Telvi Altamirano-Cancino, or ‘Sra. A’  as her McCallum students know her, was born in Veracruz, Mexico, and at age 10 immigrated to the United States. The path to citizenship took more than a decade…

On a chilly October evening, onlookers watched as a group of firefighters inched closer and closer to a column of fire that shot into the sky. Using their hoses to push back the flames, they advanced towards…



On the first episode of Real Talk, host Javier Vela is joined by Mac Student Leaders Emily Arndt and Bobby Currie (all members of the student equity panel that spoke to teachers in August), as well…

Zoom class has started. About half of the cameras are on, including yours.

Of course it’s on.

The chat’s gone dark during the back and forth battle between BLEND and breakout rooms. A student…

Modern society created buildings for our safety: to protect against the elements. Now, in the midst of a pandemic, however, the space inside buildings has become the unsafe safe space, and it has be come…

Cassandra Troy is leaving not only McCallum or AISD, but all of Texas. It’s not the people or community she’s trying to escape but rather the situation. The English and women’s studies teacher feels the…

“This is what democracy looks like!” This was just one of the chants that rang out on the streets of downtown Austin on Wednesday, following the election. The demonstration of about 100 people was organized…

McCallum percussionists took center stage for their first performance of the year. A competitive showcase of student work — Solo Idol Night — was held virtually, but not without a little stage fright.

“I…

As the central focus of our 2020 Election Day coverage, we decided to find and tell the stories of students finding ways to make a difference in the 2020 election, whether they can vote or not.
STUDENT…

The state of Texas is one of the toughest states in the country to vote in, and that’s no accident. Restrictions, rules, and systems have been put in place to reduce voter turnout and disqualify votes,…

She may be known in the history books as the breaker of glass ceilings, an advocate for LBGTQ marriage equality and a trailblazer for women’s rights, but Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg was…

If you take a trip to Alex Tita’s Instagram, you will find a multitude of videos of the former McCallum student kayaking through white water rapids. In one clip, Tita is thrown off a cliff by the rapids…

In a time before the pandemic, students, parents, teachers and dedicated community members came in droves to see the biannual musicals at McCallum. The McCallum Arts Center was packed to the brim on show…

macshieldonline · Feedback Loop, episode 3 — Jay Mathias
Jay Mathias wants you to think his music is weird.

In this episode of the S-Word podcast, hosts Alysa Spiro and Evelyn Griffin talk to McCallum…

The online school year has started, and it is a stark change from the normal, in-person school. Compared to the relatively relaxed online courses of the spring semester, online leanring in the fall has…

Beethoven, “Moon River,” and “Amazing Grace” are heard from Beth Martinez’s backyard. Her 87-year-old mother has been missing out on her trips to the symphony since COVID started, and juniors Lucy Hamre…

If third-grader Jackson Baugh was the host of his Zoom classes, he would mute everyone forever and ever and open the chat whenever he wanted. 

“That would make online school much better,” he said,…

The 2020 presidential election is fast approaching. Both candidates represent polarizing issues that are dividing the country. But the division doesn’t stop there — for many, the election causes friction…

macshieldonline · The S Word — Episode 16 (Anderson talks heavy metal at the AP level) Part Two
In the previous episode of the S-Word podcast, McCallum world history and geography teacher Greg Anderson…

McCallum English teacher Nikki Northcutt said that it was clear from looking at pictures on Instagram that student athletes and coaches are putting themselves in a more high-risk environment than she is…

When we were all first sent home last semester the virtual learning format was focused on students’ well-being. Weekly assignments were limited, the school week was shortened and the format was 100 percent…

The Ramírez-Sosa brothers are students at Lively Middle and Perez Elementary schools. Their mother has just finished her last chemotherapy treatment after a recent cancer diagnosis. Silas and Emil could…

It’s 10 p.m., and after a day of Zoom classes, kid wrangling, dinner making and sanity maintaining, Richard Cowles sits down to grade with the hope that he’ll be finished before he sees the clock turn…


macshieldonline · The S Word — Episode 16 (Greg Anderson on Heavy Metal) Part One
Thrash. Pirate. Sludge. Satanic. War. Viking. Doom. Death.

Aside from sounding mildly menacing, these words…

It feels damn good sharing a religion with the notorious RBG.

