The purple and pink-tinted LED lights are set. The handheld DSLR camera rig is rolling. The boom pole is propped over the awaiting actors, and the sound is recording. The director of photography, Bella…

During an election, politicians find wisdom and inspiration in many places. Congressman Chris Bell shared that he found his political guidance in an usual place: a cartoon.

In his conversation with…

As a high school student in the United States, I know it’s out of the question to strip citizens of their Second Amendment right to own firearms. Prying military style assault rifles from the cold and…

What’s pink, clean, and currently on South Congress? You guessed it! The Glossier pop up store is here, and it’s everything you could ever imagine. The interior design, lighting and people combine make…

As more and more McCallum students get their driver’s licenses as the year goes on, the likelihood of you or a friend getting pulled over by the police increases with it. There seems to be a general…

The Austin ISD board of trustees unanimously approved a new sex-ed curriculum on Tuesday, Oct. 22, but this did not happen overnight. The new curriculum is something that the school district has been working…

My fondest Christmas memory is my fourth-grade “holiday” concert.

After months of practicing Christmas songs, ranging from the lighthearted “Jingle Bell Rock” to the heavily religious “Oh!…

JINGLE BELL JAZZ: As finals and winter break rapidly approach, band celebrated the festive season with its annual holiday concert on the of Monday Dec. 9. Many band members even dressed up in red and…

The historical marker outside Pease Elementary School, celebrating the campus as the oldest continuously operating public school in Texas, has been sharing the spotlight with frantic handmade fliers and…

Jimmy Fallon brought The Tonight Show to Austin on Nov. 7 and filmed an episode centered around UT, highlighting both its students and campus. Fallon also included actor Matthew McConaughey, rapper Gucci…

On the 14th anniversary of her own father passing away from cancer, McCallum teacher Deirdre McGahon sat at the front of room 138 A and checked her email. She read a note from guidance counselor Mickey…

It was a sweltering summer day in Rome and the emotions ran high in the 1960 Summer Olympics games. After the U.S men’s basketball team dominated previous opponents by an average of 42.2 points per…

The McCallum choir performed its most widely anticipated concert of the year: Cabaret, in the MAC, Thursday through Sunday. This year’s theme was “Heroes and Villains of Broadway.” The choir performed…

In inaugural episode of Feedback Loop, The Shield’s new music podcast series, host Tomas Marrero and producer Stella Shenkman speak with the The Point, a musical duo consisting of senior Jack Montesinos…

On Sept. 20, the Texas State Capitol was on fire with the grit and determination of local students fighting for action against climate change. The rally, organized by the Austin Climate Coalition, was…

6 a.m.

It’s six in the morning, and the McCallum cross country team is just beginning to warm up for their practice that day. Some people call them crazy, getting up so early, but as Coach Susan…

Trump revokes press credentials of multiple news outlets!

McDonalds employee sneaks mixtape in Happy Meals!

Former first daughter Malia Obama expelled from Harvard!

What do all of these shocking…

High school students need money, whether it’s to pay for something as small as gas or as big as college tuition. For working McCallum students, however, their jobs are about more than just a paycheck….

Ant bites. That’s an injury the McCallum football players are worried about, ant bites. The field is full of the eusocial insects, the little things squirming around the mounds and piles of dirt that…

MAC seniors Ena Nolan and Zach King joined the rest of their LBJ Fire Academy crew in a live propane fire exercise on Saturday  Oct. 12 at the Austin Fire Academy.

The goal of the practice was for…

In 2009, “TikTok” was known solely as Ke$ha’s first hit single that launched her into early 2000s fame, but things have changed in the past 10 years. TikTok is no longer the song you listened to…

Art Society members hang streamers, inspect them then take them down and try again. Art teacher and National Art Society sponsor Jeff Seckar-Martinez moves between the main hallway and the cafeteria critiquing…



Co-hosts Stella Shenkman and Julia Kay Smith sat down with seniors Abigail Stauffer and Ruby Henson to talk about their favorite past time: competitive roller derby. Henson and Stauffer have been…

Butyl hydroxytoluene. Crotonaldehyde. Diethylene Glycol. Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbon. Propylene glycol. Valeraldehyde. These chemicals are just a few of the thousands that go into e-liquid, which…

Everything is tense. The stillness seems to last an eternity. It is the moment you have been preparing for for far too long. All that surrounds you now is the sound of your engine rumbling and the serene…

7 a.m.
It is a cold and rainy Saturday morning, gray enough to require a light rain jacket, but not gray enough to dampen the spirits of McCallum drum majors Dexter Canning and Jonah Brown.

