![Minutes before the Activities Fair in the gym, president Abhi Gowda ‘26 prepares the stall for his club Helping Hands, Sept. 4. A relatively new club, Helping Hands was co-started by Gowda and focuses on assisting the homeless, and just last year they succeeded in raising a couple hundred donations to send to shelters. This year, they have goals to expand, with hopes to increase volunteer opportunities and take in-person trips to shelters, as well as extend their help beyond just homeless people. “The Activities Fair gives a lot of underclassmen the opportunity to really get to know the Canyon culture, and it gives them many opportunities for service and volunteering,” Gowda said. “[Through the Activities Fair,] I hope to find a bunch of new and passionate members about our club and just get our name out there and spread awareness to the cause that we’re fighting for.”](https://rockmediaonline.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/1-2-1200x885.jpg)
![The winter guard team makes fifth place at the state championship finals in the Denver Coliseum, March 30. The team performed to Barnes Country's “Glitter and Gold,” lead by coaches Margo Sanford, Blair Bickerton and Anna Orgren. In their class there were a total of nine groups participating, and the top five who made it to finals received a plaque. “[Walking onto the stage] is very nerve-wracking, but also very exciting as well. When you first start color guard there's a lot of anxiety and uncertainty when you first perform in front of an audience, but once you've done it for a while, it starts to become the best part of the season,” Ella West ‘25 said. “It's very fulfilling to see an audience react to something you've put your heart and soul into.”](https://rockmediaonline.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Both-socal-media-nd-website-main-1-1200x846.jpg)
![April marks the 25th anniversary of Sexual Assault Awareness Month, created by the National Sexual Violence Resource Center (NSVRC). This month is to spread awareness of the harassment, assault and abuse that happens around the world. The symbol that represented the month was a teal ribbon; however, some survivors of assault create different symbols and movements like the TikTok trend in 2022, where survivors would tattoo Medusa on their body, in honor of her backstory in Greek Mythology. “I don't think [this month is known] at all. I rarely see anybody talk about it. I rarely see much of an emphasis on posting it online, or much discussion about it, and I feel like there needs to be way more discussion,” an anonymous source said. “I think just validating every experience that a person has gone through, regardless of the degree of it, the severity, is an essential step into making sure that people are aware that this is a very real problem in a society and that we need to do better in addressing it.”](https://rockmediaonline.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/IMG_0011-1200x900.jpg)
![Lesbian Visibility Day is April 26, and it’s a holiday to celebrate the lesbian community of the world. Lesbian Visibility day was established in 2008 by many queer activists and organizations who sought to raise more awareness for lesbian history and culture. “So this is why during Lesbian Visibility [Day] we celebrate and center all lesbians, both cis and trans, while also showing solidarity with all LGBTQ+ women and nonbinary people,” Linda Reily, in an article written by her, said.](https://rockmediaonline.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Lesbian-Visibility-day.jpeg)
FRIDAY FACULTY FEATURE: Explore the Inner Workings of Christina Marcilliat
A glimpse at Health teacher Christina Marcilliat’s, life inside and outside school.
media by Elly Brooks
Healthy Decisions and Adventure Experience teacher Christina Marcilliat sits on her chair, talking to some of her students before class starts Feb. 22. Marcilliat explained that she didn’t know she was going to go into teaching, but found a love for it when in college. “My degree is in health and I kind of fell into teaching and realized I really liked it,” Marcilliat said.
March 3, 2023
As you walk into Christina Marcilliat’s classroom, she greets you with a warm good morning and a genuine smile. You take your seat and look upon the board to see the daily question. The jokes and interactions allow you to relax and enjoy the class as it begins.
Q: How long have you been teaching and how long have you been teaching at Rock Canyon?
A: This is my 14th year teaching, and seventh year at Rock Canyon.
Q: Why did you choose to teach Healthy Decisions?
A: My degree is in health. I kind of fell into teaching and realized I really liked it.
Q: What’s your favorite book, movie or TV show?
A: I’m currently I’m watching “In the Dark,” which I hated season one, but I really like seasons two and three. So I’m gonna say that one. But I’m willing to admit this just because I’m okay with it. I like really bad dating shows like “The Bachelor.”
Q: What’s your weirdest teaching story?
A: Oh gosh, there are a couple of embarrassing and shocking ones. I got accused of breaking a student’s nose because I accidentally tripped into a door that then pushed into her face. True story. I actually did trip. She actually did break her nose.
Q: Do you have any pets?
A: I have two Shelties, their names are Dexter and Boomer. I call them Dax and Boo for short.
Q: What’s your favorite trip you’ve ever been on and why?
A: My dad and I did a road trip to national parks through Utah and Arizona. Zion was amazing, so so good.
Q: What’s your craziest family story?
A: My dad’s the oldest of eight. So all of the siblings, when they get together, basically relive their glory days through the 70s days. It’s amazing that they made it out alive with some of the ways that they acted, but I did not carry on that tradition. I am a square. I’m a vanilla type of ice cream, I color inside the lines.
Q: Are there any foods you like or dislike?
A: I’m allergic to bell peppers. So that’s a big one. I had nose surgery, and I didn’t like avocados, but then I had sinus work and magically it’s like my favorite food now.
Q: Do you have a guilty pleasure movie, or some movie that you’ll watch anytime?
A: There’s this super, super cheesy movie from the early 2000s called “Because I Said So,” with Mandy Moore back when she was like an actual pop singer. [It’s] a terrible movie, but I’ve seen it so many times. I know nobody has ever heard it either seen or heard about. It goes back to one of the original little heartthrob movies of the 2000s.