organization with the district,” Superintendent Paul Cruz said in an Aug. 25 press release.

“Funds collected from the Performing Arts Center rental will be dedicated to our districtwide efforts to ensure we support an inclusive, welcoming

environment for all students and staff including our LGBTQ students and staff.

There are other AISD schools that give space to churches on Sundays for their services, such as the North Village Church at Pillow Elementary or Gateway Church at McCallum. The controversy surrounding Celebration is not regarding the separation of religion and AISD buildings, but the conflation of AISD buildings with what many consider to be intolerant beliefs.

“I was at my church service earlier this morning; I am a Christian,” Butler said. “There is a disagreement in theology over what scripture means, but it comes down to following Jesus’ message to love all.”

Both parties are adamant about their convictions and are seemingly unwilling to concede. Both believe in a message of acceptance, but neither side can seem to accept the other.

“People want to speak their mind, and they are certainly free to do that,” Kuykendall said. “And we are free to believe what we believe.”

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Senior Vivian Williams shows off her clear bag she bought specifically for McCallum football games to comply with the new AISD Athletics regulations. Clear bags can be purchased from the football booster club. Photo courtesy of Williams.Photo courtesy of Vivian

Texas schools tighten security policies Public, private schools implement changes to make students safer on campuses and beyond MIA TERMINELLA staff reporter

In response to the fatal shootings last semester in both Florida and Texas, schools across the country are updating and improving security features on campuses to ensure student safety. AISD is no different. Public organizations in Texas are increasing their security budgets, hiring more police officers, creating new safety positions and examining whether to set up an additional police department specifically dedicated to the mental wellness and safety of students.

“All our officers are trained in crisis intervention, crisis response and mental health,” AISD police chief Ashley Gonzalez told The Shield.

The police team is introducing one of Gov. Greg Abbott’s safety recommendations in response to the Santa Fe shooting. “I Love You Guys,” a standard protocol with different law enforcement agencies, is now being used as a blueprint for

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how the department will respond to threats in the future. In June, Gov. Abbott released a comprehensive School and Firearm Safety Action Plan. The plan suggested changes such as increasing the number of school marshals, coordinating with the local law enforcement, performing behavioral threat assessments, instituting mental health first aid, and requiring additional school safety training. Gov. Abbott has identified substantial funding and other resources to support his plan and ideas.

The Senate Select Committee on Violence in Schools and School Security released a final report with recommendations for possible regulations. The committee was formed after the deadly school shooting in Santa Fe, Texas.

Senators had four charges: improving school design to improve security, studying school security options and resources, studying the root causes of mass murder in schools, and examining whether to consider “Red Flag” laws to temporarily remove firearms from a person who poses a threat to themselves or others.

Senators on the committee, however, did not recommend moving forward with the ruling to add “Red Flag” laws in Texas. Instead the lawmakers made several recommendations to improve school security such as metal detectors and “hardened” entrances. The committee also looked for ways to make school counselors more available to students

and for methods of additional mental health training to school employees.

When the most recent school bond was passed in 2017, $26.6 million dollars were dedicated for life safety and police equipment updates across the school district. At McCallum, the required use of IDs, new door policies and clear bags for football games are just some of the updates from the district. Other upgrades include updates in security cameras, fire alarms, radio and dispatch and basic systems. Although these bond measures were in place before this year’s fatal school shootings, AISD informed parents and students that the district’s safety policies need to extend beyond the school campuses. Officials say they want the students not only to be safe but to feel safe. The Texas school shooting in Santa Fe was a tragedy that prompted an outpouring of grief and outrage.

The shooting immediately drew condemnation nationwide. Hitting close to home, the shooting is what prompted many schools around the state to further update their safety protocol and school security. The Santa Fe shooting was the 16th school shooting in 2018, being the highest number at this point in any year since 1999.

As of 2017, a review of the mass shootings list shows that private schools have been spared from large-mass scale shootings. Florida’s gun law reform, involving the expansive school and public safety programs, excluded private

schools. If there is anything we have learned from previous attacks, it is that these senseless acts of violence can happen anywhere, for any or no reason at all.

Many local private schools, such as St. Andrews and St. Stephens, have instituted gated campuses in which going through security and showing ID is necessary. Security at these schools was instituted in response to the public school shootings in 2016, and updated due to the recent shooting at Parkland High School.

Charter schools in San Antonio will now be required to use clear backpacks only for this school year, and traditional backpacks will be banned. The San Antonio district announced that these efforts were in response to the May shooting at Santa Fe High School. Austin charter schools have also launched a series of campus improvement plans directed to student safety.

The Texas Education Agency developed a campus improvement plan, whose goal is to bring focus and safety to all campuses in the state. Schools are channeling focus on not just the physical, but the psychological and emotional safety of students.

“We will continue to work together with our students, families, staff, community and law enforcement partners to create campuses that not only are safe, but that make our students feel safe,” AISD Superintendent Dr. Paul Cruz in an email to district families said.

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East Austin directs manifesto at AISD

Coalition: district should foster minority achievement, encourage teacher retention, combat segregation SOPHIE RYLAND co-editor in chief

Reedy Spigner describes how he first became involved in Austin ISD the day his daughter Emily started kindergarten. He found himself “discontented” with the “crisis facing East Austin schools.” This year, as Emily started fifth grade, he joined the East Austin Schools Coalition, a group of concerned parents, government officials and community leaders led by trustee Ted Gordon. On Sept. 5 they gathered at Sims Elementary, which the district is considering closing due to low enrollment.

“The goal of any school board should be the academic achievement of the community’s children, not capitalizing from the sale and transfer of school resources and assets,” he declared to the gathered crowd, which included Former trustee Paul Saldana, city council candidate Lewis Conway Jr., former school board president Kendall Pace and representatives from organizations like NAACP, LULAC and Education Austin. “Austin ISD has failed the families of east Austin.

The growth that Austin is experiencing should enhance each community, not continue the historic inequality that currently exists. Strong neighborhoods need great schools. They are the foundation of community.”

The group then released a 15-point list of their demands called the East Austin Schools Manifesto. They say that they plan to organize walkouts, boycotts and lawsuits if the district does not work with them. If all else fails, the group says they will split away from Austin ISD to form their own district. They also plan on running candidates for political office that support their cause.

The East Austin Schools Coalition has provided a summary of their plan, boiled down to three specific objectives: that AISD should “do all in its power to improve the academic achievement of its minority students,” which they say it is currently not doing; better compensate and provide more benefits for teachers, particularly those in Title I schools in order to promote teacher achievement and retention; and finally, combat segregation by redrawing boundaries or by allowing East Austin to form its own district.

In response, Austin ISD released a statement, saying “Our values at AISD include equity, diversity and inclusion. ... We acknowledge there is still work to do when it comes to equity, and we encourage constructive engagement around this issue—All means all.”

Spigner says that the ideas that they are promoting are not new ones, but they are trying to solve them with renewed vigor.

“This manifesto and coalition are the culmination of years of displeasure with the inequity that exists in AISD and disappointment with the lack of meaningful action,” he said. “After making our concerns heard through school board meetings, publishing newspaper opinion pieces and organizing protests prior to and during the $25 million merger between Norman-Sims; a group of concerned citizens realized a plan of action, and solutions were needed. Thus, the East Austin Schools Manifesto.”

Their specific demands include ending the opentransfer policy, which allows for students to choose which school they attend, more intensive deliberation for school closures, greater affordable-housing options, higher salaries for teachers and staff, and a more decentralized central administration.

The coalition that released the manifesto is an offshoot of the East Austin Coalition for Quality

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The East Austin Manifesto Coalition protests outside AISD headquarters. Photo courtesy of Rox Evans. Printed with permission.

Education, a group formed around four years ago in the wake of Gordon’s election by a group of parents, teachers and community members.

“Most of the issues in the manifesto have been discussed for years and are issues the community, including myself, has been concerned about for many, many years,” Rox Evans, a long-term member of the coalition, said.

The East Austin group met with Superintendent Paul Cruz on Sept. 18 and has met with him once previously.

Attorney and Texas Civil Rights Project founder Jim Harrington, an original member of the Manifesto Coalition, says that district response has been weak, and they have given them until Oct. 18 to produce an official written response to each of the 15 items in the manifesto. If their concerns are not sufficiently addressed, he adds, they will undertake legal action.

Specifically, they will pursue a lawsuit and/or a Title VI complaint in addition to other direct actions.

Representatives refer to an achievement gap in the district; according to a Texas Education Agency accountability report, in 2018, 76 percent of white students met standards on the STAAR exams, while only 32 percent of African-American students and 40 percent of Hispanic students met the same standards. Additionally, one in three black children and one in four Latino children in Austin live in poverty; meanwhile, five percent of white children and four percent of Asian children do. Sixty-one percent of black and 52 percent of Latino children attend schools with high teacher turnover rates.

The other trustees have said in interviews that they acknowledge the issues Gordon addressed but wished he would have done so in a less public manner. Gordon has responded by saying that he has already raised those concerns in the past but felt that the response from the district was ineffective and minimal.

“When I originally ran for trustee in my first term, I told the people who were asking me to run that I would not run unless there was a organized group of people who were interested in similar ideas that I had and who would

work to support those ideas and to support me as I tried to change the school district from a position of trustee,” he said. “The power of your message and the power of your ability to move things politically has everything to do with whether or not the people are behind it.”

Previous programs implemented to address inequality in the district include full-day Pre-K, early college high schools and Career Launch.

As for the plan to split the district, they say that it could “reduce AISD’s financial responsibility through the state’s ‘recapture’ plan,” a state policy that sends tax money from property-wealthy districts like Austin to poorer districts. They are also considering merging East Austin with a nearby district like Del Valle. They say it would be better for recapture money for Austin ISD to stay in Austin rather than be sent to another part of Texas. Chapter 41 of the Texas Education Code allows such a separation if the trustees vote to do so to reduce property tax wealth.

The group further criticized the district’s actions in an op-ed in the Austin American-Statesman, saying that the $4 million the district spent on a public relations campaign last year should have been used to improve East Austin schools. In the op-ed, they called the potential new district “Capitol ISD,” and described its boundaries as “along Austin ISD’s historical lines of discrimination: east of I-35 to the Texas 130 toll road; north to Walnut Creek; and south to Texas 45. It would encompass the property along both sides of I-35 and include North Austin to Lamar Boulevard.”

Imagining the operations of this Capitol ISD, they said, “Instead of Austin ISD transferring the expanding wealth from new housing developments and businesses in East Austin to west of I-35, Capitol ISD would have access to that wealth. It would have funds to refurbish buildings, reward dedicated teachers, unleash education creativity, create community school hubs from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m., and disperse administrative staff throughout local schools, so every day they would see the kids they serve. There would be no behemoth

administrative temple like Austin ISD’s.

Evans says that the group has been encouraged by the response they’ve gotten so far from the community.

She added that if the district adopts the solutions in the manifesto, they will gain more students, improve student performance and stop losing students to charter schools. She adds that based on that, they won’t have to close any schools due to under-enrollment.

Gordon says that though much of the problem is caused by historical inequality, the district should be doing more to address it.

“The issues that are on there have been issues that we’ve been talking about for more than 30 years and really have been issues that people in East Austin been talking about since school integration 40 years ago… it’s always important to talk about these things, but it seems like these things have become an emergency,” he said.

Spigner further criticizes the district for considering closing schools in East Austin.

“This problem is multiplied by gentrification, which has resulted in a population decline among families with children in East Austin,” he said. “As a result, discussion shifts to closing schools and land transfers.

The goal of any school board should be the viability and academic achievement of the community’s children, not capitalizing from the sale and transfer of school resources and assets” Gordon says that if people want to support their work, they can come to the coalition meetings, held on the third Wednesday of every month, write their trustees, and come to board meetings to make their opinions heard.

Conway Jr. says that as an East Austinite, he felt that he needed to stand with the group, and encourages others to do the same.

“I think any document that calls for change and upsetting the status quo is revolutionary”, he said. “We need revolutionary thinking to reverse the present trend in education on the East side.”

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BEFORE YOU CAN VOTE:

HOW TO GET INVOLVED IN POLITICS AND YOUR COMMUNITY

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Work as an election day clerk AND get paid for it! You must to be 16 years or older. It's an important job that ensures our election process is carried out with integrity. Get paid $10 an hour, get community service hours for school and witness the election process in action. Contact erecruiting@traviscountytx.gov or call (512) 854-4996 to apply.

Another great way to get involved is to volunteer with a nonprofit that works on the issues you care about: United We Dream for immigration, Human Rights Campaign for LQBTQ+ issues, Planned Parenthood Votes for women's reproductive rights, and Everytown for gun control, to name a few! To more info, visit the specific nonprofit's website, or go to volunteermatch.org if you don't know where to start!

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Attend local town halls and legislative sessions! Stay informed and involved with issues prevalent to your community by going. On October 10th, there will be a Texas Youth Town "Call" specifically for teens. A Town Call will allow any young Texan with a phone or computer with internet access to get involved. Submit questions at bit.ly/YTXSurvey and RSVP at bit.ly/TXTownCall

Another option, if you're more interested in creatives ways of helping out, is to create something and try to get it published. You can write articles, poems, or create artwork and lots of magazines and websites will publish them. Some websites to explore are Teen Ink, Cicada, and the Matador Review.

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Get your friends and family to vote! Research shows that social pressure plays a significant role in getting more people out to vote.

Texas has a historically low turnout for the midterm elections, so voting is even more crucial this year. Use social media to remind people about the Oct. 9th registration deadline and where polling locations are!

Read more of this story online at macshieldonline.com for more ways to get involved and more specifics on each way.

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News in a

FLASH AV Club first high school in nation to own a Red camera Recently, Red Camera donated one of its digital cameras to McCallum’s AV Program. Red Cameras are professional-grade film cameras. “A while back, Mr. Rodgers had a meeting with a representative from Red Camera, and they said that they wanted to raise $100,000 for McCallum to purchase Red Cameras,” junior film student Zeke French said. “This would mean that we could get certified to operate Red Cameras, which is a must going into the film industry, so people could get jobs in the industry right out of high school,” French said. Currently, McCallum is the only high school in the country with a Red camera.

—Janssen Transier

Stripling-Jenson, Ryland named National Merit semifinalists McCallum seniors Ian Strippling-Jenson and Sophie Ryland were named National Merit Semifinalists this September for their outstanding 2017 PSAT scores.

Their scores placed them in the top 1 percent of all seniors nationwide.

To apply to become a finalist, Ryland and Stripling-Jenson will have to submit an application along with their most recent SAT scores. Becoming a finalist would make both Ryland and Strippling-Jenson eligible for a myriad of scholarships from both the National Scholarship Program and from individual colleges.

“The best preparation I got was taking the test the previous year,” Strippling-Jenson told The Shield via text. “I definitely will be applying to be a finalist because the vast majority of people who apply to advance end up becoming finalists.”

Applications are due Oct. 10 and Ryland and Strippling-Jenson will TWO P(SAT)S IN A POD: Seniors Sophie Ryland and Ian Stripling are among 16,000 find out their results in November. National Merit Semifinalists nationwide. They are part of the top 1 percent of the 1.6 —Kristen Tibbetts million students who took the 2017 PSAT. Photo by Gabi Williams. ww

RED-DY TO FILM: Senior Zoe Kenyon shows off the AV program’s new Red Camera. The camera base was purchased through CTE funding, and Mr. Rogers is trying to raise money for the parts the camera the programs needs to be fully operational. Photo by Stella Shenkman.

Simon, Rochea, SKAM Austin renewed for second season

The Shield named 2017-2018 Newspaper Pacemaker finalist

On July 25, it was announced that SKAM Austin, starting McCallum actors Till Simon and Julie Rochea, is being renewed for season 2.

The series, based on the original Norwegian show SKAM, tells stories by following the lives of American teenangers.

The content rolls out in real time from when the episodes are released to the posts on the character’s Instagram accounts.

