![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)
When Schools Cancel the Bus
How are students affected by schools canceling bus routes?
media by Andi Mack
A graphic pictures a frustrated student outside school waiting for the bus.
March 21, 2023
Feb. 3, at 1:25 p.m., my bus route was canceled, along with 13 others. That is approximately an hour and a half before the school day ends, as well as all the time I had to find a ride with someone… including class time.
As it turned out, none of my friends could get or give me a ride. And on the verge of tears, I was looking around, trying to find someone to get me a ride home. I ended up getting a ride from a very sweet girl’s mom. Although I felt terrible for imposing my problem onto them, I couldn’t help but feel anger towards the school for letting me be abandoned without a ride home after that same morning they’d driven me to the institution.
Something I noticed while I was walking around the commons was the sheer amount of students that were standing around, frantically trying to call and text people to get them a ride home. It was chaos, and I felt so bad for them and the unreliability that had disrupted their ability to go about their day.
“It’s just annoying because both my parents work and I’m still a few months from getting my license, so I have very few options on getting home. I typically have volleyball [after school] and I need to get home to finish my homework and get ready,” Livy Arbuckle ’25 said.
To get a better understanding as to why they did that in the first place, I decided to speak with the front office. Karen Brankin, Volunteer Coordinator and Health Assistant, said the school was not responsible for the cancellation of bus routes. The Douglas County School District (DCSD) Transportation Department is responsible for the scheduling and maintenance of bus routes.
I decided to give the DCSD Transportation Department a call to find out more.
I called the division relevant to RCHS bus routes, the Castle Rock division. According to the phone receptionist, “Function of routes depends on how many drivers we have and how many are available.” The receptionist then transferred me to a manager. All I got was a swift decline and an automated voicemail. I left her a message and didn’t hear back.
A week afterwards, on Feb. 22, the bus was canceled in the afternoon again, and on Feb. 28, I decided to contact them through the DCSD Transportation Department’s website. I sent the following inquiry through their customer service support:
Hello, I’m curious as to why there has been an increased amount of route cancellations, not to school, but to home.
Why is it possible that you guys can drive students to school but not take them back home?
Who/what is responsible for cancellations?
Why does this continue to happen?
Do you think there’s any way you will fix this issue/are you fixing it already?
Thank you.
After three days, I still hadn’t heard back. No attempt nor advice from their phone support, online support, or website to help me learn a bit more about bus cancellation. But what does Colorado have to say about this?According to Rules for the Operation of School Transportation Vehicles, 1 CCR 301-26, “pursuant to 22-32-113, C.R.S., the board of education of a school district is authorized but is not required to furnish student transportation home to school, school to school, school to home, and on school sponsored activities.” .
Legally, DCSD is within their means to not transport students from school to home after transporting them from home to school.
Are DCSD transportation services morally within their means to not transport students home from school after transporting them to school from home? In my opinion, no. DCSD should have canceled the school day routes altogether. Did this upset me? Yes.
The lack of communication and responsibility the transportation office for the district has for students which rely and intensely lean on is absolutely unacceptable. I even suggest that a bill be proposed to bar schools from being able to transport students to school but not to home, and if that means a higher pay grade for bus drivers, then so be it.