Maybe that’s a weird concept for some people to grasp, how I can feel such an intense connection and pride towards someone I don’t even…

Kaufman’s newest Netflix feature has the heart of a soul-stirring poem and the darkness of a delusional nightmare. It is dismal, it is haunting and, to quote the female lead, it is “beautiful, in a…

For years, the University of Texas’ alma mater, “The Eyes of Texas,” was widely viewed in the community as a song of unity and togetherness. Austin high school band students dreamed of one day setting…

It’s Saturday morning and junior Kenta Asazu is hard at work.

While many high school students his age would be sleeping in, especially on a summer Saturday during the pandemic, Asazu would not think…

My stance on sports-related films, TV shows, miniseries, or anything of the sort is this: if they are done well and with heart, they are engaging, amazing, and sometimes make you cry (or, in the case of…

McCallum photojournalists created 113 award-winning images in the 2020 Working Assumption WRKXFMLY Project. Many of them touched on how people in our community are living day to day during a pandemic,…

Coach Amaro just wanted some enchiladas.

He was the new guy on the block in ‘99, and didn’t know anyone in the area. So when a man approached him about his football team at the little old bowling…

Cars. They’re a part of everyone’s life, but in different ways.

For some, a car is just a means to get to work every day, a seat to spill hot coffee in or a thing that needs to be maintained and…

Over the past few weeks, President Trump and Education Secretary Devos have been pressuring schools across the country to reopen for in-person learning. The Trump administration even threatened to revoke…

Hundreds of protesters met at the Austin Police Department headquarters downtown Saturday afternoon to demand justice for African-American victims of police brutality. The protests filled the streets surrounding…

It has been seven weeks since the Shelter in Place order has been given. Seven weeks since Texans have had the collective realization that we are now left to our own devices on how to spend our lives….

Gov. Greg Abbott announced on April 27 that starting May 1, essential businesses could reopen to 25% capacity. These essential businesses included restaurants, movie theaters, and malls. In Austin, some…

“He loves me…he loves me not” goes the age-old childhood game, also known as effeuiller la marguerite, which originated in France long before the thought of social media was born. The game involves…

Covered from head to toe in a pale blue gown, gloves, face shield and an N95 mask, Lindsey Wagner is only inches away from a coronavirus patient. The air is still. Uncertainty fills each corner. The soft,…

The photojournalism students continue to capture complex images of the interplay of work and family during the COVID-19 pandemic. These candid moments reveal that striking a balance between work and family…

On April 6, Austin ISD students, parents and teachers took the plunge into the new world of remote learning.

A foreign concept to most AISD students and parents just weeks earlier, remote learning…

The number of coronavirus cases continues to rise worldwide as governments continue to pursue a solution and civilians wait patiently in self-quarantine. In Austin, many businesses are shut down; others…

You may have heard that the pandemic has been good for the environment, cleaning up the canals in Venice as one example and basically allowing the Earth to heal while the humans are all cooped up indoors….

In this week’s #TuesdayTop10, we are pleased continue our series of COVID-19-themed photo essays from the photojournalism students’ WRKxFMLY project images. This week’s collective photo essay explores…

In the first of a two-part series, senior Mia Terminella writes about how her international relatives are dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic in their home nations. 

“Only one time before have I saw…

An interview with Dr. Mark McClellan, former FDA commissioner, and current Director and Robert J. Margolis M.D. Professor of Business, Medicine and Policy, Fuqua School of Business, and a Senior Medical…

The face mask has become the icon of the COVID-19 pandemic. It’s central importance in the debate of the statewide response to the pandemic became crystal clear on Monday as state and local leaders discussed…

For those searching for a way to help both local businesses and hardworking health-care professionals, Fuel the Fight offers you to the chance to achieve both with one donation. Fuel the Fight Austin has…

Gov. Greg Abbott issued executive orders on Friday  updating the state government’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic. GA-16 specified that schools in Texas would remain closed for the remainder of…

The photojournalism classes had just started a project called WRKxFMLY (or work and family) just before spring break and the COVID-19 pandemic that came with it. It’s the fourth year that McCallum photojournalism…

Since today is National Library Workers Day, we thought it was a good time to share one of our favorite stories that appears in the pages of the 2020 Knight, McCallum’s yearbook.

She was in 10th grade,…