Along with Simon and Rochea, many other McCallum students have made appearances in the show, playing feature roles and extras. The actors were not available for comment due to contract obligations preventing them from granting interviews.

Season 1 of SKAM Austin received successful reviews and ratings with the first episode receiving 14 million views since it was first released in April.The second season will continue the show’s experimental sharing of content, following a new protagonist.

—Mia Terminella

The National Press Association announced via Facebook livestream on Sept. 7 that The Shield has been named a finalist for a 2018 Newspaper Pacemaker Award. The Shield staff was one of the 61 high schools named finalists, along with six middle schools. The staff of The Dispatch at Bowie High School in south Austin was also named a finalist.

In order to be considered for a Newspaper Pacemaker, the staff submitted the first five of six print issues from the 2017-2018 school year. A second judging panel will select 28 finalists to receive Pacemaker Awards at the/JEA Fall National School Journalism Convention in Chicago on Nov. 3.

In a press release, NSPA associate director and coordinator Gary Lundgren praised the Pacemaker finalists for demonstrating excellence in key areas such as coverage, writing, editing, design and photography. Lundgren also said that the winning newspapers took risks and served as a strong voice for their student audience. The Shield website won a 2018 Online Pacemaker in April.

—Mia Terminella

Questions about College? Go 1-on-1 with ACC today!

ACC advisors are here to help with your college and career planning.

1-on-1 assistance is just a visit, call, or click away!

austincc.edu/startnow 05 oct. 2018

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Rocking around the Rockies

There’s much more to Colorado than just Denver and snow-capped mountain peaks MAX RHODES assistant editor

Colorado! You know where it is; it’s one of those square northern states that doesn’t quite border Texas. What’s the first thing that comes to mind when you hear Colorado? Mountains? The city of Denver? Something else? Before I went there, that was about the extent of my knowledge on the state. But during a five day camping trip I took this summer, I learned there are many more things to do in Colorado than just climb mountains.

Now, Colorado is not an extremely large state (It has an area about half that of Texas) nor does it have a very large population (5 million to Texas’ 28). But what it does have is mountains: lots of them. And I know I just said there is more to do there than the mountains, but the magnitude of them is worthy of note. Colorado has over 20 mountains taller than 14,000 feet. For some more context, the tallest peak in Texas is about 8,750 feet tall. In the winter time, these mountains draw skiers, but in the summer, they draw hikers.

Our crew consisted of eight boys and two adult leaders from Boy Scout Troop 28. The original plan was to go backpacking at Philmont Scout Ranch in northern New Mexico, but our trek was canceled due to forest fires. Instead of just taking our refunded money and staying home, we went on our own trip. We set off in late July, and although we did make a few stops along the way, Colorado was definitely the main attraction.

Our first destination in the state was the Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve, only about 50 miles north of the New Mexican border.

On the drive in, we got to see some of the legendary 14,000 foot tall mountains surrounding us as we slowly gained elevation. In Colorado, even if you’re not on top of a mountain, you still have quite an elevation. The Great Sand Dunes National Park is about 7,500 feet above sea level, and Austin is only 600 or so. Anyway, it was dark when we arrived at the park so we couldn’t actually see the dunes, but could vaguely see the enormous mountains silhouetted against the fading light of the sunset. In fact, when I first saw them, I thought they were huge clouds hanging above the horizon.

Arriving at the campsite at the park, we were pleasantly surprised by the temperature. Back home at that time, it was probably over 80 degrees, but here it was a cool 60. We set up camp and put on jackets that hadn’t been needed in Texas since mid-March.

Next morning we got a better view of our campsite. The mountains, covered with green trees, were on one side, the open plains that stretched on the horizon on another side, and the sand dunes were in front of us. The dunes were not in the sun yet, but we could see them for the first time, and they looked like small mountains. But as the sun began to move over them, we could clearly see that they were not covered in rocks and trees, but instead a smooth layer of sand.

The Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve in southern Colorado offers impressive views of the surrounding mountains and plains.

After breakfast, we packed up our tents and started the short hike to the 700-foot-tall sand dunes. As we got off the paved road, the trail felt like walking on the beach, only there was no water.

We were the first ones to get to the dunes that morning, so there were no footprints or any sign of human activity.

As I mentioned before, we were at an elevation of more than 7,000 feet, and we gained most of that in one day, so we were all still adjusting to the lack of oxygen in the air. It’s very bizarre to look at a small hill and think, “I can run up that, no problem,” and then get totally tired out halfway up.

The whole way up the dunes, the views were amazing. Every direction looked totally different.

Sometimes the sand had a wavy pattern, shaped by the wind, and sometimes it looked perfectly smooth.

Because we went in the morning, the angle of the sun bathed one side of the sand ridge in light, while the other was in the dark shadows.

On the way down, I decided to have a little fun by finding a particularly steep area and sliding down it on my stomach. The downside was I got a little sand in my clothes. Normally that would be fine, except I had a camera and cell phone in my pocket. The phone survived fine, but my poor little Nikon didn’t make it.

After we shook as much sand out of our shoes as we could, we loaded up the van and headed north.

As we gained elevation, we got to see the sand dunes from a different perspective; they looked tiny against the huge mountains behind them.

That night the plan was to stay at Monarch Pass Campground, about 100 miles north of the Sand Dunes. When we pulled into our campsite in the

“I decided to have a little fun by finding a particularly steep dune and sliding down it on my stomach. My poor little Nikon didn’t make it.”

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mid afternoon, it was raining, an event we would be all too familiar with before this trip was done. After the rain stopped, we set up our tents on the soggy ground and got ready for dinner. Most dinners we would eat in Colorado were trail meals, consisting of granola, energy bars and freeze-dried food. Tonight it was slightly green mac and cheese and spicy Planters peanut mix. It was much colder than the previous night, so we started a campfire to keep warm.

Our activity for the next day was mountain biking, so we broke camp and headed to the small town of Buena Vista, about 45 minutes away.

One interesting thing I noticed about these small Colorado towns is that the city limit signs say the elevation of the town, not the population. So when we got to Buena Vista, it said “Elevation 7,965” instead of “Population 2,778.”

We had a nice early afternoon of mountain biking, and got some help navigating the trail from a friendly Colombian man who happened to be biking there at the same time as us. We left Buena Vista and headed back into the mountains for our camping spot that night, Mount Princeton Campground. Along the way, we saw the Mount Princeton Hot Springs, and all agreed we should plan to make a stop there later on in the trip.

Like the previous night, our campsite had beautiful views of the tree covered mountains, and a mountain stream nearby. The evening was mostly uneventful, except when one of the guys accidentally put trail mix in the soup instead of dried vegetables.

The next day, the plan was to head back to Buena Vista for our next adventure, whitewater rafting.

At the rafting place, we got decked out with water shoes, life jackets and helmets. The rafts were loaded up on a trailer, and we all filed onto the big blue bus with several other groups. The bus driver greeted us by asking, “Is this your first time?” Only a few people said yes. “Well, don’t worry,” he said, “It’s only a bus ride.” It got a good laugh out of us.

After the short bus trip, we hopped out and

met our guide, a guy named Trevor. We got our boat and headed for the water, which was already filled with rafts. Trevor explained that this was the busiest he’d ever seen the river, as well as the lowest water level. We waited our turn and then headed out. Our responsibility was just to row the boat, and Trevor did the steering, which was nice because we didn’t have to worry about navigating the river and just left that to the professional.

Riding down the river was fun, especially when we hit some rapids. Trevor told us that this was the most rafted section of river in the country, and we could see why. It was just the right amount of challenge to make it fun, but not too difficult to make it dangerous. The original plan was to get out of the river at a certain point, have lunch and get back in. Unfortunately, the dark clouds that had been looming over us had different plans. It began to hail marble-sized chunks, so they had to cancel the rest of the trip. We loaded up the bus and headed back to the raft place in town. We were a bit bummed about getting our rafting trip cut short, but we got refunded $20 per person, and the adults promised we could put it to good use.

We saw exactly what that use would be just a few miles down the road--the Mount Princeton Hot Springs, which conveniently charged $20 per person. There were a few pools of varying degrees of heat, and then the natural hot springs in the river. It was a nice spot to relax after a few days of camping, and very bizarre to be walking in a cold river and suddenly find a spot of 100-degree water.

That night, we had to ask for some help from the locals to find a spot to camp, and they pointed us to a place called Bootleg. This campsite was different from the others because it wasn’t a national park, but an open area along a trail. It was about 100 yards from the parking lot, so we cooked dinner down there and carried our gear up to the campsite. The place was pretty far away from any cities or towns, so once the sun went down the stars looked amazing.

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The next day we headed for Browns Lake Trail, where we would start our legit backpacking trek. The plan was to leave whatever we didn’t absolutely need in the van, and carry everything else on our backs. The trail to the lake was six miles and had 2,000 feet of elevation, so we had a bit of a hike ahead of us.

We all had different hiking experience, so our crew was a little spaced out on the trail. It was a tough hike, as it was mostly all uphill. We all persevered and made it there in a mostly timely manner. When we crested the last hill, we were greeted by Browns Lake and a very cold breeze.

We threw off our packs, pulled out our jackets and waited for the rest of the crew to arrive. The only two campsites on that side of the lake were taken, so we set up camp in the meadow nearby.

When we started hiking, it had been sunny, but as we made our way up the mountain the clouds began to roll in. At the camp it was completely overcast, and we all feared it was going to rain.

Unfortunately, we were right. Not long after we set up our tents, it began to pour. We set up a dining-fly-type contraption so we could cook dinner and be sort of dry. Being wet and cold at the same time is not only uncomfortable; it can be very dangerous. Catching hypothermia can be very easy in this situation. Dinner was freezedried beef stroganoff, which may not sound overly appealing, but huddled under a tarp in the rain in what had to be 40 degrees, it tasted pretty good.

The rain stopped eventually, and we had the task of putting up a bear bag. When camping far away from civilization like we were, it is necessary to put all food in a place where the wildlife, especially bears, can’t get to it. We found a suitable tree, threw a rope over a branch, and hoisted the bags up. After that, we called it a night. There was no dry wood for a fire, so the sleeping bag was really the only warm place.

We were happy to see the sun the next day, as it meant no more rain, for the time being.

One of the groups occupying a campsite was leaving, and they let us have their spot. It was much nicer than the meadow, and there was some protection from the wind plus a fire pit.

So we carried the set up tents a few dozen yards to the new area. We didn’t do much that day, just played cards on a table we found at another campsite. At one point, one of the adults went for a swim in the lake, which he described as “pretty cold.”

A few of us went on a day hike even higher up the mountain. On our hike, we really got a feeling for how high up we were. About a hundred feet above us was the tree line, which is an altitude at which trees can no longer grow due to lack of moisture and oxygen and is usually at about 12,000 feet. We also saw meadows with a surprising amount of wildflowers.

For dinner we had more delicious freezedried meals (today it was gumbo) and started a campfire. The wood had time to dry, so we could keep ourselves warm that night with a fire. We hung up the bear bags, and got ready for bed. We would have to hike back down the mountain the next day, so getting up early was necessary.

We got started at about 6 a.m. the next day, and the meadow was covered in fog. It looked like we were in a cloud. We took down camp and headed back for civilization. The hike down was much less challenging than the hike up because it was mostly downhill. We made it back to the base of the trail and drove back to Buena Vista. The goal for that day was to drive to Santa Fe and spend the night at

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a campground we had reserved outside of the city.

During the hike down, one of the guys said his side was hurting, so his dad (who was luckily one of the adults on the trip) wanted to take him to a doctors office before we hit the road again. While he went to the doctors’, the rest of the gang got some ice cream and went to tourist shops. We waited an hour or so, and learned that he had appendicitis and had to stay at the hospital for the night. Lucky for him the doctors said he should be able to leave the next day.

The rest of us went back to Bootleg campground, where we stayed before the six mile hike. The next day we picked up our now appendix-less friend, and headed south for New Mexico. We had spent a total of five days in Colorado, but it felt a lot longer than that. We didn’t have any dull days, from the sand dunes to the mountain biking to the white water rafting and then a six-mile hike followed by one of the guys getting minor surgery. Even if we didn’t do any skiing or go to Denver, it felt like we got a pretty full Colorado experience.

Browns Lake in the Gunnison National Forest in central Colorado is at the end of a six-mile trail, and has an elevation of nearly 12,000 feet. The lake is cold, but the views at sunrise are hard to beat.

Small town of Buena Vista, population 2,778

Great sand Dunes National Park

Browns Lake trail and campground

Above: A map of Colorado including some of the areas we visited throughout our trip. We started at the Great sand Dunes National Park, then went to Buena Vista. After hiking at Browns Lake trail and camp-ground, we returned to Buena Vista.

The crew rides the mountain biking trails in the hills on the east side of Buena Vista. The trails may have been tough, but they provided a good view of Mount Harvard, one of the tallest mountains in the state at 14,423 feet.

Photos by Max Rhodes.

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shield SHOOTING FOR THE STAR(MITE)S: Maryanna Tollemache, one of the lead actors playing Eleanor, sits with her mother on Earth, played by Lilah Guaragna, on the show’s opening night. Photo by Gregory James.

M’LADY: Junior Tosh Arora sings “M’lady” during the final dress rehearsal on Sept. 19. SpacePunk (Arora), is the love interest of Eleanor and the leader of the Starmites. Arora said his favorite part of the show was the interplay with his ‘Mites. Photo by Jazzabelle Davishines.

RAVENOUS: The banshees, dance to their song “Ravenous” in the dress rehearsal of Starmites, on Wednesday Sept. 19. Photo by Jazzabelle Davishines.

MacTheatre shoots for the stars

Starmites was out of this world ... literally GREGORY JAMES photo editor

MacTheatre’s fall musical was out of this world ... literally.

In Starmites, Eleanor, a shy teenager, finds herself summoned into a science fiction fantasy world of her own creation called Innerspace. Innerspace is also the setting of her favorite comic book. In Innerspace, she meets the Starmites, who are the guardian angels of this world, and they implore her to join them on their crusade against the Cruelty, an evil instrument with mind controlling powers, owned by but separated from the villain Shak Graa. The musical is based on a book by Stuart Ross and debuted in 1989 on Broadway.

McCallum students started rehearsing the show on Aug. 6 with six-hour rehearsals Monday through Friday until school began.

According to junior Duval Bingham, who played one of the Starmites named Diggity “Razzle Dazzle,” the long rehearsal hours paid off because the show was ready to run earlier

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than usual.

“We already have been through a full run through,” Bingham said before the show opened. “We usually don’t go through a full runthrough until the day before a show opens. This time around we did a full run through two weeks before.”

Juniors Maryanna Tollemache and Madisyn Andrews-Moreno were double cast in the lead role of Eleanor. For both actors, the role was the first time they had performed as a lead actor in a MacTheatre production.

Prior to its MacTheatre run, the show had a six-show run on Broadway in 1989 and had never been performed since on a major stage.

But Andrews-Moreno said before the show opened that the show’s obscurity has been a positive for her.

“This show being so crazy, having so many twists in it, has been a lot of fun to make the character and put my own personality into it and make Eleanor me.”

The two actors playing Eleanor also played a second character, Bizarbra, who is a parallel of Eleanor in Innerspace. During the show, Andrews-Moreno and Tollemache had to run off stage and change costumes quickly to be ready for back-to-back scenes as Eleanor and then as Bizarbara. Eleanor and Bizarbara are polar opposites in terms of personality and confidence.

Bizarbara is self-conscious and pessimistic, and

she looks up to Eleanor for her leadership ability once she is in Innerspace. Bizarbara has a nasally voice and believes she will never be good enough to do something important. Eleanor can be a great leader but has to have people push her to greatness. Eleanor wants to live in Innerspace, and Bizarbara wants to live on Earth.

The show’s supporting characters are integral parts of the story. Junior Tosh Arora plays SpacePunk, who is the leader of the Starmites and the love interest of Eleanor.

