Macjournalism, 5600 Sunshine Drive, Austin, TX (2026)

01/10/2026

Buy your yearbook by visiting Jostens.com

01/10/2026

KNIGHTS 14 TROJANS 36 On Tuesday night, the girls varsity basketball team lost to the Anderson Trojans at home. Both teams started the first quarter with intensity, with points raining in back to back, and defensive tactics keeping the score low on both sides. Unfortunately for the Knights, after the first quarter, the Trojans took the lead and lengthened the gap in points, ending out the game 36-14.

Senior power forward Evelyn Jenkins says the team struggled offensively, but they were able to keep the Trojans at bay defensively.

“We didn’t do a great job of finding ways to score out of our offense. I think this game we were too timid so we weren’t shooting as much as we could have,” Jenkins said. “We usually scout before the game so we talked about their leading scorers and thought they were coming out on a man defense so we played out man offense.”

Jenkins says that the team was unable to execute their offensive strategy during the game, which may have caused the team to fall behind on the score board.

““We were right about them coming out in a man so going through that offense kind of helped we just weren’t running it correctly,” Jenkins said.

Looking ahead when the team plays Anderson in the Trojan gym, the team wants to take the lead, they will have to work on their offensive strategy, but also their mentality according to Jenkins.

“I think we are going to focus on stopping their leading scorer more and try to rebound more,” Jenkins said. “We were missing a starter this last game so I think that will definitely contribute to a change in mentality and we will feel more confident having the whole team together.”

Caption and photos by Sofia Saucedo.

01/09/2026

Buy your yearbook on Jostens.com! ASAP!

01/08/2026

TIE GAME This past Monday, the McCallum boys soccer team marked the end of their winter break by tying the Akins Eagles at 3 goals a piece. All three goals were scored by junior Brandon Reynaga, who was assisted by Ethan Roberts, Eli Dickey, and Alan Reynaga.

Senior goalie Summit Flowers was able to keep the Eagles tied at 3 goals, and says that even though the team was unable to walk away with the win, their offense was able to put points on the board and walk away with a tie game.

“I think the team did a good job passing the ball and putting points on the board,” Flowers said. “We need to do a better job on defense if we want to win the bigger, more challenging games coming up.”

After coming off the break, Flowers says it was difficult for the team to jump right back into the game mentality, which could have been the main cause for the team underperforming.

“I felt a little rusty coming off of winter break,” Flowers said. “Its always pretty challenging to get back into the routine after taking time off from playing, so we usually don’t play the best we can in the first few games in January, but having preseason games like this allows us to fix our mistakes and get prepared for the district season.”

The boys next game is tomorrow night at 7:30 against the Manor Mustangs at Manor. Come out and support your Knights.

Caption by Sofia Saucedo. Photos by Frank Webster.

01/08/2026

VOTE ETHAN After starting senior guard Ethan Plummer bagged 27 points in the Knights win against Crockett last week, Plummer has been nominated for Austin Statesman boys athlete of the week. To help your fellow Knight win, go vote often at the link in our bio or on our story.

01/07/2026

A NON-CONVINCING WIN Last night, the varsity boys basketball team lost to the Anderson Trojans 48-46 in an edge of your seat rivalry at the Anderson Gym. The teams scored back and forth in the first half with multiple lead changes. The Knights showed out with a large defensive game throughout the game, keeping the Trojans at bay until they ran away with the win in the fourth quarter.

That same defensive game propelled the team’s energy throughout the game. A large block that came from senior Darby Roldan in the first half was central to the electric atmosphere. Roldan explained that a large component of the preparation to face off against the Trojans was understanding their offensive patterns and abilities and then responding accordingly.

“A big thing going into this game was watching film and understanding the sets they run and the motions they go through,” Roldan said. “So we had to really understand, take a step back and see that they were a three point heavy team. We just had to decide who to step up on and who not to.”

Benefitting from the pregame preparations, the Knights were up 21-15 going into halftime and they continued to capitalize on their lead going into the second half. Throughout the second half, the Knights led the game, but the Trojans cut into their lead close to the end of the game, leading 37-34. Despite this, the Knights bounced back, tying the game 43-43 with two minutes left.