“I remember…

Imagine being incredibly passionate about your education, but never being able to concentrate on just one thing in class or complete your homework before the due date. You know you deserve more time, but…

In many ways, the 2019 Texas Tribune Festival, which took place in downtown Austin on the weekend of Sept. 27-28, was a typical TribFest.

The festival featured hundreds of speakers and panel discussions,…

Students from all over Austin come to McCallum for the Fine Arts Academy, giving the school a reputation as a safe place for students to be free to express themselves. One way students display their individuality…

A river in Taiwan runs the color of taro bubble tea. The water is an opaque purple, reminiscent of Crayola’s violet acrylic paint. Miles of the area’s freshwater supply directly adjacent to the Jiayang…

A CRY FROM THE YOUTH: The morning of Friday, Sept. 20, over 300 students and adults alike gathered at the steps of the Texas State Capitol to protest climate change. The strike, which was organized…

Contrary to what Taylor Swift has to say, these two girls wear both short skirts and sneakers, are cheer (captains) and on the bleachers. Doubling their experience under the Friday night lights, senior…

Over the summer, the University of Texas System Board of Regents voted to offer free tuition for all in-state undergraduate students whose household income is $65,000 or less annually. For students whose…

Hyped up. Positive Energy. Great Attitude. Those are just a few of the words that come to mind when people think of the new face, actually more like a loud voice, on the sideline of McCallum football….

She walked into the stadium with the other flute players, not completely sure what to expect — her eyes getting wider and wider, taking it all in. The rhythmic chants of the cheerleaders bobbing up and…

Fad diets. We have all heard of them. Ranging in extremity from diets we may think are good for us, like the paleo diet (where you eat no processed foods) or the keto diet (an extreme, 90 percent fat diet)…

“On my honor I will do my best
To do my duty to God and my country
and to obey the Scout Law;
To help other people at all times;
To keep myself physically strong,
mentally awake, and morally straight.”

If…

In a time where it seems like activism is dominated by Instagram rants and hordes of recycled, witty protest posters, Just Fund It TX, a grassroots, student-led campaign has turned to love letters to get…

In the seventh episode of The Shield podcast series, The S-Word, podcast host Alex Dowd, and producer Stella Shenkman sit down with one of McCallum’s 2018-2019 Excalibur co-editor in chief’s, senior…

When Winsley Melancon was displaced from New Orleans in 2005 by the devastating Category 5 Hurricane Katrina, her life changed. She was living in the Austin Convention Center, well aware that she could…

As the perfect addition to International Women’s Day yesterday, 21 Lady Knights varsity soccer players deserve their names all over the McCallum Wall of Notable Women after a 1-0 victory over the previously…

South Congress, also known as SoCo to local Austinites, is home to Amy’s Ice Creams, Homeslice Pizza, and many other local hotspots. Whether you walk, drive, bike or scooter, SoCo is definitely worth…

In the second episode of The Spoken Word, host Alex Dowd and producer Stella Shenkman sit down and talk with GAHSMTA-nominated members of the cast and crew of 42nd Street. Lauded as Austin’s version…

Over the four years of their time, classes of high school get smaller. Every high school will have some students leave before graduation, and that’s nothing out of the ordinary. Students leave their…

It’s easy to show up and play when your team is obliterating the opposition. In that respect, the 2017 Mac football team had it easy, enjoying a record-breaking season, in which the team reeled off 14…

McCallum’s second fifth annual teacher’s pageant was on Friday, Feb. 15.

“I actually screwed up with the Teachers and Tiaras poster,” film teacher Ken Rogers said before the show hit the stage….

At Coach Don Caldwell’s funeral service on Jan. 19, Caldwell’s wife, Dorothy thanked the McCallum community for being behind her husband throughout his career. They were all behind him because as multiple…

Almost a month after MacTheatre closed its production of 42nd Street, the cast and crew are still reaping the rewards from their sold out musical.

Tuesday morning, members from the cast and crew of…

Last December, both of junior Rose Dotson’s parents lost their jobs, and with them, their family’s health insurance. It became a serious issue when her brother appeared to have walking pneumonia, costing…

Members of the jazz band had the opportunity to play Sunday night at the packed Parker Jazz Club on Fourth Street, a prestigious club known for its incredible music. Along with raising more than a $1,000…