“My favorite part of this show has been working with my ‘Mites, which are the three Starmites that I am the leader of,” Arora said.

“They are all my friends, and it is great to work and play with them.”

The villain Shak Graa is an evil character brought to life by senior Matt Hernandez. He is out to get the Cruelty, his weapon, back and rule all of Innerspace. He torments Eleanor in her dreams at the beginning of the show and pulls her into the realm of Innerspace.

“It is fun because even though he is a evil character, he’s a fun evil character,” Hernandez said.

Eleanor’s mother is another key role in Starmites, whose Innerspace alter ego is Diva, the Goddess of Innerspace. The show has the role double cast between juniors Abigail Lerma and Lilah Guaragna.

“I loved the role of the diva,” Guaragna

said. “I thought it was so fun, and I thought the vocals were incredible, so I was super ecstatic when I got the role.”

Guaragna, who has been in many MacTheatre performances, said she has a methodical way of getting into character.

“I normally stand backstage before I go on, take a deep breath, and I think about why I’m doing what I am doing in that scene.” Guaragna said. “Then I think about my personality and how I act, and the combination of those two will help me be prepared for the scene.”

Guaragna feels this show was unique to others McCallum has done. The characters all hold complex personalities and have things that make them special. In the end, Starmites is a story of acceptance and friendship “Starmites means to me the ability to embrace individuality and creativity,” Guaragna said.

“The story is very accepting of everyone even though you may be different or quirky.”

On Sunday, after eight shows over two weekends, the portal between Innerspace and Earth closed for good, and Starmites completed its run at McCallum. The next McCallum show is A Midsummer Night’s Dream, the classic Shakespearean comedy about the duke of Athens and the supernatural forces that conspire to intefere with his wedding. It opens on Nov. 8 and tickets for the show can be purchased on mactheatre.com.

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Artist Profile: Sophie Lewis

THE PEP IN HER STEP: Lewis cheers on the Knights football team as it defeated Anderson in the Taco Shack Bowl at House Park on Aug. 30. “It was a long but fun day,” Lewis said. Photo by Stella Shenkman.

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WEST SIDE SOPHIE: Lewis dances with junior Owen Scales during “A Dance at the Gym” in the Mac Theatre Production of West Side Story.

“I loved being partnered with Sophie,” Scales said. “We became better friends as the show went on.” Photo by Madison Olsen.

MIA TERMINELLA staff reporter

The Shield: When did you decide to start participating in pageants?

SL: When I was 4 years old, I got a flier in the mail for a scholarship pageant called National American Miss and, of course, being a 4-yearold girl, I immediately begged my mom to let me do it. The youngest you could be to compete was actually 6, so I waited two years and haven’t stopped doing them since.

TS: How have pageants altered your life?

SL: I feel it has made my life so much better! I have gained a lot of confidence, friends from all over the world, interview skills, on-stage skill, and so much more.

A l most a l l of it is transferred into my everyday life and made me a better person.

TS: What are some of the pageants you have placed in?

SL: Some of the pageants I have placed in are National American Miss and International Junior Miss!

I spent those 10 years of my life winning state titles and placing third, Top 10 and Top 15 at the national

and international level. I also competed in the Miss America’s Outstanding Teen organization where I won Miss Austin’s Outstanding Teen and competed at Miss Texas’ Outstanding Teen in 2016. Being able to represent Texas and Michigan at nationals has always been so much fun, and I am so excited to have now moved onto the Miss USA and Miss Teen USA system! I just recently competed in the Miss Austin Texas Teen U S A Pageant where I placed first runner up!

This November I’ll be going to the Miss Texas Teen USA pageant to compete.

TS: What connections have you made through pageants?

SL: I have made so many amazing connections through pageants like modeling for the Blush Company, to meeting amazing friends and role models. I have had the opportunity to work with fitness coaches like Josh Benton, runway coaches like Bill Alverson and Jeremy Monlux. What starts out as working together actually turns i n t o

friendships. One example is when I had one of my first photo shoots with Kathy Whittaker.

Little did I know that later I would be so close with Megan, her daughter and Kathy as we would all continue pageants together. I love working with so many talented people and gaining new friendships.

TS: How was your experience modeling for Blush in Dallas Fashion Week?

SL: Modeling for Blush was one of the best experiences! I traveled to Dallas and stayed in a hotel with roommates, which was pretty out of my comfort zone but ended up being a blast.

We did four fashion shows a day, and each show was about an hour long. My toes are still numb for those four long days! But I made so many new friends and had an amazing time wearing all the dresses for Blush.

TS: What was your favorite thing about being in West Side Story?

SL: My favorite thing about being in West Side Story w a s

constantly pushing myself. I am by no means a dancer, so when I was cast as one, I was super nervous. I worked hard during rehearsals and at home to learn all the dances, and I was really proud of myself by the end of it, even though it was pretty terrifying.

TS: What is your favorite thing about being in Cheer?

SL: I love being pushed out of my comfort zone and working as hard as I can. I have never done Cheer in my life before so deciding to try out a month before, meant I needed to put in tons of work.

I had a lot of fun doing cheer and knew that I would have a great time on my high school team.

Now, I’m able to get in a good workout every day, try new and exciting things and again gain many new friendships. I love being able to bond with my team!

MISS AUSTIN TEEN: Lewis poses during a photo shoot after winning the Miss Austin Teen Pageant in Round Rock.

Photo courtesy of Miss Austin Teen.

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Been there, done stacked

Record-high class sizes force teachers to teach multiple classes and multiple levels at same time KRISTEN TIBBETTS staff reporter

Most teachers have enough distractions in their classroom to deal with: cellphones and overly talkative students to name a couple. But, for art teachers Carey West and Jeff SeckarMartinez, they have to teach with multiple classes in the room at once.

For art teachers, “stacked” classes, class periods with multiple mediums and levels in the same room, are not out of the ordinary. In fact, they have long been necessary to ensure that students can fit the electives that they want into their schedule. This year, however, the art department is experiencing a greater number of students than ever before. “[It] gets kind of challenging when you have limited space and supplies,” Martinez said. “But [I] try to do the best that I can to benefit all [of my] students.”

Martinez’s biggest class—a mixture of Drawing II, Drawing III, Painting III and AP Portfolio—has 36 students, and his average class size is around 30 students. This may not seem like a lot, but the number puts a considerable strain on the available materials and classroom space.

“It just gets more challenging to fit the amount of bodies in this space,” Martinez said.

“We’ll be working in the hallways probably and we’ll have easels and different sizes of paper and surfaces for them to make it all work.”

Due to a lack of space and a high demand for art classes, Martinez decided not to accept any student aides in any of his classes.

“It was hard for me to do that,” Martinez said. “[But] it was just taking up seats for people who wanted to learn art.”

Ms. West, however, hasn’t just had to deal with different levels. For the first time this year she is teaching two subjects, sculpture and jewelry, in the same class period.

“They’re completely different, and they’re both kind of new to me,” West said, “so managing that is a little tricky.”

Usually in a stacked class, students work with the same medium but at different levels.

To conduct her sculpture-jewelry class, however, West has to teach two completely different curricula at the same time.

“I kind of flip-flop my time,” West said. “I try to get students working independently on something in one group and then address the next group.”

The classroom is arranged with jewelry students working at the tables near the front of the room and sculpture students working on their projects in the back.

“I was expecting a lot of chaos, it being an art class [and all],” freshman sculpture student Zara Terrazas-Graham said, “but it has actually turned out really well.”

For West, the hardest part is having to keep up with many different Blend accounts and gradebooks. Unlike Martinez, she still accepts student aides in her classes, which brings her total number of gradebooks to 16.

“It’s like juggling.” West said.

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Mr. Martinez demonstrates acrylic painting techniques to his first-period Painting 1 students while senior Drawing III student Vivian Williams works on her piece. The class contains Drawing II, Drawing III and Painting III students spread throughout the room and hallway. “[This is] why we do stacked classes,” Martinez said, “so that students have choices about where they can go at different periods during the day.” Photos by Kristen Tibbetts.

Freshman Theo Richard, a student in Ms. West’s eighth-period class, paints his first six-weeks project while jewelry students in the front of the room work on theirs. Photo by Kristen Tibbetts.

Even with the distractions of multiple classes and levels in one period, West and Martinez have made sure to not let it take away from each student’s learning experience.

“The skill sets [in my classes] are very different,” Martinez said, “but the goal is to get them all to show their own personal vision.”

In fact, sometimes the stacked classes work

in students’ favor. West has noticed, particularly in her stacked ceramics classes, that the more advanced students have been able to help instruct some of the newer artists.

Despite having experienced mentors available in the classroom, the teachers fear that newer students might be overwhelmed by the pace at which the class runs.

“Our classes are not just places where people can get thrown in,” Martinez said. “Prerequisites are very important. [The students] learn other skills based on what they learned in the past.”

As far as what the future will hold, neither teacher believes this system is the best fit for the long run. McCallum’s student population has grown every year for the past four years, and is expected to continue growing in the future.

“If anything, we don’t want to turn people away,” Martinez said, “but ideally we would have more space.”

While more space for art classrooms will not be available any time soon, art teachers have been thinking of other possible solutions.

“I think offering more electives might be an option,” Martinez said. “It’s great that people take the art classes, but some people [just] take art [because] they need a place to go. If we had other classes available, they could go in that direction, too.”

Even with multiple periods of stacked classes, some students, particularly the Fine Arts Academy majors who have to take three art classes as part of their major requirements, still have trouble getting into their preferred classes.

“They just have to make choices at that point.”

Martinez said. “We can’t just open up a new section for someone to come in.”

With more and more students each year enrolling in art classes, the teachers are hoping to offer even more new mediums, such as digital art, in the near future to cater to students with specific artistic interests.

“I think there’s just a lot of need for electives and art happens to be popular,” West said.

“Because it’s fun!”

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This month: October

Stories and photos by Olivia Watts.

These origami paper cranes at Recycled Reads were made out of old books and maps.

Eats: Mary’s ATX Cafe Mary’s ATX Cafe is a relaxed brunch cafe located on Red River Street that features a variety of unique Austin recipes with delicious combinations of ingredients that can’t be found anywhere else. These include salads, sandwiches, smoothies, coffee, breakfast options and waffles, including their famous liege waffles. I tried the Stella, which is a toasted Italian sandwich consisting of marinara sauce, provolone, parmesan, pepperoni, chicken and tomatoes on ciabatta bread. The Stella is a pretty big sandwich, so if you’re not feeling pretty hungry, I would recommend getting something smaller, like a salad. The liege waffles are very sweet and very filling and have many topping options which you can mix and match to make it exactly how you want it. The atmosphere at Mary’s ATX Cafe is pretty chill, and the service is polite and fast. Since the cafe is in a small space, it can get a little loud at times, but most of the time it is pretty quiet. Overall, Mary’s ATX Cafe is a great place to go if you are looking to have a nice, relaxing brunch. They also cater, so if you have an event that you would like to bring brunch food too, Mary’s ATX Cafe would be a good choice.

Shopping: Recycled Reads If you love to read, but are short on cash, consider Recycled Reads. This unique Austin bookstore sells old library books, donated books and vintage books. It is considered a part of the public library because it is owned by the public library system, receives all old library books

for sale and all profits go to the public library.

Prices for non-vintage books range from 25 cents to $2. This also includes DVDs, music, manga, comics and more. The vintage books can cost a lot more depending on the rarity of the book. The walls are painted cool colors like

purple and aqua and feature posters from the public library’s puppet shows for kids. There is a reading area for kids and chairs for adults to sit in. The walls and ceiling also feature recycled art made from old books. If you need a STIR book, go to Recycled Reads.

Fun: Art at the Library Austin Public Library’s new gallery exhibit “Art from the Streets to the Library” features art by local Austin artists. The art was provided by “Art from the Streets,” an art studio that provides a place for artists who have been or are homeless to work in for free. The money from each piece is given to the artist who made it, helping to support them. The gallery is located on the bottom floor of the central branch of the library and has no entry fee. It will be open all through September until Oct. 14. The space is open and well lit so you can feel the full effect of the art. All pieces are for sale and are the pieces are made in a variety of mediums. From portraits to landscapes to cartoon characters, there is something for everyone!

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Senior has a blast at aerospace camp Krentzel on award-winning team that designed a space glove and helmet for use on Mars STELLA SHENKMAN staff reporter

This summer, senior Florian Krentzel participated in NASA’s High School Aerospace Scholars program, which allows students from across the country to learn about aerospace mechanics from NASA employees and at the organization’s facilities.

To be considered for the program, you must be a junior in high school, a citizen of the United States, and complete the online application and essay.

“I actually heard about it when my mom forwarded me one of Ms. Nitardy’s emails (that) was encouraging people at school to apply for it,” Krentzel said.

Florian’s mother, Elise Krentzel, has been a lifelong supporter of Florian’s passion for engineering.

“He was always building with blocks,” she said.

“He loved figuring out [the] placement of things.

He was very creative.”

Even at a young age, Florian took an interest in the world around him and how it could improve.

“I kept a journal of inventions he made, or things he did not have an answer for,” Ms. Krentzel said, “like, ‘Why don’t we have a dog translator?’ He was already thinking of how to solve problems through technology.”

When Florian was accepted, Ms. Krentzel was extremely proud.

“I was jumping for joy,” she said. “I was so elated I actually jumped and screamed ‘Ah, I’m so happy for you!’ I hugged him, smothered him, and posted it all over social media.”

The program involves a one-year commitment to NASA, where the students complete a fourmonth long online course with weekly 20 question quizzes that they must pass with an 85 or above to continue on in the program. If they pass all of the quizzes and make it into the last few weeks of the course, the students begin online team-building exercises with their soon-to-be teammates, whom they will work with during the on-site visit to NASA’s Johnson Space Center.

Students who advanced far enough to visit the space center were awarded with science credit, certification of completion and a tour of the NASA campus.

The purpose of the on-site visit was to have the students plan a space mission to Mars in teams. Alpha, Bravo, Charlie and Delta were the names of the teams that were each concerned with a different aspect of getting to Mars such as transportation, living, discovery and occupation. Krentzel was apart of the Delta group, which focused on their occupation on Mars. Krentzel’s group was to make a glove and a space helmet and EVA (extra vehicular activity) that would be suitable for use on Mars on a theoretical budget of $500 million.

With that mission, they created a rover using the LEGO NXT system, which is primarily used in robotics leagues. The goal was to drop it off of two stories.

“We had to one, make it land straight,” Krentzel said. “And two, make sure it got to the marked area, and then measure the G force.”

G force is the measure of force of gravity on a particular extraterrestrial body. If the calculation

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(1) Senior Florian Krentzel with Jerry Wooddfill, a Apollo Program spacecraft warning system engineer. “He was super cool,” Krentzel said. “He sang songs to us and showed us a clip from the movie, Apollo 13, where the system he worked on was recreated for Tom Hanks to use.” Photo courtesy of Florian Krentzel. (2) NASA staff member presenting to the HSAS participants about the mechanics of the NASA equiptment. Photo by Florian Krentzel. of the rover hitting the ground deemed that the astronauts would be dead or injured, then the team would have money deducted from their budget. Once the project was completed, the team created a PowerPoint to present to a panel of NASA specialists.

The group ended up winning the overall team competition and earned special recognition from

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(3) One of NASA’s robonauts, which is a humanoid robotic development that assists astronauts with moter functions and other day-to-day activities. Photo by Florian Krentzel. (4) The NASA team welcomes the participants on the first day of the onsite visit at the Johnson Space Center. The students gear up for the days ahead of presentation’s, teambuilding exercises and designing a trip to Mars. Photo courtsey of Florian Krentzel.

the staff. At the end of the mission, the groups were ranked on their planning.

“We came first in rovers, second in rockets, first in landers, and second in the presentation,” Krentzel said. “It was pretty close up until the last day, but at the end of the week we ended up with a net profit of around $1.2 billion.”

Floridans team started as strangers but ended

as friends.