With the game tied, the Knights ran into foul and turnover trouble causing the Trojans to be able to pull away with a win. Even though McCallum lost the game, Roldan believes that it shows strength from the Knights and shows the opposite from a competitive Trojan team.

Caption continues in the comments.

01/07/2026

VOTE FOR ETHAN Last week in the Knights match up against the Crockett Cougars, Senior guard Ethan Plummer bagged 27 points, contributing over a third of the team's points and bringing home the win 65-34.

Vote often at the link in our bio or on our story and help your fellow Knight to be named boys athlete of the week.

File photo by Fernando Kramer.

01/07/2026

Just before AISD schools let out for winter break, SIPA, or Southern Interscholastic Press Association, announced their 2026 Scroggins award for best of south finalists. McCallum’s print publication The Shield, as well as their online website The Shield Online were both nominated as finalists. The Shield print publication was nominated for their first issue cycle of the year, Issue one entitled Shoulder to Shoulder, and The Shield Online was nominated for their website as a whole.

After the first issue cycle of the year was nominated as a SIPA finalist, first year newspaper advisor Evan Solis has received his first nationally recognized award of the year.

“It feels great. I am very happy to be a part of this newsroom and we are a very successful program so I am very happy they [staff] are able to continue their hard work,” he said.

When reflecting on the work Solis has contributed to The Shield, Solis is most proud of his expanded work with El Escudo, the spanish language section of The Shield. Issue 1 of volume 73 marks the first issue featuring numerous El Escudo stories written by various staff members and contributors.

“For me I had a direct influence on the El Escudo part of the newspaper,” Solis said. “I am seeing kids whose primary language is Spanish come into the newsroom to pick up a copy of the newspaper and it just makes me so happy to see us expand our audience.”

Even though Issue 1 of volume 73 was submitted as a finalist, it was also submitted with the last 2 issue cycle’s of the latest school year, Issue 4 entitled Whose America and Issue 5’s Save our School.

Solis was impressed by the young staff and excited to see all of their hard work pay off, as well as his own. After being asked what he would say to the staff in response, this was his answer:

“Keep doing what you're doing man,” Solis said. “You guys [SHIELD staff] are killing it and I am sure this is just the first of many awards we will receive this year.”

“Keep doing what you're doing man,” Solis said. “You guys [SHIELD staff] are killing it and I am sure this is just the first of many awards we will receive this year.”

Caption continues in comments.

01/06/2026

THREE CHEERS FOR LOZACH On Monday December 1, senior editor in chief Beatrix Lozach received the email of a lifetime; she was accepted to Yale University on a full ride scholarship from Quest Bridge. Upon receiving this email, Lozach was riding alongside her family members in the car, too impatient to wait until she’s home to read the message.

Lozach has always been captivated by not only the Yale campus life filled with diverse community and morals, but has always believed she would match their ideal candidate.

“The primary reason why I want to attend Yale is they have a long tradition of campus activism and social morality that is unlike other universities,” Lozach said. “Every college has a specific culture. I got matched because I fit the Yale culture.”

QuestBridge is a non-profit organization that allows high-achieving students from low income backgrounds to apply and attend top universities around the country through full ride scholarships. Lozach believes QuestBride was the best option for her college applications, and ended up applying to 9 out of 10 schools via QuestBridge.

“I felt my application could be better understood through the context of my family's social and financial situation,” Lozach said. “My parents have sacrificed so much to give me every opportunity I need so getting that acceptance was really a success for my entire family.”

Exactly 1 day after hearing back from QuestBridge, Lozach was splattered across the instagram feed of McCallum students and faculty after college and career counselor Camille Nix posted a photo of Lozach decked out in Yale merch on the Mac college career instagram page.

The response and support was overwhelming for Lozach.

“I didn’t realize how many people were actually rooting for me,” Lozach said. “I felt like I was going through this whole process alone but so many people have reached out to me, congratulating me and supporting me, saying Yale is lucky to have me so the responses from my teachers and recommenders were just amazing.”

