![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)
24 Years Later: The Lasting Impacts of a Tragedy
The 24th anniversary of the Columbine High School shooting took place April 20.
media by Grace Uhrain, Abigail Wood
A graphic displays the Rocky Mountain Columbine flower, often used to honor or remember Columbine High School after the school shooting that took place 24 years ago.
April 20, 2023
Today, April 20, marks the 24th anniversary of the Columbine High School (CHS) shooting.
On April 20, 1999, students Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris walked into Columbine, both carrying guns and bombs. At 11:19 a.m., they opened fire on campus. Both boys had made videos prior to walking into the school stating what they intended to do and apologizing to their parents.
The shooting ended with 12 students and one teacher killed and 24 injured. After the SWAT team arrived, Klebold and Harris took their own lives at 12:00 p.m. the same day in the school library. The school has since been remodeled.
These traumatic shootings have not only affected the members of the Columbine Shooting but also the 349,000 students that have experienced gun violence at school since Columbine, according to an article from the Washington Post.
School nurse Stephanie Walter was a junior at Columbine when the shooting occurred. The effects of that day have followed her and others throughout their lives.
“I definitely have [post-traumatic stress disorder]. I went through a lot of therapy, learning how to live with it. It definitely affects you. You can go months without having anything upsetting you, then, April comes around or other shootings happen and it brings everything back. So, I’m just learning how to work through that,” Walter said.
There have been 377 school shootings in the U.S. since Columbine, according to the Washington Post, and 158 have occurred since 2018, according to Education Week.
Many organizations, such as Preventing Gun Violence and March For Our Lives, have since been created with goals of spreading awareness, preventing future incidents and more.
“I feel like there’s definitely more awareness about the shootings, along with more procedures and training. It’s unfortunate–I feel since Columbine, 24 years ago, it’s only gotten worse,” Walter said. “From the shooting standpoint, I think we’ve now gotten to the point where we have to live every day through lockdown drills. The awareness of trying to make everybody safe is better, but I don’t feel like the shootings have [decreased].”