“It was kind of intimidating because they were so particular,” Krentzel said. “Everyone had the same sort of passion, and everyone worked so well together.”

If you are a student interested in learning more about or applying to the program, visit the NASA HSAS website.

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Trio of teachers reinvents AP English Relying on each other to sharpen their ideas, Adamson, Olson and Wood embrace new challenge In addition to teaching Pre-AP English and junior OnRamps English, Diana Adamson is teaching AP English IV this year.

JANSSEN TRANSIER staff reporter

Tom Watterson taught AP English Literature to seniors in Room 110 for 12 years. It would have been a challenge for any one teacher to replace him, so language arts department chair Diana Adamson knew from the beginning that she wasn’t going to replace Watterson with one teacher.

And it’s not just because Mr. Watterson’s shoes are tough to fill. Adamson believes that having at least two teachers at every level of English is vital to the success of the program.

“It’s important to have someone to bounce ideas off of; it really improves the curriculum,” Adamson said.

As head of the department, Adamson is responsible for assigning teachers to the subjects they teach.

“Everyone in the department is pretty happy where they are, because I try really hard to let everyone teach what they want to teach,” Adamson said.

After Mr. Watterson left his position teaching English 4 last year, the first person Adamson approached about filling the gap Watterson left was Jennifer Wood. Adamson thought that it would be a good fit for Wood, because she had taught freshman and sophomore English, and teaching AP English to seniors would let her see how much those kids she had previously taught have grown over the years.

Wood has been teaching at McCallum for just three years, but her entire teaching career spans 21 years.

Before Wood was at McCallum, she taught advanced English at Vandergrift.

“Teaching Pre-AP English I was a bit of an adjustment for me because it’s a surprisingly difficult class to teach; I’ve had a lot of students say it’s their hardest year of English,” Wood said.

Wood was just getting used to teaching freshmen when Adamson approached her about teaching AP English IV. “I was really interested in doing it because it was a new challenge,” Wood said.

Wood agreed to teach AP English IV, and she says from there, it’s been a learning process for her. She has been trying to adjust her teaching style to a more relaxed attitude because she feels like with seniors “you don’t have to work as hard; you don’t have to break everything down as much.”

Wood explains that even though her teaching style is much different than Mr. Watterson’s, she’s confident in her abilities as a teacher.

“I feel like Mr. Watterson was very much an entertainer, and that’s just not me,” Wood said. “I’m much more curriculum-driven. It is important to me that the curriculum is driving the class, and sometimes it’s hard to just let myself be enough.”

The main challenge for Wood, she says, is adapting Watterson’s curriculum for her own class.

“I can’t just take someone’s curriculum and say, ‘OK, I’m ready’; there’s a lot more to it than

05 oct. 2018

FAR LEFT: Dana Olson and Jennifer Wood, both third year teachers at McCallum, have taken on AP IV this year.

Photos by Janssen Transier.

that. I have to really make it my own,” Wood said, “so it’s challenging to make sure that everything is getting out to the students on time, while also staying in line with everything that Ms. Adamson and Ms. Olson are doing.”

Overall, Wood is happy with the class, and she feels like it’s a good opportunity to improve the program.

“Having at least two teachers teaching AP English IV is really ideal,” she said. “We can bounce ideas off each other, and it makes it overall a better class.”

The next person Ms. Adamson approached to teach AP English IV was third-year McCallum teacher Dana Olson.

“I thought it would be a good fit for Ms. Olson, because she’s a new teacher, she’s very young, and if she decides later on that she wants to teach somewhere else, it’s good to be as diverse as possible,” Adamson said.

Like any teacher taking on a new course and curriculum, Olson is adjusting.

“A big thing that Mr. Watterson told me to do was not reinvent the wheel,” Olson said.

“He gave us all his stuff, so he said to just do what he did the first year, then next year start working your own curriculum into it.”

Olson agreed with Wood that it’s not that simple because executing another teacher’s lessons without adapting them is a recipe for teaching that does not work.

“I really need to make it my own because in my experience so far, the lessons that I just copy from someone else and try and make it work, those are always my worst lessons.”

While there are some challenges that come with teaching a new class, Olson said that she’s still enjoying the experience.

“It’s a lot of fun, because the kids are really smart, and I taught a lot of them as sophomores so it’s really nice to see how they have grown.”

—Dana Olson “It’s a lot of fun because the kids are really smart, and I taught a lot of them as sophomores, so it’s really nice to see how they have grown,” she said.

As usually happens with such a big change, there were some bumps along the way.

Last year, a small group of English students participated in a new program through the University of Texas, a dual-credit opportunity called OnRamps.

In OnRamps, students participate in a separate curriculum, and get the same college credit as AP students, but without having to take a test at the end of the year. Students who had taken OnRamps English were planning to take OnRamps English II, but when school started, they found that there was no OnRamps English class for seniors and that they would be forced to take AP English IV instead.

The teachers were just as surprised as the students; Olson said she didn’t know she was going to have OnRamps students until the first day of school.

“It threw a lot of stuff off because the first few weeks of school are centered around the

summer reading, and the OnRamps kids had read a completely different book over the summer,” Olson said.

Senior Rylie Jones took OnRamps English last year, and says it was a great experience. “It helped me improve my writing a lot, and Ms. Adamson was a really good fit for the class,” Jones said.

“It is challenging to be in an AP class after taking OnRamps, because they learned really different stuff than us, like how to write an essay for the AP test. So it is really difficult, but I still enjoy the class, because I have Ms. Olson, and I had her as a sophomore so it’s really nice to have her again,” Jones said.

Senior Skel Gracie agrees that there has definitely been some frustration surrounding the mixed class of OnRamps and AP students, but the teachers have been doing a great job of adapting.

“I have Ms. Adamson, so she has us do things like writing practice with different prompts depending on what book we read,” Gracie said.

Ms. Wood agrees that it’s been a stressful period of transition for both the teachers and the students, but says that it’s improving as time goes on.

“It’s better every day, and I’ve allowed the kids who were in OnRamps to go through that period of frustration, but I can tell they are starting to adapt,” Wood says.

Despite the challenges that are facing the group of new AP English IV teachers, they are quickly making the transition and have high hopes for the future.

“Every day is better,” Wood said. “And anyways, it was about time for AP to reinvent itself.”

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Go clubbing without leaving campus

Photos and stories

by Stella Shenkman

Club president, senior Florian Krentzel, views a VR film on one of the club’s headsets.

Sophomore Helena Laing organizes the club’s recipes during a recent lunch meeting.

Sophomore Quinn Lawrence-Sanderson sets up a camera for the club’s web series.

Co-president, senior Sophie Ryland, leads a discussion during Model U.N. Club.

Virtual Reality

Baking Club

AV Club

Model U.N.

Whether it be video games, tours, or films, virtual reality offers a 360-degree view.

“It’s a really great experience to show people the technology,” said senior Florian Krentzel, who founded the club in 2015. Krentzel said he likes “having the opportunity to show people what it can do and where you can use it, like in careers or if you wanted to just have some fun.”

VR Club meets on Tuesdays and Thursdays in the 110 Lab from 4:45 p.m.-6 p.m.

“The club is a great way to meet new people, and to learn coding,” Krentzel said.

Organized and created by junior Lucy Abramowitz, the McCallum Baking Club was established just this year, and welcomes students who are interested in recipes, baking, and goodies. The club focuses on baking goods for teachers in a secret fashion, and hopes to soon begin holding bake sales outside of school to raise money for organizations in need.

“I love baking,” Abramowitz said. “The club is a great way for people to gain leadership experience as well as to share recipes.”

The group meets Mondays during lunch outside of the choir room.

Want to learn how movies are made? Or even better yet, help make them? Using professional equipment, the AV Club writes, produces and learns about cinema. Recently, the group was interviewed by a Statesman reporter while they began shooting material for the clubs upcoming web series. Sophomore Alex Martinez, the club’s president, proposed the idea for the web series at the beginning of this school year: “What makes me so excited is how excited everyone else seems to be for the show,” Martinez said, “It’s been really fun to see all the planning happen.”

The group meets Mondays and Fridays in 110 Lab.

Ever wonder what it would be like to be a part of the United Nations? McCallum’s Model U.N. Club allows students to participate in discussions about world current events, politics and conferences. Co-president senior Miranda Hynes believes in the importance of educating yourself on the world around you.

“I think it is really important to have a more global scope of things because we are such a globalized world,” Hynes said. “Model U.N. is really important for that, and it’s really fun because you get to do debate without having to be on a debate team.”

knmanagement.com/careers

knmanagement.com/careers 16 feature

05 oct. 2018

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AISD moves to support mental health District hires new police officer dedicated to topic, expands health centers and partnerships DIAMANTE DIAZ staff reporter

Austin ISD has faced tough circumstances when it comes to resources, but the Austin community has taken action on the topic of mental health. In the wake of recent school shootings in Texas and across the nation, AISD police have taken the initiative, along with AISD officials in order to, in their words, create a better environment for students today and tomorrow.

The role of a police officer is traditionally to enforce laws; however, mental health has become an equally pressing matter. AISD’s new police chief, Ashley Gonzalez, started the new school year by addressing mental health.

Gonzalez, who started her position earlier in 2018, has hired one mental health officer to join the force that will work with AISD’s current mental health coordinator.

The officer is specially trained to handle mental health issues within the district and is aiming to prevent any issues from escalating among students. The aforementioned school shootings especially have led to students saying that they do not feel as safe when going to school.

Within the last year, there’s been an aver-

age of one school shooting every week nationwide. With the Santa Fe shooting last May in our home state, the community has shared a greater concern over mental health; Santa Fe ISD Superintendent Dr. Leigh Wall has implemented a new plan to address the aftermath of the shooting and prevent any future ones, including more security officers, counselors and mental health professionals.

Sixteen school mental health centers and non-district partnerships are among AISD’s attempts to address the topic of mental health. Trained psychiatrists and therapists have visited campuses, meeting with students weekly to try and help ameliorate any issues they may be struggling with.

Due to a $7.1 million student health services plan, these centers were in danger of discontinuation because the district is implementing budget cuts. In response to community input, however, the district has teamed up with Integral Care to continue the program.

The goal is to provide help to any student who needs it, without having to worry about cost or location. These centers, along with the traditional counseling schools provide, external partnerships and the officer are all part of their plan.

One partner responding to mental health is the YWCA of Greater Austin. They say that there

AISD urges families to seek mental-health counseling if needed. The district has also hired a mental-health officer and continued to fund mental-health centers. Photo by Diamante Diaz. is more to be done to address the mental health issues of students.

“Teenagers are often written off because of their age,” said Sara,an intern counselor with the YWCA of Greater Austin, who asked to have her last name omitted. ”There’s this [idea] of, ‘They’re not going to

take me seriously,’ and I think it’s on us as adults to create a safe space where they aren’t having their feelings dismissed.”

Mental health is still a complex issue, especially as it pertains to school safety. However, the district says they plan to make it a top priority going forward into the school year.

Moms in Prayer Meet at Covenant Presbyterian Church Library

(Fellowship Education Building, 1st floor)

9:30-10:30 a.m.

October 11 November 8 December 13 January 10 & 24

February 14 & 28 March 14 & 28 April 11 & 25 May 9

Krista Sherwood 512-636-5854 ksherwood7604@gmail.com 5 oct. 2018

Generic medications for less 512-465-9292 medsaverspharmacy@gmail.com 1800 W 35th St feature 17

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FIRST-YEAR TEACHERS JOIN THE MACULTY Smith’s 29th year of teaching is her first at McCallum

No stranger to Mac, new math teacher thrilled to join faculty

Matthew Whipple, the new math teacher in Room 119, has held many titles at McCallum: observing college student, substitute and parent. It’s his newest title that’s been the most unexpected to him: teacher.

“I couldn’t believe it when I got the call saying that I was hired,” Whipple said.

Whipple did all of his teacher observations at McCallum and subbed for teacher Yvonne McDaniel for six weeks. His daughter graduated from McCallum two years ago and his son is a sophomore now.

“I’ve been around McCallum for a long time,” Whipple said. “I’ve been around a lot of schools.

It’s the culture, the diversity and the way the kids interact with each other that I love.”

Whipple started college in Corpus Christi.

After moving to Austin, he finished his college education at ACC, received an associate’s degree for applied science in electronic technology and went to work at Dell in the engineering department. While working at tech companies, he got experience teaching by training people to do different jobs.

About eight years ago, he went back to college at Texas State and got a bachelor’s degree in mathematics with a minor in secondary education.

“I wanted a change,” Whipple said, “ I was getting tired of what I was doing, and I realized, ‘Oh, math teacher!’”

Whipple taught for four years at LBJ and did a

Matthew Whipple has been at many other desks before the one where he sits now in room 119.

Teaching at many schools previously, McCallum has always been his dream school. Photo by Laszlo King-Hovis. year subbing.

“I knew I was going to be a math teacher in a high school,” he said. “So I decided to take as many odd jobs as possible.”

He taught at everywhere from the Gardner Betts Juvenile Justice Center to Travis County Day School to the GO Project in Austin, but he’s happy where he ended up. He’s already involved in McCallum’s community, sponsoring a cardplayer club for anything from euchre to spades to poker.

“This is my dream school,” He said. “Out of all of the schools in Central Texas, this high school is the one that I always wanted to work at.”

—Laszlo King-Hovis

English teacher Amy Smith isn’t just new to McCallum, but also to Austin. After living in Dallas for 36 years, Smith moved to Austin with her husband and two dogs to be closer to her pregnant daughter. She was encouraged by her daughter and friends to get a job at McCallum. As soon as an opportunity opened up, she sent in her resume and drove three hours from Dallas to Austin for an interview with a committee including principal Mike Garrison and English department chair, Diana Adamson, who both thought she would be a good fit for McCallum.

“She fit a niche that we were looking for,” Garrison said. “We felt like she would be a really great contributor to the English department and to our students.”

Garrison believes her experience in other districts and her availability and openness to teach multiple levels of English will make her a substantial asset to McCallum. He describes her as a very nice person and a great English teacher. He also said that she was very highly recommended by her previous principals, colleagues and students. Adamson also thought she would he be an excellent addition to her English department.

“She’s really outgoing, well versed in her academic area, seems to be a team player, and she seems to really like kids,” Adamson said. “She has the ability to be able to laugh really easily and I kind of envy that.”

This is Smith’s 29th year teaching, and she is excited that it will be at McCallum. She has a teacher and an administrator on and off since 1982 at schools in Dallas, Plano and other cities around the DFW area. She loves the fine arts, freedom, diversity and acceptance of expression at McCallum, but most of all, she loves her new students.

“I like teenagers,” Smith said. “I think they’re fun and interesting and funny. I have found that teenagers are more open to ideas and more inclusive

than most people.”

She tries to provoke ideas with activities relating to the current book or lesson she is teaching. For example, during one recent class period, she posted 10 statements around her room based on the themes from Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe. She then had students walk around in pairs answering the questions on sticky notes based on their beliefs. She then has them analyze the answers and present the trends.

Smith wants her students to understand that there’s more than one way to interpret a text and to teach them how to prove their ideas and beliefs about the text with evidence.

“I want [my students] to learn that there are multiple meanings in a text and that they have to bring themselves to the text whenever they’re reading,” Smith said. “There’s no one real meaning of a text, so as long as you can support your ideas with textual evidence then your ideas are legitimate and let’s discuss it.”

Smith includes all of her students and tries to always share her thoughts during class discussions as well.

She wants her students to feel welcome and safe in her class. She is figuring out McCallum, just like some of her students are too, so she knows how they feel. She wants to teach her students to work on mindfulness and gratitude, which are both very important to her.

“Before you react to something, pause ... don’t send that text, don’t send that email, don’t say that thing,” Smith told her students in class. “Go into a situation considering that you might be wrong.”

Smith is excited to be in Austin. Along with being here to welcome her first grandchild, Alice Elizabeth, in early October, she also has a son who attended UT and continues to work here in Austin.

