On Monday Aug. 22, teachers across McCallum experienced leaks and flooding due to Austin’s heaviest rain in three years. Constructed in 1953, the school is aged and has been prone to rain leakage for…

It’s 7:30 a.m. The smell of freshly brewed coffee wafts through Kealing Middle School’s upstairs English hallway. The source: Frank Webster’s eighth-grade English and songwriting classroom. The door…

After more than 50 days without rain in the metro Austin area, heavy rain coincided with student dismissal for the third consecutive school day on Monday. The torrential rain was more severe than it was…

As a result of AISD’s budget crisis, the award-winning McCallum Fine Arts Academy Orchestra faces a challenge it hasn’t encountered in over 20 years—sharing its directors with another school.

In…

When junior Callan Spence discovered his passion for art, it was clear that he had something special. In his freshman year, one of his first-ever sculptures won the Gold Seal award in the VASE state event,…

Kai Friesem hates talking about the weather. And it’s not only because he firmly believes that Texas has environmental mood swings—a statement he stands by—but because instead of using Celsius, like…

Lily Dashner’s first moments in the world were very nearly her last.

“When I was born—this is gonna sound really graphic, but—I died,” Dashner said. “That’s pretty much the right way to…

macshieldonline · Feedback Loop, Episode 8, Part 1: Red River Trucking Co.

Sophomores Joaquín Frazier and King Perez Cude had been pals since the dawn of time, but it didn’t dawn on them to start…

History will remember the Blue Brigade Class of 2022 as the lucky ones, the senior class that was able to resume the full slate of team traditions that have made the dance team one of the most distinctive…

It’s the little things in life that make your day better. As the busy hallways of McCallum fill with exhausted students, security guard Bob Bedard has dedicated himself to brightening the days of many…

As war rages and images of crying children and dead civilians flash across television screens, newspapers and social media feeds, Ukraine has become associated with tragedy. Faced with inhumanity, people…

Since war broke out between Ukraine and Russia on Feb. 24, the Ukrainian community of Austin has banded together to provide support for their home country from afar. Despite a distance of over 6,000 miles…

Sasha Konradi wears an orange vest in Przemysl, a town on the Poland-Ukraine border.

All the volunteers wear orange vests.

She’s there to help in any way she can.

Translating between English…

Ironically, it’s the humans that make a robot special. According to senior Miles Bourgeois, that is. 

The McCallum Robotics A-team, also known as the Apes, will be representing McCallum’s “Robo…

As she stands tall with a mallet in each hand, waiting for her cue to start playing her steel drum, junior Sabine Collins sports her red and yellow 2018 Special Olympics jacket. She doesn’t walk into…

On Tuesday, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton sent a letter to Superintendent Dr. Stephanie Elizalde claiming that AISD Pride Week is “indoctrinating” students on human sexuality without parental consent….

Faced with the urgency of a predicted $62 million budget shortfall, AISD is scrambling for a way out of it financial maze. Each time, however, that a plan has been proposed—whether a seven-period school…

After living with eyes glued to screens for two pandemic-ridden years, people all over the world are now more reliant on electronic devices than ever before. But with school back in person and opportunities…

It’s 2014 and the Austin Airport is busy. It’s nothing like the movies that Elyas Akbari has seen. He hasn’t been to his country, Afghanistan, in five years. He arrives at the place he’s supposed…

If you ask senior Holden Satterwhite how he started his independent media business, including an Apple news account with 42,000 followers, he’ll tell you it’s a long story.

Here it is: Sixth-grade…

In his time at McCallum High School, Andy Brown played soccer. He failed freshman year honors biology and had to go to summer school. He was on the debate team, and was class president his senior year….

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton was asked by a Texas legislator for a legal opinion on whether gender-affirming medical and chemical procedures for transgender youth constitute child abuse under Texas…

It began with the display of a hateful banner above MoPac Boulevard. Next, Jewish Austinites began to receive hateful letters. And then, as if in culmination of these prior acts, a local synagogue was…

For Hazel and Leo Tverskey, fifth-graders at Ridgetop Elementary, it’s come time to rule the school. They’re the big kids now. But what happens when the big kids lose a year and a half of school to…

After receiving pushback from teachers, parents and students, superintendent Stephanie Elizalde announced during a board meeting that AISD will not require teachers to instruct seven of eight classes for…

In a Dec. 13 email sent to the AISD community, superintendent Stephanie Elizalde announced that AISD would not be switching to a seven-period schedule for the 2022-2023 school year. 

