![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)
Imagine this—you’re walking through the school halls, then all of a sudden you see people with sparkles, funny designs, and even all the shows you watched as a kid, as the nostalgic feeling of the senior backpacks roams the halls.
Seniors have the tradition of wearing kids’ backpacks with characters, sparkles and bright colors rather than the generic backpacks that other grades wear.
Everyone knows about senior backpacks, but how does everyone know? Senior backpacks have no single origin point, but nationwide, everyone knows and even participates in the tradition. According to the Marquette Messenger, the tradition of wearing little kid backpacks has spread throughout the senior class and caught the recognition of students and faculty through social media, word of mouth and parents. This tradition mainly started from sharing the beautiful and fun-filled tradition on social media, and from the word-of-mouth of people who do it or want to do it.
Some seniors’ backpacks have a deeper meaning than just a fun tradition that has been passed down.
“My backpack does resonate with my childhood because I have loved dinosaurs basically my whole life, so obviously I had to get a dinosaur backpack,” Ryan Whitham-O’Dell ‘26 said.
Dinosaurs aren’t the only way seniors are showing off childhood favorites. Some are inspired by childhood movies, reminding the senior class of wholesome memories created as they grew up.
“When I was younger my favorite movie was Finding Nemo and I would watch it like 24 times a day,” Anthony Canino ‘26 said.
On the flip side, some seniors don’t necessarily have a childhood connection to their senior backpacks–however, they do still have meaning behind their choice.
“I had a friend last year who had a Hello Kitty backpack, so I had to carry on the legacy,” Emerson Leddick ‘26 said.
(media by Leona Waters/Teagan Atchison)
