Skip to Main Content
The best stories being published on the SNO Sites network

Best of SNO

The best stories being published on the SNO Sites network

Best of SNO

The best stories being published on the SNO Sites network

Best of SNO

All content by Jojo Barnard
BACKGROUND IN THE BUSINESS: Dressed by junior designer Kaitlyn Gerrie, senior Chamila Muñoz took to the “Dreamland” runway this past weekend. While it was her first time participating in the McCallum fashion show, Muñoz isn’t new to the modeling world. 

I modeled here and there when I was a lot younger, maybe five or six [years old] for some jewelry brands and small businesses, but not much in recent years,” Muñoz said. 

Muñoz had hoped to participate in last year’s show but couldn’t due to scheduling conflicts. For her senior year, though, she couldn’t let the opportunity pass her by. 

“It’s [modeling] something I haven’t done in a while so I was excited to step out of my comfort zone in a way,” Muñoz said. “I always love trying new things and being able to show off designs of my schoolmates is such an honor.” 

The preparation process for the show was hectic, leaving the final reveal of Gerrie’s design until days before the show, but the moment Muñoz tried on the outfit, all the stress for both designer and model melted away. 

“I didn’t get to try on my outfit until the day before, but the look on Kaitlyn’s face when she saw what she had worked so hard to make actually on a model was just so special,” Muñoz said. “I know it meant so much to her. But then she handed me a blindfold and told me I’d be walking with it on, so that was pretty wild.” 

Caption by Francie Wilhelm.

Mac fashion show brings ‘Dreamland’ to reality

By JoJo Barnard, Chloe Lewcock, Callen Romell, Ingrid Smith, Maya Tackett, Priya Thoppil, and Francie Wilhelm
May 21, 2024
TO THE BEAT OF THEIR OWN DRUM: Senior King Perez plays the drums with his band, Red River Trucking Co. at Thursday’s Battle of the Bands.

The band had plans to play “Red River Line” as well as a new song they had been working on, “Road Dog Fever,” but later decided to add “12 Gauge Shotgun” and “Lawbreakin’ Man.”

“We chose the first two because they’re newer and we feel like they’ve come together and are a good representation of us now,” Perez said.

Perez shared that the band performed well overall and that the audience’s reaction was the best pay off.

“My most memorable moment from that night was seeing everyone jumping off the stage and moshing,” he said. “It is always awesome seeing people enjoy our music in that way.”

Caption by Gaby Esquivel.

Battle of the Bands offers mosh to be proud of

By JoJo Barnard, Julia Copas, Gaby Esquivel, Shila Gill, Evelyn Jenkins, Chloe Lewcock, Helen Martin, Maggie Mass, Caroline Owen, Alice Scott, and Lanie Sepehri
April 12, 2024
Coda Becker practices with his father at Highland Lanes. Despite his relative inexperience, Becker has already taken strides to becoming an elite bowler.

Bowling, balling, Becker

By JoJo Barnard, McCallum High School
March 14, 2024
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 it's 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.

Mac celebrates Hispanic Heritage Month

By JoJo Barnard, Shila Gill, Evelyn Jenkins, Chloe Lewcock, Beatrix Lozach, Josie Mullan, and Alice Scott
January 12, 2024
WATER BALLOONS AND SMILES: Senior Peer Assistance and Leadership program member Jude Masoni holds up his fellow PAL, senior David Herring, as a human shield to protect himself from the path of an incoming water balloon. Students paid  to throw a balloon at the PALS on Tuesday as part of the shooting PAL-ery, one of the Pink Week fundraisers intended to raise money for the Breast Cancer Resource Center of Central Texas, an Austin-based non-profit that provides personalized support to those affected by breast cancer.  Year after year the PALS put on Pink Week in order to raise funds and awareness for the fight against breast cancer. The PALS put on a variety of different events the whole week at lunch in hopes of both bringing in profits and bringing an exciting week of fun to the McCallum community.   

