![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)
BREAKING: Return to Remote
RC will be returning to remote learning for two weeks. Here’s what you need to know about standardized testing, the remote learning schedule, school-provided resources, and prom.
media by Kira Zizzo
The featured image for Return to Remote of a laptop showing the breaking news students and staff received today.
April 9, 2021
After Mountain Vista High School returned to remote learning April 7 and Rocky Heights Middle School and Castle View High School made the switch yesterday, RCHS will also return to remote learning starting next Tuesday, April 13 through April 27. Monday, April 12 will be the last in-person school day.
PSAT and SAT testing will still occur next week as per the schedule that can be found here along with other information regarding the tests. Students taking these tests can park in the upper or lower parking lot without a parking pass. The school encourages that students obtain a negative Covid test before coming to school for standardized testing next week, but it is not required. In addition, students taking standardized tests at the school next week must complete a self-screening test before testing. This self-screening checks for symptoms and temperature. Students must also fill out a Google Form that will be sent to freshmen, sophomores, and juniors Monday, April 12.
The remote schedule will be the same as the most recent in-person schedule the school has had since returning from spring break March 22.
As for school-provided resources, buses and transportation will be available only during the mornings of testing days next week. Cafeteria and food services will not be available to students during the period of remote learning.
Prom is still scheduled to be held April 24 at The Main Event for seniors only; however, in order to attend, students must either receive a negative Covid test within 72 hours of the event, be fully vaccinated, or have tested positive for Covid within the last 90 days and have finished their isolation period and not be experiencing any symptoms.
The decision to go remote was made because the school is now under a state of “uncontrolled transmission”, where more than one student in a classroom has tested positive. Following Tri-County Health Department guidelines, upwards of 200 students from the school have been quarantined.
“This is heartbreaking for our staff and students,” Principal Andy Abner said. “…We will do our best to get through the next two weeks allowing us to finish the year together and celebrate our students as best as possible.”
Students’ Thoughts
Wendy Werner ‘22: “I was very frustrated! It was extremely difficult the first time when it was completely remote. It’s a whole lot harder to stay motivated and to get help from teachers.”
Arianna Sanchez ‘21: “To be honest, I don’t know everything going on behind the scenes, but nonetheless, it’s disappointing. The class of 2021’s senior year has already been hard enough, having only been in school for three weeks. My senior year high school soccer season was also supposed to start up in a couple weeks, but there’s no plan set for how that’ll look. I know RC has a lot of fun stuff planned for the seniors, though, and I’m excited to make some memories doing those.”
Riley Lanziner ‘23: “Sure, I understand why we are going fully remote and obviously it is important for the health and safety of the students and staff; however, knowing after spring break that there would possibly be a spike, I believe that it should have been planned around, such as going online or at least hybrid the first two weeks after spring break to help prevent or slow spreading of Covid. For many students going full online is very difficult, especially around finals and testing.”
Chris Mason ‘21: “I am honestly a bit disappointed purely for the fact that people complain about this sort of thing when it can be easily prevented if we all stuck together through the pandemic, hopefully with the vaccine we will be able to have a normal freshman college year.”
Avery Cutone ’23: “I was honestly expecting it. I was just disappointed to go back because I got back into the swing of things and then I am forced to go back online again. Also I realize that it was needed, because the last day before [we found out we were going] remote, most of my classes were only half full, with the other half online. I think that students will be less outgoing and feel isolated when [we] go back online. I think this could negatively affect [our] mental health, but I hope that the full remote schedule is only two weeks so that students can return to an all in-person schedule and be surrounded by their classmates and teachers.”
Sophie Shadid ‘21: “When I first heard we were going back full in person after spring break after half the school had been traveling, I think a lot of us were a little apprehensive about it. I don’t know if it’s coming as a big shock to a lot of people especially after [Mountain Vista going remote]. I’ve just been getting back into my routine. It’s nice to be in-person– it’s a lot easier to learn. Hopefully the two weeks can pass quickly and we can have a good prom… Hopefully we’ll get to graduate in-person by the end. I think that a lot of students are going to have to be self motivated now more than ever because AP testing is the most rigorous study period of the year, and so are finals, so this critical period that we have is going to be online… I think it’s going to really negatively affect mental health if it lasts more than two weeks.”