“I love Austin,” Smith said. “I love the food. I love the restaurants. I’ve been real happy being here.”

—Elisha Scott

Moore helps those in need With more than a decade of experience helping students stay on track, new Fine Arts Academy assistant Tonya Moore has long been committed to helping any students who needing guidance. At her new post at McCallum, Moore not only helps the fine arts students who need guidance, but anyone on campus who needs her help.

Amy Smith helps sophomore Marlee Foster in her English ll class. “I love English,” Smith said. “I love talking about literature, and I love teaching writing. I’ve never taught anything but English, and when I was in administration, most of the time I was the language arts director, so my whole professional life has been rooted in literature and writing.” Photo by Elisha Scott.

Cooke’s art, photography classes are all about chemistry

First-year art and photo teacher Andrew Cooke helps freshman Mohammed Almola on his Art I project. Photo by Janssen Transier.

18 feature

Though he is a first-year teacher, Andrew Cooke is no stranger to McCallum. After spending last year as a teacher aide for junior Jackson Sutton, he knows the school well. Cooke believes that his experience at McCallum last year has helped prepare him for his new challenges that will come with teaching Art 1 and commercial photography classes this year.

“Being an aide for Jackson, more than anything taught me patience, and just enjoying the good times,” Cooke said. “It’s not just working with Jackson; it’s working with everyone in the classroom. It really teaches you how to build solid relationships, and I sort of learned to be a better person.”

Before Cooke was at McCallum, he spent some time substitute teaching back in Houston, where he taught chemistry for a year at Jersey Village High School, the same high school that he graduated from. For Cooke, teaching at McCallum has been a much better experience.

“The biggest difference for me, is it feels like people are closer here,” Cooke said. “It feels like more students know each other; more teachers know each other. There’s more interaction. Here it feels like you have to know students a little bit more, which is great, because student interaction is my favorite part of the job anyway.”

Student interaction may be Cooke’s favorite part of teaching but he also loves his subject area. Cooke said he loves teaching Art 1, but photography is in what he has the most experience.

“That’s what I think I was hired to do,” Cooke said. “And

New world history teacher also coaching four sports

“Here it feels like you have to know students a little bit more, which is great, because student interaction is my favorite part of the job anyway.”

—Andrew Cooke

eventually I want to transition over to digital art, like drawing on the computer, but photography is my background. That’s what I have my degree in.”

Cooke already has ideas for making his photography class unique, starting with utilizing the dark room that the photography club built during spring break last year.

“When I was in school, we had a dark room,” Cooke said. “I thought it was a really great way to get kids involved, because it’s a cool thing that you can’t really do at home.,” Even though it is a couple weeks into the school year, Cooke has already had to face new challenges as a full-time teacher.

“It’s a lot of work,” Cooke said. “I love the work, and I love working, but teachers do a lot. You alway have to be planning weeks in advance. I would say that it’s the out-of-the-classroom stuff that is challenging, because being in the classroom is great.”

—Janssen Transier

To read more new teacher profiles, visit macshieldonline.com

Brad Bernard is a new world history teacher and offensive line coach for varsity football.

He is also the head freshman football coach, freshman baseball coach, girls track coach and wrestling coach. Bernard is not, however, new to teaching.

Before McCallum, Bernard taught and coached at three schools. He was a teacher at Eastview High School in Georgetown, a teacher at Bossier High School in Bossier City, La. and a football coach at Thibodaux High School in Thibodaux, La. But out of all the schools that Bernard has taught at, he believes that McCallum is the best one yet.

“I had some friends who were teaching here,” Bernard said “They loved teaching here, and I wanted to teach in Austin. I had some people call me about a job opening, and so I applied, and here I am. It’s a very unique place, like nowhere else I have ever been, and I have enjoyed it so far.”

Coaching at McCallum is a new opportunity for Bernard to coach sports that he has never coached before, including girls track and freshman baseball.

05 oct. 2018

In the past, when coaching boys track, Bernard specialized in javelin throw, discus and shot put so he is familiar with the sport. Baseball, however, is a sport that Bernard has only ever umpired and not coached.

“I’m looking forward to learning from Coach Gray, Coach Searle and Coach Amaro,” Bernard said.

Bernard is also excited for coaching because of the many relationships that will be formed with players and fellow coaches. He thinks that bonds with players are long lasting and important.

“I’ve had many of my former players from Louisiana call me to chat and see how I was doing,” Bernard said. “It’s nice to have those relationships.”

Bernard sees the best part of teaching in the same light that he does for coaching. He believes that building relationships with students and watching them succeed and learn what is being taught is a great feeling.

As a coach and a teacher, Bernard values hard work in the classroom and on the field.

“The most important thing is that the players are bought in, they do what they’re asked to do and they work hard every day.” Bernard said.

—Gregory James

Stone embraces new role New assistant principal Tamara Stone believes that McCallum will be a good place for her to grow. “Every day is a different day, so you never know what’s gonna be on the calendar for the day, or who’s going to need assistance or help. ... Every day I’ve been here I’ve met somebody new, so I enjoy that because I love people.”

Tucker: teacher, traveler, coach World history teacher Brad Bernard is also the head freshman football coach in addition to coaching the varsity offensive line, the girls track team, the freshman baseball team and the wrestling team. Bernard is new to Austin, and so far has enjoyed running and kayaking on Lake Austin. Photo by Gregory James.

Zach Tucker has been to many places around the globe. He even got his English teaching certification for foreign students in Costa Rica. Tucker teaches world geography and world history and coaches freshman football, varsity football and JV soccer.

To learn about the places where he’s been and his experiences there, please visit macshieldonline.com.

feature 19

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FIRST-YEAR TEACHERS JOIN THE MACULTY Smith’s 29th year of teaching is her first at McCallum

No stranger to Mac, new math teacher thrilled to join faculty

Matthew Whipple, the new math teacher in Room 119, has held many titles at McCallum: observing college student, substitute and parent. It’s his newest title that’s been the most unexpected to him: teacher.

“I couldn’t believe it when I got the call saying that I was hired,” Whipple said.

Whipple did all of his teacher observations at McCallum and subbed for teacher Yvonne McDaniel for six weeks. His daughter graduated from McCallum two years ago and his son is a sophomore now.

“I’ve been around McCallum for a long time,” Whipple said. “I’ve been around a lot of schools.

It’s the culture, the diversity and the way the kids interact with each other that I love.”

Whipple started college in Corpus Christi.

After moving to Austin, he finished his college education at ACC, received an associate’s degree for applied science in electronic technology and went to work at Dell in the engineering department. While working at tech companies, he got experience teaching by training people to do different jobs.

About eight years ago, he went back to college at Texas State and got a bachelor’s degree in mathematics with a minor in secondary education.

“I wanted a change,” Whipple said, “ I was getting tired of what I was doing, and I realized, ‘Oh, math teacher!’”

Whipple taught for four years at LBJ and did a

Matthew Whipple has been at many other desks before the one where he sits now in room 119.

Teaching at many schools previously, McCallum has always been his dream school. Photo by Laszlo King-Hovis. year subbing.

“I knew I was going to be a math teacher in a high school,” he said. “So I decided to take as many odd jobs as possible.”

He taught at everywhere from the Gardner Betts Juvenile Justice Center to Travis County Day School to the GO Project in Austin, but he’s happy where he ended up. He’s already involved in McCallum’s community, sponsoring a cardplayer club for anything from euchre to spades to poker.

“This is my dream school,” He said. “Out of all of the schools in Central Texas, this high school is the one that I always wanted to work at.”

—Laszlo King-Hovis

English teacher Amy Smith isn’t just new to McCallum, but also to Austin. After living in Dallas for 36 years, Smith moved to Austin with her husband and two dogs to be closer to her pregnant daughter. She was encouraged by her daughter and friends to get a job at McCallum. As soon as an opportunity opened up, she sent in her resume and drove three hours from Dallas to Austin for an interview with a committee including principal Mike Garrison and English department chair, Diana Adamson, who both thought she would be a good fit for McCallum.

“She fit a niche that we were looking for,” Garrison said. “We felt like she would be a really great contributor to the English department and to our students.”

Garrison believes her experience in other districts and her availability and openness to teach multiple levels of English will make her a substantial asset to McCallum. He describes her as a very nice person and a great English teacher. He also said that she was very highly recommended by her previous principals, colleagues and students. Adamson also thought she would he be an excellent addition to her English department.

“She’s really outgoing, well versed in her academic area, seems to be a team player, and she seems to really like kids,” Adamson said. “She has the ability to be able to laugh really easily and I kind of envy that.”

This is Smith’s 29th year teaching, and she is excited that it will be at McCallum. She has a teacher and an administrator on and off since 1982 at schools in Dallas, Plano and other cities around the DFW area. She loves the fine arts, freedom, diversity and acceptance of expression at McCallum, but most of all, she loves her new students.

“I like teenagers,” Smith said. “I think they’re fun and interesting and funny. I have found that teenagers are more open to ideas and more inclusive

than most people.”

She tries to provoke ideas with activities relating to the current book or lesson she is teaching. For example, during one recent class period, she posted 10 statements around her room based on the themes from Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe. She then had students walk around in pairs answering the questions on sticky notes based on their beliefs. She then has them analyze the answers and present the trends.

Smith wants her students to understand that there’s more than one way to interpret a text and to teach them how to prove their ideas and beliefs about the text with evidence.

“I want [my students] to learn that there are multiple meanings in a text and that they have to bring themselves to the text whenever they’re reading,” Smith said. “There’s no one real meaning of a text, so as long as you can support your ideas with textual evidence then your ideas are legitimate and let’s discuss it.”

Smith includes all of her students and tries to always share her thoughts during class discussions as well.

She wants her students to feel welcome and safe in her class. She is figuring out McCallum, just like some of her students are too, so she knows how they feel. She wants to teach her students to work on mindfulness and gratitude, which are both very important to her.

“Before you react to something, pause ... don’t send that text, don’t send that email, don’t say that thing,” Smith told her students in class. “Go into a situation considering that you might be wrong.”

Smith is excited to be in Austin. Along with being here to welcome her first grandchild, Alice Elizabeth, in early October, she also has a son who attended UT and continues to work here in Austin.

“I love Austin,” Smith said. “I love the food. I love the restaurants. I’ve been real happy being here.”

—Elisha Scott

Moore helps those in need With more than a decade of experience helping students stay on track, new Fine Arts Academy assistant Tonya Moore has long been committed to helping any students who needing guidance. At her new post at McCallum, Moore not only helps the fine arts students who need guidance, but anyone on campus who needs her help.

Amy Smith helps sophomore Marlee Foster in her English ll class. “I love English,” Smith said. “I love talking about literature, and I love teaching writing. I’ve never taught anything but English, and when I was in administration, most of the time I was the language arts director, so my whole professional life has been rooted in literature and writing.” Photo by Elisha Scott.

Cooke’s art, photography classes are all about chemistry

First-year art and photo teacher Andrew Cooke helps freshman Mohammed Almola on his Art I project. Photo by Janssen Transier.

18 feature

Though he is a first-year teacher, Andrew Cooke is no stranger to McCallum. After spending last year as a teacher aide for junior Jackson Sutton, he knows the school well. Cooke believes that his experience at McCallum last year has helped prepare him for his new challenges that will come with teaching Art 1 and commercial photography classes this year.

“Being an aide for Jackson, more than anything taught me patience, and just enjoying the good times,” Cooke said. “It’s not just working with Jackson; it’s working with everyone in the classroom. It really teaches you how to build solid relationships, and I sort of learned to be a better person.”

Before Cooke was at McCallum, he spent some time substitute teaching back in Houston, where he taught chemistry for a year at Jersey Village High School, the same high school that he graduated from. For Cooke, teaching at McCallum has been a much better experience.

“The biggest difference for me, is it feels like people are closer here,” Cooke said. “It feels like more students know each other; more teachers know each other. There’s more interaction. Here it feels like you have to know students a little bit more, which is great, because student interaction is my favorite part of the job anyway.”

Student interaction may be Cooke’s favorite part of teaching but he also loves his subject area. Cooke said he loves teaching Art 1, but photography is in what he has the most experience.

“That’s what I think I was hired to do,” Cooke said. “And

New world history teacher also coaching four sports

“Here it feels like you have to know students a little bit more, which is great, because student interaction is my favorite part of the job anyway.”

—Andrew Cooke

eventually I want to transition over to digital art, like drawing on the computer, but photography is my background. That’s what I have my degree in.”

Cooke already has ideas for making his photography class unique, starting with utilizing the dark room that the photography club built during spring break last year.

“When I was in school, we had a dark room,” Cooke said. “I thought it was a really great way to get kids involved, because it’s a cool thing that you can’t really do at home.,” Even though it is a couple weeks into the school year, Cooke has already had to face new challenges as a full-time teacher.

“It’s a lot of work,” Cooke said. “I love the work, and I love working, but teachers do a lot. You alway have to be planning weeks in advance. I would say that it’s the out-of-the-classroom stuff that is challenging, because being in the classroom is great.”

—Janssen Transier

To read more new teacher profiles, visit macshieldonline.com

Brad Bernard is a new world history teacher and offensive line coach for varsity football.

He is also the head freshman football coach, freshman baseball coach, girls track coach and wrestling coach. Bernard is not, however, new to teaching.

Before McCallum, Bernard taught and coached at three schools. He was a teacher at Eastview High School in Georgetown, a teacher at Bossier High School in Bossier City, La. and a football coach at Thibodaux High School in Thibodaux, La. But out of all the schools that Bernard has taught at, he believes that McCallum is the best one yet.

“I had some friends who were teaching here,” Bernard said “They loved teaching here, and I wanted to teach in Austin. I had some people call me about a job opening, and so I applied, and here I am. It’s a very unique place, like nowhere else I have ever been, and I have enjoyed it so far.”

Coaching at McCallum is a new opportunity for Bernard to coach sports that he has never coached before, including girls track and freshman baseball.

05 oct. 2018

In the past, when coaching boys track, Bernard specialized in javelin throw, discus and shot put so he is familiar with the sport. Baseball, however, is a sport that Bernard has only ever umpired and not coached.

“I’m looking forward to learning from Coach Gray, Coach Searle and Coach Amaro,” Bernard said.

Bernard is also excited for coaching because of the many relationships that will be formed with players and fellow coaches. He thinks that bonds with players are long lasting and important.

“I’ve had many of my former players from Louisiana call me to chat and see how I was doing,” Bernard said. “It’s nice to have those relationships.”

Bernard sees the best part of teaching in the same light that he does for coaching. He believes that building relationships with students and watching them succeed and learn what is being taught is a great feeling.

As a coach and a teacher, Bernard values hard work in the classroom and on the field.

“The most important thing is that the players are bought in, they do what they’re asked to do and they work hard every day.” Bernard said.

—Gregory James

Stone embraces new role New assistant principal Tamara Stone believes that McCallum will be a good place for her to grow. “Every day is a different day, so you never know what’s gonna be on the calendar for the day, or who’s going to need assistance or help. ... Every day I’ve been here I’ve met somebody new, so I enjoy that because I love people.”

Tucker: teacher, traveler, coach World history teacher Brad Bernard is also the head freshman football coach in addition to coaching the varsity offensive line, the girls track team, the freshman baseball team and the wrestling team. Bernard is new to Austin, and so far has enjoyed running and kayaking on Lake Austin. Photo by Gregory James.

Zach Tucker has been to many places around the globe. He even got his English teaching certification for foreign students in Costa Rica. Tucker teaches world geography and world history and coaches freshman football, varsity football and JV soccer.

To learn about the places where he’s been and his experiences there, please visit macshieldonline.com.

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Lifeguarding legend has Mac roots Before she was Austin’s oldest lifeguard, Leslie Botts made a difference in the lives of her students JANSSEN TRANSIER

“I can’t tell you how many times I thought ‘Oh God, what was I thinking,’ but it’s this thing in me … this tenacity that makes me want to just push through.”—Leslie Botts

staff reporter If you have read the name Leslie Botts in a newspaper or online recently, you already know that she is “Austin’s oldest lifeguard.”