Herring was made a target of the water balloon by his cross country teammates.

“I enjoyed seeing my teammates coming out to donate as I was telling them about it the week prior,” Herring said. “I was also just having fun on that nice day with my fellow PALS. Some of them that did the pallery that day, like Jude, I’ve known since elementary school.”

Caption by Chloe Lewcock with reporting by JoJo Barnard.

Pink Week soars to new fund-raising heights

By Sutton Banning, JoJo Barnard, Olivia Dungan, Carlo Hinsdale, Chloe Lewcock, Beatrix Lozach, Helen Martin, and Olin Michalovic
October 31, 2023
SETTING THE STAGE: Senior Lauren Ryan-Holt (Leading Player) welcomes the audience in the show’s opening number, 'Magic to Do.'  As a play within a play, Pippin has many layers to it, including the opening number which is performed as if the cast members were arriving at rehearsal and setting up for the top of the show

“It’s the cast's musical bait to the audience,” Ryan-Holt said. “We’re luring them into the production we’re about to put on. We describe the journey and all the magical, fantastic things that will take place along the way. We literally set the stage for both the show and the audience’s expectations.”

Ryan-Holt opens the number and leads the other ensemble members until the song turns into a fully choreographed number. However, for Ryan-Holt, the opening seductive chords are her favorite part.

“There’s just something so mystical and enticing about how it sounds,” Ryan-Holt said. “It’s the one part where you can feel the full focus of the audience.”

Reporting by Alice Scott. Photo by Gergo Major.  

Like its title character, ‘Pippin’ evolving with each act

By JoJo Barnard, Chloe Lewcock, Gergő Major, Alice Scott, Ingrid Smith, and Francie Wilhelm
February 17, 2023
LAST TIME FOR THE TRIO: Seniors and chamber choir members Cate Thomason, Georgiana Murray and Stella Pitts perform “Landslide” in the style of The Chicks during a performance of the annual choir cabaret. This year’s cabaret production, themed “This is the Moment… Be a Light,” featured songs about the choice humans face to build someone up or break them down. Thomason said after four years of performing together, the trio’s personalities blend as well as their voices. For the trio, this Cabaret was bittersweet.

“We weren’t that nervous this year because we’ve been singing together for so long,” Thomason said.  “We were mainly just excited and sad that it was our last year singing together.”

Former choir directors Malcolm Nelson and Cheryl Lindquist returned to Mac to put on Cabaret this year. Thomason said Nelson and Lindquist’s fun taste in music made the experience even better.

“Cabaret is a lot of work but it’s a lot of fun music and an exciting experience,” Thomason said. “We are really fortunate to have Mr. Nelson and Dr. Lindquist coach and help us with everything. I think they’re really good at picking fun songs and putting so much together in such a short amount of time.”

Photo by Francesca Dietz. Reporting by Ingrid Smith.

Cabaret 2022 succeeds in bringing the ‘Light’

By JoJo Barnard, Francesca Dietz, Chloe Lewcock, Alice Scott, Ingrid Smith, Camilla Vandegrift, and Francie Wilhelm
December 13, 2022
Senior Maya Cidale (Mal) alongside senior Kathryn Dooley (Evie), junior Henry Mayes (Carlos) and senior Anderson Zoll (Jay) perform "Ways to be Wicked," a number in which the four evils reunite to take over Auradon. For Cidale, developing her character was a significant aspect of her rehearsal process. “It was actually a very interesting process finding my version of Mal,” Cidale said.  “I started off by pretending to be Regina George if she had magic on her side, but then I took a closer look at how all of the iconic mean girls achieved that status. I realized it was all about making people second guess themselves. From that realization, I stemmed every tactic from wanting people to question what they know is right.” Reporting by Alice Scott.

‘Descendants’ brings Disney magic to life

By Jojo Barnard, Chloe Lewcock, Helen Martin, Alice Scott, Lanie Sepehri, Ingrid Smith, and Francie Wilhelm
October 26, 2022
Load More Stories