![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)
Colorado All State Honor Band
Emily McDonald ‘19 practices her clarinet during access in the band room Jan. 10. McDonald received the music after being accepted into the Colorado All State band and practiced before the combined musical rehearsals. “I am most excited to meet other players from around the state that have worked just as hard to get here and are just as excited about music as I am. As the best in the state changes, the community of musicians chosen is unique to any year prior and I’m really excited to meet this years members,” McDonald said.
January 29, 2019
Music by definition is a strand of notes put together to create a vocal or instrument sound; but to Emily McDonald, it is a way of life. As first chair clarinet in the Symphonic Band, first chair in Continental League Honor Band, a member of the marching band and sixth chair in the Colorado All State Band, McDonald lives and breathes music.
“I have been playing since fifth grade so eight years now,” McDonald said. “I love being able to express myself through music and make an emotional connection with the audience as a performer.”
Throughout her high school career, McDonald has auditioned and been accepted into many different bands, but this is her first year making it into the All State Band. The band is a group of highly talented students from all around the state that come together for only a few practices, then put on a concert Saturday, March 30 presumably at the University of Northern Colorado.
“It’s super hard to get into All State. In all of Douglas County last year there were only four students that made it. We had one from Rock Canyon. This year, I think there are six or seven and two of them are from our school,” Music director Zachary Fruits said.
McDonald spent about six months of preparation for the audition where she went into a room with a judge at her allotted time, performed live, and was recorded. However, while the judge in the room at the time of the audition judged and graded her, the director of bands at UNC, Richard Mayne, determined the final list of accomplished musicians of who made it in. McDonald auditioned Nov. 30 and found out the good news during the week of Dec. 17.
“I am extremely excited and proud to have made it in because of all the work I have put into band throughout my high school career with All State having been a goal from the start. Because of all of the amazing musicians throughout the state, it is not an easy honor band to get in to and even auditioning takes months of preparation, so to have it all pay off is something I am so proud of and excited for going into this new experience in my last semester of high school,” McDonald said.
