![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)
As you step inside, the hum of lively chatter and crowded hallways fill the space. You walk past the mix of paintings, sculptures and multimedia installations adorning the walls, each telling a story. All of a sudden, you spot your piece on display with an award ribbon attached on the border. A wave of pride and achievement fills your heart as you celebrate the recognition.
Held at Legacy Campus, the annual Douglas County School District (DCSD) Art Exhibition showcased high school and middle school artistic achievements. Jags received second place, third place and honorable mention awards in different art categories.
The open-house art show began Friday, April 19, and ended Thursday, April 25 with viewing hours ranging from 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.
Visual Arts Department Chair Kennetha Miller has been teaching graphic design, photography and ceramics for nine years and helped set up her students’ work in the show.
“This show is an opportunity for our students to show how hard they have worked both semesters. As their teacher, I’m so proud of them and I couldn’t wait to show off their work as well,” Miller said. “I hope that they can treasure the pieces they made and have a fond memory of Rock Canyon and their time with us.”
The show included various art disciplines: sculpture, ceramics and glass, mixed media, jewelry, drawing and painting, computer art and design, photography and printmaking. To help classify the different kinds of artwork, small, circular stickers were placed on each name tag to label the art by the specific high school category for judging.
Lauren Madsen ‘26 got one piece into the art show. Her project was based on mandelas and she decided to paint the sky with different planets. She used different-sized dots of various colors of blue, white, orange and red. It took her around five weeks to complete using only class time to finish it.
“I’ve been taking art since elementary school, but I started liking it more in middle school because it made me feel calm and it was a fun way to spend extra time,” Madsen said. “This is my first time having things in the art show and I felt proud that I was in it because I worked hard on it.”
There was no formal ceremony to congratulate the artists this year as the DCSD Art Show stopped hosting award ceremonies a few years ago. Instead, awards were announced on Tuesday, April 23, with colorful ribbons attached to each piece. Winners received an email and collected a certificate of achievement near the building entrance.
“From each of our classes, we picked out our best student work. We laid it out on a big table and went through the selection process,” Visual Arts teacher Lindsay Hubbard said. “We wanted to get a piece from each of the units that we taught to showcase what we cover in our classes. We always try to highlight the work of upperclassmen because it’s their last chance to get things into the art show.”
All winners received a small goodie bag with sweets and a sticker. However, first-place winners, Best in Show picks and poster contest winners received a goodie bag and a gift card.
“We make certificates for those winners and the Air Academy gives us money to buy gift cards for x amount of kids,” Curriculum Instruction and Assessment Reporting Leader Laurie Lacomb said.
Besides first place, second place, third place and honorable mentions, there were two more respective placements awarded: Best in Show and Legacy Picks. Legacy Pick winners get their art featured on Legacy Campus for an entire year, some pieces even earning a permanent position.
Jags had six entries in Graphic Design, seven in Photography, five in Drawing, seven in Painting and 16 in Sculpture.
In Graphic Design, Hana Lee ‘25 won second place and Madie Loucks ‘24 placed third. In Painting, Rylan Hastings ‘24 won second place. Lastly, for sculpture, two honorable mentions were given for Iris Star ‘26 and Rigel Dodge ‘27.
“We have a wonderful art team. Our teachers are amazing and we’re all as passionate about our own art as we are at teaching art to our students,” Miller said. “It’s so great to come to work knowing that you can work with such a great team.”