Before she achieved local fame, however, she was improving the lives of students here at McCallum first as a special education and later as a substitute teacher.

From 2000 to 2007, Botts worked at McCallum teaching special education students. When she first arrived at McCallum, she says she was told not to bother trying to teach her students to read. Botts was determined, however, and as a class they read a book about Gordon Parks, a famous AfricanAmerican photographer.

“When we got through with the book,” Botts said, “I had many students tell me that it was their first time reading a book cover to cover. It practically drew me to tears because I love reading. I think being able to read is the doorway to so many things.”

After that success, Botts was on a mission.

“I was determined to get them to read on their own,” Botts said. “And they did. I think their favorite one was Of Mice And Men by John Steinbeck; they absolutely loved that one. I think they showed everyone they were a lot more capable than everyone thought [they were].”Botts said.

Despite their reading accomplishments in her class, her students still felt as though they weren’t really a part of McCallum.

“I think they felt really disconnected,” Botts said.

She said her students felt left out of a lot of school institutions, including the school newspaper, The Shield.

“They told me this, and I immediately challenged them to start their own newspaper,” Botts said.

“To my surprise, they jumped right on it.”

Botts’ students decided to call their new publication True Image because they felt they were misunderstood as individuals and as a group.

“And so they spent more than six weeks on this paper,” Botts said. “Once it was finished, we all came together in class and put the paper together.”

Botts describes all of her students standing in her room, picking through the pages and looking for their articles as one of her most vivid, powerful memories from her teaching career.

“I have never seen such pride on students’ faces,” she said. “It was one of those moments as a teacher where you step back and just say to yourself, ‘This is worth all of the blood, sweat and tears that it took us to get here.’

When the paper came out, we got a lot of positive feedback from the custodial staff and the people who work in the cafeteria, but we did get some negative feedback from other teachers and stuff like that, but honestly at that point in my career, the students’ needs were above mine. If I got in trouble for it, so be it. It was the students who came first. That whole experience was one of the high points in

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Leslie Botts watches over Bartholomew Pool. At 70 years old, Botts is Austin’s oldest lifeguard and a former Mac teacher. Botts also lifeguards at Deep Eddy, Springwoods and Northwest pools. In addition to lifeguarding, she enjoys yoga, painting and photography. Photo By Janssen Transier.

30 years of teaching.”

Although she retired in May of 2007, Botts by no means settled down. Shortly after, she moved to St. Johns in the U.S. Virgin Islands.

Botts worked as an activities director for an eco-resort and on her off-days taught yoga.

“I lived in a little screened hut on stilts,” Botts said. “I wanted for nothing; my life was very simple. It was a dream come true.”

When Botts returned to Austin, she picked up a couple of hobbies, including painting, photography and, of course, swimming. These pastimes, along with continuing her work as a private yoga instructor, kept her busy until she discovered lifeguarding this past year.

Being a lover of swimming and of water for decades, Botts said that lifeguarding just

seemed like the natural next move for her.

Because of her time spent swimming at the same pools every day for years, she became very close with a few of the guards at Deep Eddy Pool and Barton Springs.

“I’ve never met a lifeguard I didn’t like,” she said. “When the city really started recruiting and saying that they didn’t have enough lifeguards, I started to think about it, and I said to myself, ‘Well, heck, I can do this.’”

And so she did.

“Eventually the word got out that I wanted to be a lifeguard,” she said. “When I would go to Barton Springs, the lifeguards would tell me, ‘In order to do this, you really need to practice.’”

Because Botts was so close with the guards at Barton Springs, some of them agreed to meet

her at a pool on their own time and help her practice her lifeguarding skills.

“At times, I would say ‘I just can’t do this,’ because it wore me out,” Botts said. “People don’t get it because they aren’t 70; it takes a lot of effort.”

Botts remembers the training to be a lifeguard being difficult. Lifeguards for the City of Austin must complete a rigorous 40-hour training course covering all of the necessary Red Cross skills, as well as demonstrating the ability to swim 300 meters, tread water without hands for two minutes and retrieve a brick from the bottom of a 10-foot diving well.

“I can’t tell you how many times I thought ‘Oh God, what was I thinking,’ but it’s this thing in me … this tenacity that makes me want to just push through,” Botts said. “It was my tenacity, and really it was having a number of very supportive people in the lifeguard community.”

When Botts became a lifeguard, there was a period of time when there were several articles written about her by high profile news outlets such as The Washington Post.

“I’m really a fairly quiet, somewhat shy person,” Botts said, “so all of this attention was a lot to handle. When it came out to the public, everywhere I would go people would go, ‘Oh! You’re the lifeguard!’ Mostly it was fun, but sometimes I felt like I had an image I had to uphold, which I didn’t want. I just wanted to be, as much as a 70-year-old could be, part of the group.”

Botts also found the constant testing of her lifeguarding skills to be challenging.

“I’ve never been in a job before where you are constantly being, in a sense, tested on your skills,” she said. “When I’m sitting up in that chair, I’m not thinking about anything else.

I’m thinking about what sort of rescue I would perform, or what sort of jump I would do. My mind isn’t anywhere else. So, contrary to what a lot of people ask me, lifeguarding isn’t easy; you have to constantly be focused.”

Despite her passion for lifeguarding, Botts doesn’t have any plans to move to a higher position such as head lifeguard or manager.

“In the beginning I had a number of guards ask me if I wanted to move up at all,” she said, “and my answer is always the same: ‘Nope’. At this point in my life, I’ve had my career; I’ve done all that. I just enjoy guarding and enjoy being with the people at the pool, I’m satisfied with that.”

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Jackson’s Eye TV wins big

Junior one of three Texas artists honored at inaugural VSA Texas Artist of the Year Awards ELLEN FOX

In his speech accepting the Director’s Commendation, Sutton said, “This is the greatest achievement I have ever laid my hands on. I never thought I would make it to here.” Sutton said in his award speech.

Photo by Anna McClellan.

staff reporter Junior Jackson Sutton received the Director’s Commendation at the first ever Very Special Artists, or VSA, Texas Artist of the Year Awards on Sunday Sept. 16 at the Sterling Event Center.

Sutton makes his art, typically paintings, at home or in his classes here at McCallum, with his much-loved teacher Jeffrey Martinez. Sutton’s passion for art has now earned him statewide recognition.

Those close to Sutton, who has autism, say he disproves the misconception that autistic people see the world in a rigid way. His art teacher, Martinez, describes how Sutton portrays the world in a unique way.

“With Jackson, he definitely has a vision of what he’s doing,” Martinez said. “He calls it Jackson’s Eye TV, so a lot of his ideas come from his own head and Jackson’s Eye TV, so he will just develop it out. And so part of my goal is to just hone in on those concepts, and tighten up his composition, so it’s not the same composition (as other pieces).”

Martinez adds that Jackson has always been fascinated with other parts of the world.

“He’s very culturally responsive,” Martinez said. “He’s very aware of culture and race; a lot of times those kind of ideas go into his work. ... He really comes from things that are kind of in his head, but also his experiences from art history and things that he’s seen, so he has the ability of looking at stuff and understanding it and then reinterpreting it, or actually looking at people’s cultures and then developing that out too.”

As Sutton received his award, he said, “I have always been fascinated with different peoples and their cultures. ... I’m interested in all people, and that is why I admire diversity. ... This is a good example of why I and some people with intellectual disabilities are very smart. Also, in my everyday life, I use historical stuff as an aesthetic for my art and sketches; for example, influence by Greek or Roman mythology, Russian church frescoes, movies on nature, medieval or impressionist times and 2000s documentaries and other things.”

Though he received a Director’s Commendation specifically for his visual art, Sutton works through many different types of media. His website, JacksonsEyeTV.com, states that his love of cultures has inspired not only his visual art works but his compositions and poems as well.

“Diagnosed with autism at age 4, Jackson began drawing obsessively at 18 months old,” the website says. “He composed his first song at age 3 and was consumed with interests that seemed otherworldly for a small child: languages, mythology, art, music, and the natural world.

Once he could communicate verbally at age 5, he was able to tell us how he was experiencing what most of us call reality: a wonderful place of beauty that he named Jackson’s Eye TV, that he alone could see inside his mind.”

To receive the award, Sutton was nominated by six different people in the community, some of

05 oct. 2018

“[Jackson’s] always been a really gifted artist. He loves to educate people with his art; he likes to tell people about people with autism and other disabilities, that they are just as capable as anybody else.”

—Rene Craft, Sutton’s mother

whom worked with other art mediums.

“Jackson is also in improv, he is a poet, and he writes music. So we talked about different forms of art that he likes,” said Sutton’s mother, Rene Craft. “He is mainly a visual artist. He’s always been a really gifted artist. He loves to educate people with his art; he likes to tell people about people with autism and other disabilities, that they are just as capable as anybody else.”

Sutton himself says that he hopes that his art educates others about his life and what it means to have autism.

“I feel like I inspire [people with autism],” Sutton said, “and I help them see the real big picture of what autistic people really are.”

Along with Sutton, who earned a Director’s Commendation, the other winners were SPARK Award winner Jordana Gerlach and Haven Allen Artist of the Year winner Joan Fabian. Photo

by Ellen Fox. In “A British December,” on display at the awards ceremony, Sutton portrays a young boy feeding a bird in a late 19th-century setting.

Sutton created the work in his freshman art class. Photo by Anna McClellan.

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20-year-old runs for school board

Anderson grad, UT junior Zachary Price prioritizes health, equity and listening to student input SOPHIE RYLAND co-editor in chief Arriving at his interview with The Shield, Zachary Price burst into Thunderbird Cafe, out of breath, in a crisply-ironed purple shirt and black blazer. The 20-year-old had just come from a lecture and to all observers he seemed like a normal college student, with his young features and bright enthusiasm, albeit an unusually welldressed one. Price, however, is not spending his free time engaging in Greek life, playing Frisbee in the quad or tailgating before football games: he is running for the school board seat in District 4, which includes McCallum and Anderson.

“I’m not running as like, some sort of suicidal candidacy,” Price said. “I’m running because there are things I believe in that our current school board isn’t doing right, and I think it is going to take something different to make that happen. I’ve had a lot of really good conversations with parents and students and community members to make sure that they were seeing the same things I was and to hear what they were saying.”

Price is a junior at the University of Texas at Austin where he is majoring in government.

In his free time, he plays trombone and soccer and presides as president over Texas Votes, an organization that registers and encourages students to vote.

“For as long as I can remember, I’ve wanted to do something to give back to my community,” he said. “I’m a government major at UT in the first place because I want the chance to make our public schools better. No matter what happens on Nov. 6, I’m gonna keep working to make our schools better and make Austin a better place to live.”

His platform, as listed on his website, prioritizes mental health, preventing sexual assault and educational equity. His suggestions include setting up an online and anonymous reporting system for sexual assault and harassment and an advisory body made up entirely of students.

“I go and talk about these issues that no other current member of our school board, no other candidate is talking about, and I get fantastic responses from students, parents and community members and teachers. Because at the end of the day, our schools are about our students. And if we’re not doing everything we can to provide a good community for them, somewhere where they feel safe, somewhere where they feel like there are resources in place in case they need them, then we’re failing. So the response I’m getting, even speaking to neighborhood associations, to PTAs, when I’m talking about some of these student issues, is fantastic. Because the parents see the problems I’m talking about in their own kids, in their kids’ friends, and they’re glad that there’s someone talking about them.”

He says that another way he would attempt to change the Board of Trustees is to prioritize student opinion; having been inspired by the wave of youth political activism after the Parkland shooting, he says that the district

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School board candidate Zachary Price meets with community members at his Brewtorium campaign event. “I’m not running away from the fact that I’m young,” Price said. His opponent, Kristin Ashy, 44, has the endorsement of current District 4 Trustee Julie Cowan. Photos by Elisha Scott. should be engaging with the present generation’s politically energized students.

“The biggest thing I would say uniting a lot of the issues is that the school board does very, very little to engage students, period,” he said.

“You have these kids who are, especially right now, dying to have their voices heard, because they’re afraid that schools aren’t going to be a safe space, that our schools aren’t doing enough to help kids succeed, and truly, the grownups are ignoring them.”

Price attended Anderson High School, where he played on the soccer team, in the marching band and on the Science Olympiad team. He was also a representative to the Austin Youth Council. His little brother Ben is currently attending Gullett Elementary.

“If elected, I would be the only member of the Austin ISD Board to have attended an Austin ISD school in the last 20 years,” he said. “That gap in classroom experience has a direct impact on the priorities our school board chooses. It’s important to have people with experience as students in our schools and whose priorities reflect that experience.”

Recounting his high school experience, he adds with a laugh, “I graduated from Anderson High; don’t hold that against me. Congrats on the Taco Shack Bowl win; y’all earned that.”

Running opposite him is Kristin Ashy, a 44-year-old AISD parent and former PTA president who attended Crockett High School and has served on various district committees and councils. Current District 4 Trustee Julie Cowan, who is not running for re-election, has endorsed Ashy.

“While not the norm, I am glad to see youth of America actively engaged and willing to step

into public service,” she said of Price’s campaign.

Price says that though he is young, he feels that experience is actually a strength for his candidacy. He has served as an AmeriCorps volunteer at Austin Partners in Education and as an intern at Communities in Schools. He is also the co-founder of The Language Campaign, an organization that pairs ESL students in AISD high schools with college-age mentors. He has interned with the offices of Austin Mayor Steve Adler and Texas senator Kirk Watson and served as assistant communications director in the office of Rep. Ryan Guillen.

Price has been endorsed by 11 organizations, including Education Austin, The Austin Central Labor Council, the Travis County Democratic Party, Austin Young Democrats and State Rep. Gina Hinojosa, D-Austin.

“It certainly feels like I’m gaining momentum, and I’m really excited to see a lot of people in the community who wouldn’t necessarily need to stand behind a young candidate and say that this is the type of change we need in our local politics,” Price said. “There is no part of me that was sure that I would get the support I needed. I’ve been working my butt off to get it, and so it’s really good to see the work come in and produce the results, and at the end of the day it’s reflective of the community and what they want.”

McCallum parent Laura Yeager says that she first met Price six years ago when he was on the same soccer team as her son, and he was the only student who consistently showed up to board meetings. She met him again in 2016 at a Texas Votes event, and yet again that year while he was interning at the Texas Capitol.

She said his maturity as a college freshmen

impressed her. Recently, she says that she is even more impressed with his policy and hardworking attitude.

“Zach’s priorities are my priorities,” she said.

“He wants to give students a voice. ... Zach understands that the fate of every AISD student is tied together and that as one kid rises, we all rise. I really have faith in the youth of today to cut through the divisions the older generation has created—be they of race, gender, or party.

Zach is willing to stand up for what is right, and he will do it with a smile and sincerity. ... I am hopeful that with Zach on the board, it will inspire other young leaders to come forward and help lead our district, state and country into a place where we really have liberty, equality and justice for all.”

He says that no matter the outcome of the election, he will continue pursuing ways to influence education policy through public service. Despite the unusual nature of his candidacy, however, he is hopeful.

“I’m an optimist, and I think you kinda have to be to do something like run for office;,” Price said. “Some part of you has to be like, ‘Yeah, I have a shot.’”

Above all, he wants people to understand that he is not running as a 20-year-old student, but as a passionate candidate. If elected, he vows to take it as seriously as the position deserves.

“I may be young, but I am absolutely qualified to hold this position, and prepared to work day-in day-out to make our schools better,” Price said. “Young people are the most affected group by the policies the school board puts in place-- why on Earth shouldn’t they get a voice in the process?”

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Compton poses for a portrait at the annual baseball dinner prior to the start of the 2018 season. Photo by Dave Winter.

As a member of the special teams unit, Compton runs off the field after Jalen Sutton returned the opening kickoff of the Lehman game for a touchdown on Sept. 7 at House Park. The Knights overcame a two-touchdown deficit to win, 40-27. Photo by Gregory James.

