Macjournalism, 5600 Sunshine Drive, Austin, TX (2025)

11/16/2025

Tonight at the National Student Press Association National High School Convention awards ceremony at the Ga***rd Opryland Resort in Nashville, Tenn., The Shield took home 16 national awards, including three staff awards and 13 individual awards. A full list can be found below:
- Best of Show - Newspaper more than 1,800 students: First place
- Best use of social media - Social media reporting: First place
- Story of the Year - Opinion: Lillian Gray, first place
- Design of the Year - Newsmagazine cover: Mira Patel, second place
- Artist of the Year - Mira Patel, third place
- Writer of the Year - Lillian Gray, third place
- Design of the Year - Newsmagazine page/spread: Nate Williams, third place
- Photo of the Year - News photo: Sofia Celio, third place
- Broadcast Story of the Year - Broadcast commentary: Staff, fourth place
- Design of the Year - Illustration: Mira Patel, fourth place
- Digital Story of the Year - Blog: 300 Words, fourth place
- Photojournalist of the Year: Lillian Gray, fifth place
- Fred Ross Systemic Change Reporting: Lillian Gray, honorable mention
- Design of Year - Newsmagazine page/spread: Nate Williams, honorable mention
- Digital Story of the Year - Interactive graphic: Lillian Gray, honorable mention
- Newsmagazine Pacemaker finalist

Photos by Julia Copas and Evan Solís.

11/14/2025

The academy has asked us to spread the word to all eight-graders and ninth-graders interested in auditioning for the Fine Arts Academy that the annual academy showcase is 6:30 p.m. Monday Nov. 17 in the MAC.

The showcase is kind of like a fine arts salad bar where you get a little taste of everything the academy programs have to offer. The rest of us will have to wait until Fine Arts Week to get our buffet of fine arts excellence.

Graphic courtesy of .

11/14/2025

HALLOWEEN FUN On Halloween, Friday Oct 31, the McCallum baseball program used their class practice period to participate in their annual Halloween Scrimmage. This game consists of two different teams that play a regular game of baseball, but in various costumes.

Junior Robert Grona dressed up as a hunter and believes the scrimmage went well overall.

“It’s always a time just to relax and and have fun,” Grona said.

Grona’s favorite part of baseball and the scrimmage overall was hitting because it allows him to challenge himself.

While playing in costumes can be a challenge due to their restriction, Grona chose a costume that didn’t affect his mobility.

“It wasn’t really a challenge for me but I can say some of the costumes are hard to hit and run in,” he said.

Although Grona wasn’t affected, there were a few costumes such as a cookie or dinosaur inflatable costume that the players couldn’t really swing a bat in.

Photos by Eleanor Voorhees. Caption by Maya Tackett.

11/13/2025

While scrolling through the award winning website , you may have noticed a pop up advertising active donations to the Shield. This pop up has been available on the website for a while, but has yet to be recognized by The Shield.

Here in MacJournalism, staffers are dedicated to providing our community with important breaking news, the latest updates on our sporting programs and events and our award winning theatre and performing arts programs. Senior Editor in Chief Mira Patel says this is what makes MacJournalism such an integral part of our community.

“I think that MacJ is really special because McCallum encompasses such a diverse group of students and it is important that we share these aspects of our school's identity,” said Patel. “We are able to come together as a staff to report and share information and our communities' stories.”

Patel added that donations would help support the program and all of the work it does to give back to our community.

“I think that we are one of the few programs that is committed to something bigger than ourselves,” Patel said. “The work we are doing benefits everyone and we are advocates for our community. We can’t do that without the help from those who appreciate our work.”

As Patel reflects on her 4 years as a MacJ student, she appreciates the hard work the staff puts into their work day in and day out.

“I am inspired by our staff and our ability to work hard both in and outside of class. Our dedication takes MacJ to the next level,” Patel said. “All of the students and contributors to MacJ really see this program as a family. Throughout high school I have found the best people, friends, and mentors through this program. I have found my place here.”

To donate to MacJournalism, visit and scroll to find a pop up entitled ‘Donate to The Shield’. Hit the button ‘contribute’ and fill in some personal information and your desired donation.

Caption by Sofia Saucedo. Photos by David Winter, Frank Webster. Full photo credits pending.

11/12/2025

The federal government shutdown began on Oct. 1 as a result of budget disagreements between Congressional Democrats and Republicans. The disagreements primarily center on healthcare appropriations, with Democrats arguing for an extension of subsidies that provide healthcare to 20 million Americans and Republicans arguing against them. Their criticisms primarily hinge on their perception that the subsidies help insurance companies more than Americans. However, Republicans have proposed no alternative legislation to combat this. They’ve also accused Democrats of providing healthcare benefits to undocumented immigrants, a claim that is false; providing healthcare to undocumented immigrants goes against federal law. However, Democrats actively seek coverage for asylum seekers and recipients of the DREAM Act. On Nov. 10, the Senate reached a 60-40 compromise to end what was the longest government shutdown in history, sending the funding bill to the House for approval.