Caption continues in comments.

01/06/2026

LOSS AGAINST LASA Last Tuesday, Dec. 30, the varsity girls basketball team lost against the LASA Raptors with a final score of 48-39. After a steady start towards the beginning of the game, the Knights began to fall behind during the second and third quarter. Ultimately, consistent plays from both Darryn Sorrells and Tiara Cooks helped create less gap in the score.

“In general I was mostly just thinking about trying to trap whenever #1 was attacking,” Cooks said. “During games like this, I try to just make sure people’s heads are still up and give out words of encouragement.”

Besides the loss, she feels that the team still put their best effort into the game.

“Overall we did pretty well,” Cooks said. “We really played together as a team and I also think as a team we did really well defensively.”

However, for their future games, Cooks still feels there is room to grow.

“I think we need to improve on our rebounds and communication,” Cooks said.

For their next game, the varsity Knights will be playing Anderson at home tonight at 8.

Caption and photos by Harper Maxwell.

12/23/2025

BLACK AND WHITE This semester, members of The Shield staff and intro journalism students were hard at work learning the craft of analog photography and printing. Over the past few months, students learned how to shoot 35mm cameras, develop their own negatives and create handmade silver gelatin prints under the red lights of the new MacJournalism darkroom.

Shield reporter Vera Petrowsky has made three prints so far from negatives she shot and developed.

“My favorite part has been developing and rolling the film,” Petrowsky said. “Although it's difficult since the room is pitch black, I like the challenge.”

Once students have developed their negatives, they can make a black and white print from their image. This intricate process requires students to “paint with light” by exposing photosensitive paper to different intensities and wavelengths of light. Then, they process the paper in multiple chemical baths to reveal the image. Sophomore reporter Wren Vanderford was the first student to make a print in the darkroom.

“The whole process is just super cool,” Vanderford said. “Getting to see it come to life and see the science behind images, you start to realize how much… really is involved.”

Stay tuned for more news from the darkroom in the spring, when some Shield staff will showcase their new skills as part of MacJournalism’s annual fundraiser.

Darkroom prints by Makenzie Brin, Vera Petrowsky, Sylvia Hurtado, Reese Clinchard, Alina Curtin, Wren Vanderford, Piper Adair, Arwen Pelletier, Maggie Smith and Elicia de Leon.

12/19/2025

This past Tuesday morning, former newspaper advisor David Winter, accompanied by current English language teacher Amy Smith delivered a special gift to college councilor Camille Nix, who's last day at McCallum ended approximately 4 hours and 25 minutes ago. To send Nix off and thank her for her many years of service at McCallum, Winter and Smith gifted her with letters from current and past students, along with photos and compiled together into one long scrap book of gratitude.

MacJournalism people editor Maya Tackett has taken on the responsibility of writing a story about Nix and her time at McCallum.

Approximately 2,250 students graduated from McCallum in the past five years including those graduating this year. That’s 2,250 students who became well versed in room 130 and with College and Career Counselor Camille Nix. So when an email titled “A bittersweet goodbye” from Nix filtered into seniors’ and their parents’ inboxes, many of the members of the McCallum community were shocked.

“Sending that email was one of the hardest I’ve ever sent,” Nix said. “I sincerely thought I would retire at McCallum, so it has been a heartbreaking decision. I love Class of 2026 very much, and it is bittersweet to have to say goodbye. It breaks my heart to leave this crew before I get to fully see the joy in all of the fun acceptances and decisions.”

To read the full story on McCallum legend Camille Nix, visit .

Caption by Sofia Saucedo. Reporting by Maya Tackett. Photo credits pending.

Macjournalism

01/10/2026

01/10/2026

01/09/2026

01/08/2026

01/08/2026

01/07/2026

01/07/2026

01/07/2026

01/06/2026

01/06/2026

12/23/2025

12/19/2025

Address

Telephone

Website

Alerts

Contact The Business

Shortcuts

Share

Category