Sports Profile: Nick Compton Veteran outfielder answers call to strap on pads for first time The Shield : What made you want to play both baseball and football?

NC: I’ve always played baseball and most of my friends played football, so I just wanted to give it a shot and try it.

High school is also the last opportunity to play football, so I just wanted to give it a shot.

TS: Do either sports conflict with one another?

NC: I will miss some of the offseason for baseball because of football season, but otherwise [not much].

TS: Which sport do you prefer more and why?

NC: Football is fun because it is the first time that I’ve played it, and new things are more fun because old things can get pretty repetitive.

TS: Athletes have to eat healthy food to stay in shape, what foods do you eat?

NC: I just eat a lot of meat and protein.

TS: What do you do to keep in shape during offseason?

NC: I mainly workout and lift weights during offseason.

TS: Do you have any heroes in sports that you look up to?

NC: I love the Boston Red Sox and I like David Ortiz.

TS: What’s your greatest thrill in a game?

NC: The greatest thrill is that we work hard throughout the week and just get to get a win at the end of the week.

TS: What is your favorite and least favorite position in baseball?

NC: I don’t like playing catcher, but I like playing outfield to center field.

TS: What do you enjoy the most about each sport?

NC: I like the competitiveness in football. For baseball, it’s just my favorite sport to play so I like playing it in general.

TS: Since football season is in first semester and baseball is in second semester how do you handle switching sports?

NC: This year both sports are in the same period, first and fifth period so it won’t be too much of a difference.

TS: How do you prepare to tackle both sports?

NC: I just stay on top of my grades and try to procrastinate as little as possible so I won’t get behind.

5 oct. 2017

Nick Compton

What is Nick Compton’s favorite movie?

What is Nick Compton’s favorite food?

Who is Nick Compton’s favorite teacher?

Sandlot

Ms. Compton

Anna Compton





No clue

No clue

 Pizza

Ice cream

 Adamson

Adamson

What is Nick Compton’s favorite color?

Blue

Blue

What is Nick Compton’s favorite career highlight?

Beating Anderson last year

Hitting a home run in a game

 Rookie of the Year

 Bacon

 Sandwich

 Adamson



 Coles



 Green



Cole Davis

Blue



Probablybeating Anderson



Hitting a home run against Austin

The Shield asked Compton five questions about himself and then asked his mom, his sister and his teammate what they thought Compton’s responses were. We found out that mother and sister know best.

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Sports Profile: Naiya Antar

Senior cheerleader and basketball player sets goals high, toe touches higher BELLA RUSSO staff reporter By the end of her junior year, Naiya Antar was determined to make the most of her last year at McCallum. The basketball athlete tried out for the cheer squad, and now she’s spending the football season on the sidelines, dancing with pompoms in a blueand-white uniform.

“Since it is my senior year, I wanted to go all out,” Antar said. “I wanted to get all the McCallum gear, be in every football game, and support. Most of the seniors are on the football team, and I’ve been growing up with them since middle school, so it’s really great to see them from seventh grade to now.”

Antar, McCallum’s resident senior cheerleader, supports her team in more ways than one. As her group’s backspot, her role is to serve as a base and spotter to the stunters.

In their other cheers, she leads the group with enthusiasm and attitude. Antar may not be a captain, but her commanding presence can be felt at every football game when she leads the crowd in cheers. “[Naiya] is so kind, but she’s also fierce,” Cheer coach Kristen Cerame said. “She’s a gogetter and a hard worker. She’s determined, she’s fun, she’s got personality and sass. She adds a lot of her personality into the routine.

She’s the only senior too, so she’s also like the ‘Mama.’ A lot of people look up to her for that.”

Like most at Mac, Antar feels the football team’s Taco Shack victory was the highlight of her season so far. Even though the cheerleaders put a lot of hours into the game, waking up at four in the morning to decorate the Taco Shack and cheering well into the night, supporting McCallum in their win over Anderson made it all worth it. “[Taco Shack] was like the longest day of my life, but it was the best day,” Antar said.

“To see the crowd going crazy over the football players and then get pumped up when they see us cheer: it’s really fun.”

Like in basketball, one of Antar’s favorite aspects of cheer is the experiences she’s had with the rest of her team.

“When we went to [Universal Cheerleaders Association] over the summer, we all really bonded,” Antar said. “Before we were like, ‘Oh, we’re just a cheer team, and we cheer at McCallum,’ and afterwards we were like, ‘Yeah, we’re from McCallum, what’s up!’ It was really great to have that bonding experience.”

When basketball season starts, Antar will go back to the court on the varsity basketball team. Although she has enjoyed her season as a cheerleader, Antar admits that basketball is still her favorite.

“There are different aspects that go into each of them,” Antar said. “Cheer, it’s so much fun cheering people on and being a part of the game. But basketball, being in the game and being in people’s faces and scoring points on people, that’s what really makes me feel good.”

Antar has a much longer history with basketball; she’s been playing since she was 3

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Surrounded by her teammates, Naiya Antar leads the crowd in a cheer at the Mac vs. LBJ game. Although Mac lost the game 41-7 and the team had to cheer through a driving rainstorm, Antar says that she has a good time despite the final score and the wet weather. “To see the crowd going crazy over the football players and then get pumped up when they see us cheer, it’s really fun,” Antar said. Photo by Bella Russo.

“Since it is my senior year, I wanted to go all out; I wanted to get all the McCallum gear, be in every football game and support.”

—Naiyah Antar

or 4 and has played for teams since elementary school. Basketball has always been personal. Her parents and coaches serve as big motivators, constantly pushing her to succeed and inspiring her to love the game, especially her father who was at every game when she was younger.

“Going into eighth grade, my dad passed away, so I dedicated the rest of my basketball career to my dad,” Antar said. “The very first eighth-grade game I dedicated to him and I said, ‘We’re gonna win this game.’ It was against Fulmore, and we were down five points, and there was like three minutes left, and we won the game. That was probably my biggest accomplishment.”

Antar also hopes to play basketball in

college. So far she has attracted the attention of two Virginia colleges, including Howard University, although her dream college is Prairie View A&M. “Coach Kehn has really helped me because she used to be at the University of Houston in the basketball program, so she’s been helping me step my game up as a post and having a higher basketball IQ,” Antar said.

Although the first basketball game of the season is still a ways away, Antar has already set her goals for her last season at McCallum.

Above all, she is intent on winning the district championship her senior year and maybe even moving on to state. Antar may be too busy with cheer to play basketball in the fall league, but she is still hopeful and confident in her team.

“I think we have a really powerful team this year,” Antar said. “The basketball team, we kind of had issues in the past with bonding and everything, but as the years have progressed, we’ve gotten closer; we’ve squashed those issues; we’ve come together, and we’re doing really well during practice. From what I hear, we are canceling other teams out.”

Antar poses during the cheer squads pep rally performance before the LBJ game. “[Naiya] adds a lot of personality into the routine” cheer coach Kristen Cerame said. Photo by Risa Darlington-Horta.

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Don’t consider MLS in Austin a done deal just yet

Despite passing a stadium deal, Austin FC must overcome challenges

A rendering of what Austin FC’s McKalla Place stadium would look like hosting a soccer game. The Austin City Council voted to allow Austin FC owner Anthony Precourt to build a stadium on the government-owned land on Aug. 15. The stadium is expected to be built and host Austin FC’s games starting in the 2021 MLS season. Photo courtesy of mls2atx.com. Reprinted with permission.

G

etting Austin a Major League Soccer team has been a dream of many Austin sports fans like me for a long time. It’s been a long history of excitement when we got a hint of Austin getting a team, followed by a period of hope, but in the end we always ended up disappointed. Every time the MLS looked to expand, we thought that this would be the time we would get a team.

Then Columbus Crew owner Anthony Precourt said that he was considering Austin as a potential city to relocate his team. This excited us and gave us hope, but almost a year passed before we heard any new news of significance. Then, the biggest breakthrough for Austin getting a MLS team came on Aug. 15, as the Austin City Council voted to allow Precourt to build a stadium at McKalla Place.

The hope for Austin getting a MLS team is now the highest it has ever been. Precourt has already revealed that the name of the potential team, Austin FC, and he has also released the team’s logo featuring two green trees in the center. Now it seems that Austin is just a temporary stadium, a training facility and an announcement from the MLS away from officially being home to a team in the biggest soccer league in the United States. Because the stadium deal has been passed, it seems like the hope might end in celebration this time, not disappointment.

The stadium deal was a huge win for Austin, and not just because we are finally getting a

05 oct. 2018

team in the fastest growing sports league in the United States. Not only will Precourt Sports Ventures be building a $200 million stadium to be owned by the city of Austin that can be used in a variety of ways, but Austin FC will be responsible, according to the term sheet, to provide a multitude of community benefits to Austin, including a donation of almost $5 million to affordable housing and more than $50 million toward developing youth soccer in Austin. Not only will Austin FC be bringing high-level professional soccer to Austin, but they will also be helping to grow soccer’s roots in Austin’s youth.

Just how well will Austin FC do at filling up its new stadium for games? It’s a legitimate question, especially considering Austin has never been home to a MLS team, or any major professional sports team, for that matter. But I don’t believe it should be too hard to fill out a majority of the 20,000-seat stadium; almost 100,000 people go to each Longhorn football game despite the team hovering around .500 for most of the past decade.

The biggest reason to have doubt in the MLS coming to Austin is the fact that they have no place to play right now. For the first two years of the Austin FC, from when the team is supposed to enter the MLS in 2019 to when the McKalla Place Stadium is supposed to be finished in 2021, the team will have to play at a temporary stadium. Finding a temporary stadium to host the team for their first two seasons is the biggest obstacle that the Austin FC will have to overcome, as not finding a place to play by the 2019 MLS season would completely derail Austin’s chances of securing the team. Right now, it looks like the Dell Diamond, home of the Round Rock Express,

Columbus Crew by the numbers

The Austin FC badge features two green trees. The branches hold 11 leaves, which represents fans supporting the 11 players on the field, while the two intertwining trunks represent the joining of Austin FC and the city of Austin. Photo courtesy of mls2atx.com.

Reposted with permission. is the best bet for where Austin FC will play during the 2019 and 2020 seasons, but it is far from being a done deal.

Another obstacle for the Columbus Crew moving to Austin is a lawsuit that the city of Columbus has filed against Precourt over his attempt to relocate the team. So until Precourt can get past those two obstacles, don’t consider the Austin FC a done deal just yet.

23

seasons the Columbus Crew has played in the MLS

5

seasons that Precourt Sports Ventures has owned the Crew

1

MLS championship won by the Crew, in 2008

13

games the Crew has won this seasons along with 9 losses and 8 ties

16

goals scored by Crew forward Gyasi Zardes this season

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District 25-5A roundup LBJ, lighting strike as Jaguars top Knights in district opener

JUMPING JAGUARS: LBJ exploited its height and leaping ability by throwing up jump balls like this two-point conversion reception by David Jones, near the end of the first quarter that made the score, 20-0. Photo by Dave Winter.

Cross-country runners set multiple personal bests at rainy McNeil Invitational The cross country team competed in the McNeil Invitational at Old Settlers Park on Sept. 29. On-and-off rain throughout the day did not stop most of the races from happening, but lighting canceled the boys junior varsity race. Rain trouble aside, the Knights still brought their ‘A’ game. Runners Julia Blackmon, Gabby Sherwood, Quin Aldredge, Zach Davis, Sebastian Escalante, Robert Krajicek, Chris Riley, Cash Robinson and Jordan Trimyer all set a new personal record for this year.

—Steven Tibbetts

Juniors Zach Davis and Jordan Trimyer attempt to pass an opponent at the McNeil Invitational at Old Settlers Park on Sept. 29. Photo by Gabby Sherwood.

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The varsity football team their District 25-5A opener to rival LBJ, 41-7 at Nelson Field on Sept. 21. The game ended with just under 5 minutes left on the clock, after lightning struck nearby.

The lightning delay would have lasted at least a 30-minute delay and stretched the game late into the night. During the delay, all spectactors had to wait under the stadium bleachers.

The bright spot for the Knights was the rushing offense which produced 154 yards in the game. The Knights, however, were not able to get things going through the air. Deron Gage scored the team’s sole touchdown on a 14-yard second-quarter run, assisted by offensive lineman Alvino Carbajal, who picked Gage up and carried him into the end zone at the end of the play.

“We didn’t play to our full potential,” said Gage, who played for the first time his season after missing the first three games due to injury. “We didn’t have the focus and mentality of a winning team, but we will grow and learn from this loss.”

The Knights (2-2 overall, 0-1 in district) face Dripping Springs on Friday night at House Park. After starting off the season with wins over Anderson and Lehman, 21-20 and 40-27 respectively, the Knights lost 30-26 on the road against Glenn in a back-andforth game. Knights quarterback Cole Davis has rushed for 242 yards through four games, and he’s completed 25 passes in 42 attempts on the year. Running back Jalen Sutton leads all rushers with 483 yards and five touchdowns. Darius Lewis leads the Knights with 180 yards receiving.

The Knights still have six district opponents to play: Dripping Springs, Seguin, Travis, Reagan, Crockett and Lanier. How the Knights do in these games will determine if they will be able to earn a spot in the playoffs.

—Gregory James

FOOTBALL SCHEDULE Date

Opponent

Result

Aug. 30 Anderson W, 21-20 Sept. 7 Lehman W, 40-27 Sept. 14 Leander-Glenn L, 30-26 LBJ L 41-7 Sept. 21 Dripping Oct. 5 Springs Oct. 12 Lanier Oct. 18 Seguin Oct. 26 Reagan Nov. 1 Crockett Nov. 8 Travis

For third time this season, varsity drops first set then roars back to edge Jaguars The varsity team best LBJ on its own turf in an exciting five-set match on Tuesday. After losing the first two sets 25-18, 25-21, the Lady Knights came back to win the next three, 25-21 25-19, 15-11.

“I think we did good at fighting the whole time and pushing through to the end,” sophomore Brienna Martinez said.

Sophomore Preslie Boswell led the team with 18 kills, followed by junior Shaine Rozman with nine kills and a 60 percent kill percentage. Senior libero Lindsey Wiley received 32 of the Jaguars’ serves for the match and had 25 digs. In addition to registering 11 digs, sophomore Sophia Henderson also dished out 29 out of the teams’ 33 total assists.

It was the third time this season that the varsity has beaten LBJ after dropping the first set. The varsity on a two-match winning streak going into Friday’s home match against Lockhart. Prior to Tuesdya’s road win at LBJ, the Knights beat Lanier, 3-0, last Friday.

“I think we played well against Lanier and we got it done pretty fast,” junior Liana Smoot said. “We are getting better at running faster plays which is cool.”

The Knights (5-2 in district) have lost only to Dripping Springs and Lockhart, who are first and second place in the district. The toughest match of the season was a 3-0 home loss to Dripping Springs on Sept. 25. Dripping Springs has two players who have committed to D1 programs for college volleyball, which made the game a tough one.

“I think we played pretty well, but obviously they’re a lot

JAGUAR SWEEP: The varsity team celebrates after winning a point during their 3-2 victory at LBJ on Tuesday. The varsity has won all three matches between the two teams despite losing the first set three times. Photo by Selena De Jesus. better than us,” junior Shaine Rozman said on the loss. “We’re excited to play them again at their home.”

The Knights will play Dripping Springs again Oct. 19 at Dripping Springs at 6:30 p.m. The Knights play Lockhart tonight at McCallum at 6:30 p.m.

—Gregory James and Kristen Tibbetts

05 oct. 2018

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shield Husted stands on top of the podium after getting first place in the Amateur Road National Championship. Standing to his right and left are the two competitors from the same team that he had to beat in the final meters to win the race for the third straight year. Next year, Husted will be competing for four straight. “I’ll be in a different age group with more strong guys so it will be more difficult,” Husted said. “But that hasn’t stopped me before.” Photo courtesy of Eli Husted.

