![IN THE SPOTLIGHT: Junior Zalie Mann performs “I Love to Cry at Weddings,” an ensemble piece from the fall musical Sweet Charity, to prospective students during the Fine Arts Showcase on Wednesday, Nov. 8. The showcase is a compilation of performances and demonstrations from each fine arts strand offered at McCallum. This show is put on so that prospective students can see if they are interested in joining an academy or major.
Sweet Charity originally ran the weekends of Sept. 28 and Oct. 8, but made a comeback for the Fine Arts Showcase.
“[Being at the front in the spotlight] is my favorite part of the whole dance, so I was super happy to be on stage performing and smiling at the audience,” Mann said.
Mann performed in both the musical theatre performance and dance excerpt “Ethereal,” a contemporary piece choreographed by the new dance director Terrance Carson, in the showcase. With also being a dance ambassador, Mann got to talk about what MAC dance is, her experience and answer any questions the aspiring arts majors and their parents may have.
Caption by Maya Tackett.](https://bestofsno.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/53321803427_47cd17fe70_o-1-1200x800.jpg)
![SPREADING THE JOY: Sophomore Chim Becker poses with sophomores Cozbi Sims and Lou Davidson while manning a table at the Hispanic Heritage treat day during lunch of Sept 28. Becker is a part of the students of color alliance, who put together the activity to raise money for their club.
“It [the stand] was really fun because McCallum has a lot of latino kids,” Becker said. “And I think it was nice that I could share the stuff that I usually just have at home with people who have never tried it before.”
Becker recognizes the importance of celebrating Hispanic heritage at Mac.
“I think its important to celebrate,” Becker said. “Because our culture is awesome and super cool, and everybody should be able to learn about other cultures of the world.”
Caption by JoJo Barnard.](https://bestofsno.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/53221601352_4127a81c41_o-1200x675.jpg)
Paralympian Hannah McFadden climbs her way to the top
December 21, 2021
In this podcast, Hannah McFadden will speak about her career, the importance of fun in sports, her future, and the best part about being an athlete.
McFadden’s life has figuratively (and literally) been a climb. McFadden is an above-the-knee amputee due to a congenital disorder. Originally adopted from Durrës, Albania, she now lives in Clarksville, Maryland. McFadden has been an athlete for as long as she can remember.
In high school, McFadden participated on her track and field team. McFadden advanced quickly in her sport–so much so that at the age of 16 she made the Paralympic team. She competed at the London 2012 Paralympics and was the youngest person on the roster. She began to make her way to the podiums of World Championships.
Fast forward about four years, Tokyo 2020 was on the horizon. When deciding if she would try out for the Paralympic team or not, she realized that she had fallen out of love with track. After much deliberation, McFadden decided to step away from the sport.
Soon enough, McFadden found herself wanting to stay active and have something to focus on. Her friend suggested that she try rock climbing, and she picked it up in an instant. McFadden shortly ended up at the 2021 Paraclimbing World Cup in Los Angeles, California.
A shock to herself and many others, McFadden won.
“There’s a lot of people who were kind of skeptical of what I was doing…I think for me to do well in another sport was kind of a little bit of a comeback,” said McFadden. “It really was encouraging to me to say, ‘Okay you know what? You are on the right path, keep doing rock climbing’,”
Music from WeVideo, photos courtesy of the McFadden Family and Getty Images.
This story was originally published on The Lance on December 20, 2021.
