![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)
First Year of Winter Guard
December 11, 2018
For the first year, Winter Color Guard is starting at Rock Canyon. The team is composed of students from all grades and will be competing in Regional A competitions throughout the season that runs into the beginning of April. The team practices began on Monday Dec. 10 and are every Monday and Wednesday from 6:30- 9:00 p.m. as well as some Saturday mornings.
“I’m most excited about starting a new program and designing my first show. I wanted to start a program at Rock Canyon because I was a part of starting a program when I was in high school. I’ve been very passionate about guard and want to spread it to others,” said instructor of the team, Marguerite Buhr.
Many of the joining members recently participated in Marching Band this past season and chose to be apart of the first Winter Color Guard after having loved the activity and wanting to be able to continue practicing their color guard skills.
“Being able to be with a bunch of friends and being able to create something that we are all proud of and have that product be something that other people enjoy watching is pretty cool,” said returning color guard member, Tyler Craig ‘19.
Along with having veteran color guard members join, there are more than a few new members who will be learning new skills such as dancing and working with a flag for the first time.
“I’m most excited to get to know the guard family better and get to try something new and definitely outside of my comfort zone,” said new guard member, Emily McDonald ‘19.
Throughout the season the team will be learning choreography on flags, rifles, and dance and will be doing their work to the song Tightrope from the movie The Greatest Showman. They will have several competitions and we are excited to see what great things they will achieve in their first year.