Eli Husted crosses the finish line at the Amateur Road National Championship in first place. The race came down to the end before Husted pushed ahead in the final meters of the race. “I proved that I’d worked harder than they had, and they were more tired,” Husted said. “I knew I could get them at the line, so I just brought them there.” Photo courtesy of Eli Husted.

Husted poses with his Hot Tubes Cycling teammates after winning the race. Husted says that his team helped him a lot in getting the win. “I couldn’t have done it without my team,” Husted said. “They were instrumental.

I’d never had somebody work for me to get the win.” Photo courtesy of Eli Husted.

Third time is the toughest Junior Husted recovers from accident to claim third national title STEVEN TIBBET TS staff reporter

For someone who had won the Amateur Road National Championship cycling race both of the last two years, the odds were stacked against McCallum junior Eli Husted to win the race for a third straight time.

Why would the two-time champ be expected to struggle? Because just a little over four months before the race, Husted had ran into a parked car while riding his bike, breaking his bike into four pieces and putting him in the hospital with injuries to his right knee and stitches in his face and arm.

05 oct. 2018

Despite the severe accident, Husted was back on his bike preparing for upcoming races less than a week after getting out of the hospital.

“Most of [my recovery] happened in the hospital, but outside of that it was just getting on my bike and doing some good long distance,” Husted said. “And then once I had the base, the foundation for all I needed to do, I could then work on more intensity type things, more intervals and stuff like that.”

Even though Husted was able to get back to cycling quickly, it has taken him a lot longer to get back to performing at 100 percent, something Husted believes he still hasn’t achieved. “[The accident] had an effect on my entire season,” Husted said. “I felt like I was back, but I wasn’t reaching all of my capabilities. It’ll take a while.”

Because of his accident, this year’s national race seemed like it might be Husted’s toughest one to win. But Husted proved he was up for the challenge by winning his third straight national

title in a nail-biting finish. “[My injuries] 100 percent slowed me down, but there is no reason the strongest guy has to win every race,” Husted said.

Husted gives a lot of credit for his win to his Hot Tubes Cycling teammates, who he says helped set him up for the win, especially at the beginning of the race.

“It was better than any age group race I’d ever done as far as a team,” Husted said. “I couldn’t have done it without my team. They were instrumental. It was unlike anything I’d ever done. I’d never had somebody work for me to get the win.”

But despite all the help that Husted got from his teammates to put him in a position where he had a chance to win, he still had to finish the race by himself. Husted ended up getting separated from the rest of his team near the end, when he and two cyclists from a rival team split from the rest of the riders. Not only did Husted not have his teammates with him, but he had to beat two

competitors from the same team. Husted fought to stay with the other two riders until they got close to the finish line, where he pulled ahead to get the win.

“I got myself into a breakaway with two different guys on the same team,” Husted said.

“And I was thinking to myself that if they know how to work together, then I’m screwed. But I proved that I’d worked harder than they had, and they were more tired, and I knew I could get them at the line, so I just brought them there.”

Despite the difficulties that came from having to fight through his injuries, Husted believes that the struggles he overcame made his victory even sweeter and gave him a boost in confidence.

“It was a real ego stroker,” Husted added.

Maybe that extra confidence is just what Husted needs in order to win the national race for a fourth time in a row next summer.

“I’ll be in a different age group with more strong guys so it will be more difficult,” Husted said. “But that hasn’t stopped me before.”

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TEA scores reveal a vast AISD divide The district must do more to eliminate divide between high and low scores among high schools SARAH SLATEN staff reporter

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McCallum High School got a 92 out of 100 when evaluated by the Texas Education Agency. This was the third-highest grade out of all of AISD High Schools, and was even higher than AISD’s average grade, an 89. Though McCallum got a great grade, not all schools did. Photo by Sarah Slaten. socioeconomic families receive, and that lower socioeconomic schools lack. LASA, a magnet school that has been ranked 16th out of all of the public schools in the entire nation, is obviously going to get more advantages than a lot of schools, especially LBJ, with whom they share a campus but with whom they do not share academic resources.

There is another interesting aspect of the divide. The total average percent white population out of all of the schools is a 28.66 percent. In the schools that were graded below an 85, the average white population in the schools was a 6.15 percent, while in the schools that scored under 85, the white population made up 50.9 percent. In fact, on LBJ’s STAAR score evaluation, they didn’t even report how well the white population did on the tests, as there wasn’t a big enough population for it to be mathematically significant. This segregation in Austin Public Schools is a little alarming.

In our very diverse city, it simply shouldn’t be happening. It’s 2018, there shouldn’t be segregation at all.

These statistics are not only significant because they revealing inequities about this particular grading process. They are far more significant, but they reveal systemic inequities that create unequal opportunities for students based on who they are, where they life and how wealthy their family is.

All students should have equal resources and receive an education that equips them to compete fairly in the world beyond high school.

This disparity of resources and evaluation scores should not exist. Eliminating the disparity should be the No. 1 goal of the district. All schools, and all students, in AISD deserve equal resources, no matter the average income.

Source: Texas Education Agency. Graphic by Sarah Slaten.

Out of the 13 traditional 9-12 high schools in AISD, McCallum did very well in its yearly evaluation by TEA (Texas Education Agency).

McCallum got a 92, the third highest grade in AISD. LASA finished first; Bowie, second; and McCallum tied with Anderson for third.

Though McCallum didn’t get the highest grade, compared to a lot of schools, high schools especially, McCallum excelled. The considerable difference, 20 points, in the grades that high school received is mainly based on the average income of families at that school. No only should this range of scores should not be this drastic, it should not exist at all.

This grading was part of TEA’s yearly “accountability rating,” the association gives each school and district a rating based on certain criteria. Last year overall, AISD received a Recognized rating of a B. “We’re proud to earn a Recognized rating from the Texas Education Agency,” Superintendent Paul Cruz said. “We believe this shows AISD is not merely passing, but is an indication we are on the way to reinventing the urban school experience. I am proud of our students and staff for all the hard work they have done in student achievement and closing the gaps thus far, and I acknowledge there is still work to do.”

The overall 92 that McCallum received reflected a 93 in student achievement (measures how well students did on the STAAR), an 83 in school progress (how STAAR scores improved) and an 88 in closing school gaps (how different groups of students are performing). TEA assessed that McCallum is doing “exceptionally well” in academic achievement in math, English and in postsecondary readiness.

The highest grade out of all the high schools in AISD was a 99, which was awarded to LASA. The worst grade, a 79, of all the high schools was LBJ. This 20-point divide is alarming and quite embarrassing considering the lack of equity in education that it reveals. The discrepancy highlights the lack of support that certain high schools get. Though it is most likely that LBJ only got a such a low score because it was being directly compared with its neighbor, it is also because they severely lack the abundant privileges that LASA enjoys.

This divide between higher and lower socioeconomic schools isn’t only amplified by the proximity of LASA and LBJ. In truth, there was a general districtwide divide throughout all of the evaluation grades in the district, with the top half getting an 83 and above, and the other half receiving a grade lower than that. The schools’ above the divide are not necessarily surprising: Anderson, Austin High, Bowie, Garza, LASA and McCallum, with the average grade of those schools being a 93. The schools that were below the divide are also predictable: Akins, Crockett, Lanier, LBJ, Reagan and Travis, with the average grade of those schools being an 80.5.

This divide can be attributed to the resources and privileges that certain schools with higher

05 oct. 2018

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How will the LBJ/LASA split go down?

DIAMANTE DIAZ staff reporter

Moving to McCallum from Houston, I hadn’t grown up knowing about the relationship between LBJ High School and the Liberal Arts and Science Academy. At a first glance, it seems strange that one campus could house two schools that are separate in all things academic and united when it comes to athletics and extracurriculars.

During the 2017 special election, AISD passed a bond that among other things split the schools and moved LASA to a separate campus.

Because of this electoral verdict, the split isn’t up for debate anymore.

But having that question answered raised many other questions about what the future holds for both schools; most specifically, how should Austin ISD handle the divide?

LASA ranks as one of the top academic schools in Texas, while LBJ has perhaps the richest recent athletic tradition of any AISD school. The district and school administration must provide careful attention and support so that the extracurricular offerings for both schools remain strong, as each school will effectively lose half their base, making it difficult to maintain continuity and possibly unfairly affecting students and community stakeholders who are deeply involved.

The split is said to “even out the playing field” between the students and give opportunity to the low economic areas of Austin.

The total percentage of the economically disadvantaged at LASA is only 9 percent, while at LBJ it’s 78 percent. Looking at these numbers, it’s intimidating thinking the schools are splitting up. You have to ask yourself, what opportunity will the lower-income area of Austin have if LASA is gone? AISD needs to work harder to support the academic programs in LBJ; Early College High School and Career Launch programs indicate a step in the right direction, but more support is needed to improve achievement and reduce the dropout rate, such as adding counselors and paying teachers more to increase the retention rate.

The measure splitting the schools relocates LASA to a more central location, leaving room for a new health science center. The program is working with Austin Community College and Seton; participating students will be given the opportunity to earn up to an associate’s degree upon graduating high school without the burden of college tuition.

In addition to the issue of equity, students must consider the loss of ties between the students and both schools. The first time I walked the halls of LBJ, I assumed the students would only socialize with the students from one school or the other during the lunch period, but I was surprised to find the students had integrated social groups.

Students have said they enjoy their school life but are left wondering what they are missing out on without greater cooperation betweeen the schools.

“There’s really no tension between us; you’d think there were, [because] some LASA freshman come with the presumption that LBJ kids are rivals or something, but we’re actually not at all that different,” LASA junior Zenith Jahid said.

In order to maintain the progress that has been made in term of integration between the schools, school administration can set up or maintain some programs as combined; for example, programs like chess club can be offered to students of both schools, just as McCallum and Anderson share a lacrosse team.

“I’ve made LBJ friends and I love them,” junior Eva Kornerup said, “but I wish the schools were combined so I could meet more people.”

The LASA move to the former Eastside Memorial location is scheduled for August 2021 and the LBJ Health Science Center opening is scheduled for January 2022. In the meantime, LBJ and LASA can pursue bolder solutions to make the most of their remaining time together, such as a unified bell schedule.

But unity will be hard to maintain once the campus proximity that connects them is servered. Something that seemed so far from happening, will arrive in only a couple of years. Despite controversty, the split provides opportunities to help future students both socially and academically, and I’m eager to see how the district handles it.

05 0ct. 2018

LBJ wide receiver Deon Collins listens to the referee at the LBJ game against McCallum on Sept. 21. LBJ and LASA have competed together in athletic and extracurricular activities, all under the LBJ Jaguars team name. Within a few years, however, the schools will be separated entirely on different campuses. Photo by Gregory James.

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AISD needs complete mental health plan A dedicated mental health officer is a good step, but ensuring student health requires many more The new chief of AISD police, Ashley Gonzalez is trying to tackle the topic of mental health by hiring a police officer dedicated to dealing specifically with mental health. Right now, according to the district, this is the only district police officer out of 84 dedicated entirely to mental health.

“Most SRO’s are also certified Mental Health Officers to provide emergency mental health assessments,” Gonzalez said.

In the stressful environment we live in, however, the police should not be the first and only choice to facilitate mental health on AISD campuses. Therapy and counseling are other options, and can be more effective than law enforcement. Police officers can be perceived as scary and imposing, even if they aren’t. A therapist or counselor can be more approachable than someone whose job occupation is to enforce the law and capture criminals, making it a more appealing option for students who are struggling to come to them.

This year alone, there were two mass school shootings in the United States. The shootings at Santa Fe High School near Galveston and before that Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla., are more complicated than one single cause, but they make it impossible to ignore the need to more effective school programs to monitor and promote mental health care.

This year almost half of AISD’s school mental health clinics were shut down because of lack of

funding. The district has partnered up with Seton through Integral Care to provide mental health services, receiving funds to pay for mental health services, but not enough to keep them open longterm. Although these measures are well-meaning, we need more ambitious changes if we want improvement. If the local and state governments had provided more attention and funding to mental health for all, we would have more successful and enthusiastic students. This funding could be used to open more school mental health clinics and pay for therapists, taking the burden off of academic counselors to have to care for students’ mental health despite other responsibilities.

The need for mental health care is especially important for teens and preteens, because high school years are a time full of hormones, stress and peer pressure, which can make existing problems even worse. These factors can contribute to anxiety, depression and other mental health issues. Many do not have the luxury of time and money for therapy, which makes school programs that offer counseling essential. Lower-income communities suffer from higher rates of addiction, lower grades in school and higher dropout rates. This is why help should be available to all; not just those who can afford it. Free and reduced lunch are available to those who need it, and if the government can prioritize that, then mental health care should also be provided for those whose job it is for the district to care for and protect.

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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

editors-in-chief ZOE HOCKER AND SOPHIE RYLAND assistant editors GREGORY JAMES

MAX RHODES

KELSEY TASCH

STEVEN TIBBETTS

adviser DAVE WINTER

reporters GRAYSON CRUISE, JAZZABELLE DAVISHINES, DIAMANTE DIAZ, ELLEN FOX, LASZLO KING-HOVIS, BELLA RUSSO, ABIGAIL SALAZAR, ELISHA SCOTT, STELLA SHENKMAN, SARAH SLATEN, MIA TERMINELLA, KRISTEN TIBBETTS, JANSSEN TRANSIER, OLIVIA WATTS 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

30 opinion

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

The Shield operates as an open forum for exchange of ideas. Opinions expressed in editorials are the ideas of the staff.

Opinions expressed in the columns are that of the writer’s alone.

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Letters may be edited.

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Anyone interested in purchasing an ad should contact adviser Dave Winter at (512) 414-7539. Ads published in The Shield do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the staff.

The Shield is a member of the Interscholastic League Press Conference, the National Scholastic Press Association

05 oct. 2018

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For sophomore Preslie Boswell, the sky’s the limit

The free art of

ATX

Photo by Olivia Watts

Photo by Bella Russo Photo by Bela Tapperson

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Behind-the-scenes photo gallery for Starmites: The Musical online preview 31

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UNFURLED: Cole Davis runs out the flag before the start of the Knights’ 41-7 loss to LBJ. Photo

by Ian Clennan.

TOOTING HIS OWN HORN: During the marching band’s halftime performance, Chance Green plays his trumpet at Nelson Field on Sept. 21.

Photo by Lucy Marco.

DANCING IN THE RAIN: Cheerleader Mahali Domingo smiles despite the pouring rain during the second half. Photo by David Winter.

Purple Rain 3.

Torrential downpour, loss to Jags dampens but doesn’t wash away festive LBJ game day BOP IT CHALLENGE: Senior running back Jalen Sutton competes in the cheerleader’s “Bop it Challenge” during the LBJ pep rally. Five football players, including Sutton, were chosen to do their best to follow along with the cheerleaders in a series of dances. Other than the dance challenge, the pep rally also included performances from the band, cheerleaders and Blue Brigade. The juniors won the spirit stick at the end of the pep rally. Photo by Risa Darlington-Horta.

DO YOU REMEMBER (THE 21st NIGHT of SEPTEMBER)? Sophomore Addie Seckar-Martinez and her Blue Brigade teammates dance with pink hoops along to music played by the band during the halftime show at the LBJ football game on Sept. 21 at Nelson Field. Photo by Bella Russo.

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GAGE UNCAGED: Senior Deron Gage runs the ball down the field during the Knight’s 41-7 loss to the LBJ Jaguars. The game, which was cut short due to lightning, was Gage’s first of the year, after he missed the first three games while recovering from an off-field injury. Gage scored the Knights only touchdown of the game on a 12-yard run in the second quarter.

Photo by Bella Russo.

JUNIOR JUBILEE: Junior Lewis holds the spirit after the juniors won the competition at the LBJ pep Photo by Gabby Sherwood.

Bryn stick spirit Rally.

05 oct. 2018