To read more about how the recent government shutdown affects Mac students, teachers, and faculty visit .com for the full story.

Photo and article by Beatrix Lozach.

11/11/2025

PALS are hosting their annual Coats For Kids fundraisers! If you have any questions please DM us!

11/11/2025

The McCallum band has finished their performance of “Gothic Renaissance” at the finals of the UIL 5A State Marching Contest.

In an interview broadcast on the Alamodome videoboard at the conclusion of their performance, senior drum major Sara Hamlet said she felt the performance went exceptionally well.

“It feel’s amazing. It’s such a privilege to know that this was our final run and it was an amazing final run at that,” Hamlet said.

Hamlet also said that she felt the band’s final part of the performance was her favorite.

“The closure, the jazz run to the end, you just get hit by a wall of sound,” Hamlet said. “It just gives me chills every time, it almost brought tears to my eyes.”

At the conclusion of all of the competing bands’ performances, final placements will be announced at 5:45 p.m.

Caption by Julia Copas. Photos by Copas, Carlo Hinsdale and Wren Vanderford.

11/11/2025

STEPPING INTO THE SPOTLIGHT Sunday afternoon in the MAC, 6 members of the cast of MacTheatre’s “Between the Lines” took the stage to perform as their alternate roles. After the audition process, cast members were chosen as alternates to certain characters. During rehearsals, these alternates will learn both their ensemble parts and the character roles that they will perform in one designated show. Senior Sami Spear, alternate for the role of “Delilah McPhee,” said that the prospect of preparing 2 tracks was intimidating at first, but became easier throughout rehearsals.

“At the beginning of the rehearsal process, I was definitely a little bit nervous about tackling 2 separate tracks, especially since they both do so much in such different ways,” Spear said. “As the show progressed and I got to work alongside the lovely lead Paityn Jones, I was able to manage all of my choreo numbers alongside the numerous lines I had to memorize.”

Spear said that learning multiple tracks allowed her to develop a deeper understanding of the show and its characters.

“I think that seeing the show from 2 separate perspectives allowed me to grasp such a clear knowledge of both the show itself and the characterization I wanted to express on stage.”

According to Spear, the alternate performance showcased both hard work of the alternates and the cast as a whole.

“In terms of myself and all the other alternates that went on, I thought that we all brought our best performance to the stage,” Spear said. “We have all been working so hard to keep up with our multiple tracks over the past few months, and I think that we all adjusted to performing these different roles really well. The cast as a whole did a wonderful job with respacing and adjusting to fit the alternate performance, while still bringing their all.”

Caption continues in comments.

11/11/2025

The McCallum band has advanced to finals and will perform tomorrow at the Alamodome at 2:30 p.m.

This is the fourth time in McCallum history the marching band has advanced to finals. We apologize for the screaming from our reporters heard in this video. If you couldn't tell, we were excited.

Video by Sophia Manos.

11/11/2025

The McCallum Band has just concluded its preliminary performance at the UIL 5A State Marching Competition.

Sophomore clarinet player Susan Welsh said she felt the performance went well.

“I think it went really well,” Welsh said. “I think we’re all really hyped about being in such a great performance space and we really pulled through.”

Following the conclusion of the exhibition performance by the East Texas A&M Pride Marching Band, at approximately 8:45 p.m. the 12 bands that will advance to finals tomorrow will be announced.

Reporting by Julia Copas and Wren Vanderford. Photos by Vanderford and Carlo Hinsdale.

11/11/2025

The band has begun practicing their marching drills, warming up their aperture’s and making sure their instruments are ready for their upcoming performance. They are separated into different rooms, with woodwinds and brass in one room, and percussion and pit ensemble in separate rooms.

“It’s honestly super exciting,” Juarez said. This is the most fun I've ever had, and I'm really proud of all of us and all of our accomplishments that we've had this year.”

They will finish warming up at 7:50 p.m., and will move onto the field at 8:00 p.m.

Additional live coverage can be accessed at macshieldonline.com or at the link in our story.

Photos by Wren Vanderford. Caption by Sophia Manos and Vanderford.

11/10/2025

On October 30, the varsity girls volleyball team traveled to the Delco center to play Hendrickson in the first round of playoffs. After just 3 sets, the Hendrickson Hawks were able to close out the game, moving on to round 2, and sending the Knights home.

Senior middle blocker Dillon Harper says that even though the game did not favor the Knights, there were still positive takeaways from the game.

"I think something we did well was finding open spots on the court and hitting the ball there." Harper said.

Even thought the Knights offense was able to attack well and gain some points for the team, Harper says the game definitely highlighted some areas of weakness for the team.

"I definitely think we as a team need to work on our consistency," Harper said. "We need to make sure we are getting our serves over the net and in bounds."

More coverage on round 1 playoffs soon to come.
Caption by Sofia Saucedo. Photos by Harper Maxwell.

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