![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)
Play the Night Away
December 14, 2018
Rock Canyon’s String and Chamber Orchestras have a concert Dec. 13, 2018 at 7:00pm in the RC auditorium. A concert from Rocky Heights Middle School’s orchestra will precede RC’s orchestras. The instrumentalists have been preparing for this concert since October.
“Every year, only a very select few orchestras have the privilege of playing at the Colorado Music Education Association (CMEA), and we were selected and asked to play this year. It’s a big, probably once-in-a-lifetime deal for Rock Canyon’s orchestra,” Lilliya Larson ’21 said. Because Larson teacher aids Orchestra and Guitar teacher Ben Dale’s seventh period String orchestra, she will be both playing the piano to accompany the String orchestra and playing the violin for the Chamber orchestra.
RC’s orchestras have never played for CMEA before. “Since first quarter, we’ve been working on a bunch of serenades… for the fall and winter concerts. With both our fall and winter repertoire, plus some extra songs, we’re going to play those all at CMEA,” Larson said. RC’s orchestras will be playing at least 10 songs.
The Chamber orchestra will be performing a world premier of a piece that has never been played before. Rock Canyon’s orchestras have been chosen by the CMEA to perform with elementary schools and middle schools and play different-level pieces for judges. The judges of the competition are music educators. The concert will be held at the Broadmoor Hotel in Colorado Springs Jan. 24, 2019 at 8:00pm.
Alex LaMotte ’21 composed a piece for this concert. The symphony has yet to be given a name but follows a style called A Theme in Variation. Dale emailed LaMotte, asking him to write the piece. LaMotte had already been writing a piece that happened to fit perfectly along with the requirements Dale gave him to follow for the December piece.
Starting from writer’s block, LaMotte wrote a few notes and then kept writing more and putting them all together into a tune that is now the main theme of his symphony for the December concert.
“There’s going to be the middle school, there’s going to be guitar, and there’s going to be Chamber, so it’s going to be this whole big production,” LaMotte said about the December Concert.
Rock Canyon’s Orchestra works throughout the quarters to ensure a great show, so come support your fellow Jags at the December orchestra concert, Dec. 13, 2018 at 7:00pm in the RC auditorium. Also, be sure to head to the Broadmoor Hotel for a performance with other selected schools throughout Colorado to encourage your peers as they compete.
Broadmoor Hotel
1 Lake Avenue
Colorado Springs, CO
80906