![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)
This year, senior soccer player Nicki Fraser won Colorado High School Soccer Athlete of the Year in 2023, was Offensive Soccer Player of the Year for Rock Canyon in 2023 and was named 2023 CHSAA all-state first team for 5A girls soccer. Fraser also received an All-American award for club soccer and an all-conference award in U-15, U-16 and U-17.
Fraser is also known for her and her father’s relationship, Robin Fraser, head coach of the U.S. Rapids. They both have strong backgrounds in soccer and she is known for Following in His Footsteps, a YouTube video made by U.S. soccer featuring the father-daughter duo.
And yet, this year, Fraser decided to play high school soccer no more.
“I chose not to play high school soccer this year because I did not think it was the best thing for me when thinking about preparation for college,” Fraser said. “I wanted to spend this springtime being really focused on training and challenging myself in a different environment. I thought that this way I would be more equipped to adapt to the college soccer landscape.”
Fraser committed to play collegiate soccer at the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA). As of now, she plays for Real Colorado and has also represented the U.S. by playing for their 17-under and 19-under national teams.
“The [UCLA] coaches had reached out to me first out of any school and established an early relationship with me, which I really appreciated. They also seemed really invested in me, something that I felt like I couldn’t ignore,” Fraser said. “Then, of course, my thinking was what could be better than living in Westwood? As soon as I stepped on the campus, I just felt that it was the school for me.”
Throughout the school year, Fraser balances both teams and goes to school full-time. When she’s not playing games, winning medals or traveling, Fraser practices almost every single day for about an hour and a half on average.
“An average practice with my club team is typically right after school and lasts for 90 minutes. We start with a dynamic warmup and then a ping, which is a keep-away in a small square with our whole team with two people in the middle. Everyone only has one touch and the people in the middle are just trying to touch it and then two new people go in the middle. Sometimes our coach joins in and it becomes really fun. Then we either do some passing exercises or go into a shooting and finishing drill. We finish off playing ourselves to big goals for about the last 30 minutes of training,” Fraser said.
During her club and national soccer career, Fraser played varsity her junior year coached by retired varsity head coaches Mathew Henbest and Jeremy Newman.
“Within the first 15 minutes, you could tell she was exceptional, but I didn’t get to know her until her junior year. I got a chance to get to know her kind of seeing what she was off the field,” Henbest said. “She always struck me as being very mature, humble and kind. Then when I got the chance to coach her, she’s very competitive and holds herself to high standards.”
After 15 years of coaching the Jaguars, Henbest stepped down from coaching this year.
“The best part of coaching at RC was always the players, but I also had a great staff of coaches and a supportive administration. However, if I was going to step down at some point, I figured this was likely to be the best time since I knew I was going to leave the program in good shape for the next leader. So, I decided to cherish every moment of what I knew was going to be my final year,” Henbest said. “Incredibly, it turned out to be a phenomenal season filled with so many great memories that eventually led to a state championship game. I couldn’t have asked for a better ending to my coaching career.”
On Sept. 13, Fraser committed to UCLA. On Nov. 9, Fraser did a collaboration post on Instagram with @uclawsoccer for National Signing Day to publicly announce her commitment.
“I am most excited to be in a new environment. I love home and my youth soccer experience, but I feel like I am ready for a new challenge. Also, between academics and athletics, I cannot wait to meet a bunch of new people and learn more about myself,” Fraser said.
While playing college soccer, Fraser plans to continue with her U.S. team as well.
“I am looking forward to being able to see just where it takes me. I feel like my career is still just in the beginning, so I don’t have anything big ahead of me except college,” Fraser said.