“The feedback…

In recent weeks, total COVID-19 cases at McCallum more than tripled compared to last semester. Now, health experts predict that the worst is over as the omicron surge begins to subside, both nationwide…

The McCallum Youth Dance Company broke ground on “Breaking Ground” Friday night with the first of two 7 p.m. winter concert performances at the Austin ISD Performing Arts Center. The second performance…

UT Dallas puts-off the start of spring semester classes.

Texas State University temporarily makes spring semester classes virtual.

Thousands of U.S schools delay the going back to school post-winter…

On the last Tuesday of 2021, we are pleased to make our last Tuesday Top 10 photo essay of the year a review of some of our best photos depicting some of the most memorable, significant and poignant moments…

Although the phrase “out with the old, in with the new” may have a nice ring to it, the online marketplace Depop begs to differ. The site is an alternative to thrifting for today’s online-focused…

Early in his triplets’ senior year, Bill Russo recognized the possibility of them attending three arch-rival schools. But he never expected them to actually follow through with it. 

Three triplets:…

Senior Juan Itzep began playing classical guitar as a “random” elective in sixth grade. Seven years later, Itzep played a piece to open a concert for Ana Vidović, one of the world’s greatest living…

The strum of an acoustic guitar, the sound of crisply-spoken poetry, the vibrations of Cello arpeggios — all could be heard from the library this Friday during Excalibur’s semi-annual coffeehouse.
…

“You are so loved!”

“It’s not your fault!”

“We believe you!”

Amidst a crowd of hundreds of participating students, shouts like these could be heard in response to victims of sexual…

House Bill 25, which limits transgender students’ ability to compete in the sport that corresponds to their gender identity, was signed into law on Oct. 25 by Gov. Greg Abbott. The bill was introduced…

“Electronic mail transmissions and other use of the electronic communications shall not be considered confidential and may be monitored at any time by designated staff to ensure appropriate use for educational…

Broadway composer and musical theatre revolutionary Stephen Sondheim died Friday at 91. In his career that lasted nearly half a century, he wrote the lyrics for West Side Story, composed shows like Sweeney…

Bond. James Bond. These infamous words have been muttered by only the most fortunate actors since the release of the first James Bond movie in 1962, culminating in 25 movies under his name. On Oct….

Bright colors shine upon his face and smoldering heat covers his body as 13-year-old Michael Valentino admires the 30-foot-tall blazing propane fire while his older brother, Chris Valentino, works to put…

macshieldonline · Feedback Loop, Episode 5 — Elena Villalon
Elena Villalón realized early that she wanted to pursue her passion for singing as a career. A class of 2015 alumna, she sang in the McCallum…

Nothing screams Texas like high school football. And as the saying goes, everything is bigger in Texas.

Pep rallies, Friday night games and homecoming are just a few of the events that make up football…

The first pipe-cleaner figurine that Montrel Beverly ever made was mistaken for garbage and thrown in the trash. His most recent artwork, however, is sold for a profit and has its own display case right…

Small businesses in the Brentwood and Crestview neighborhoods around McCallum have recently shut their doors, but thanks to the desirable location, property developers have purchased many of the sites…

Meghan Tomko is fearless, or at least that’s what her family and friends say. After spending nearly half her life in the fast-paced, male-dominated world of ice hockey, it appears there’s almost nothing…

The members of LBJ Fire Academy participated in a fire demonstration on Sept. 25 that required them to put into practice all of the skills learned in the course. The event was held at the Austin Fire Academy…

Senate Bill 3, the “critical race theory” bill, has ignited debate on the McCallum campus. This controversial legislation that restricts how history is taught in Texas public schools was signed by…

Activists of all ages gathered on the south lawn of the Capitol building Saturday morning to protest Senate Bill 8, a new, restrictive Texas abortion law that went into effect Sept. 1. From around 9 a.m….

The annual Taco Shack Bowl. A yearly tradition in which McCallum and Anderson battle it out for glorious bragging rights in their first varsity game of the season. The stands are packed, students from…

For the past few weeks, middle and high schools across the country have been victims of theft and vandalism, due to a TikTok trend known as “devious licks.” This trend consists of students taking items…