![On Oct. 30, 24 Eco Club members took a tour of the school’s solar panels on the roof. They were guided and taught by an employee from E Light Electric, the company that maintains the school’s solar panels, and learned about how the panels are maintained and cared for. “I was definitely very excited about being on the roof in general,” Eco Club member Olivia Fang ‘26 said. “[It was exciting to] learn more about solar panels and how they work and how they supply energy to our school.”](https://rockmediaonline.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/RCH_2632-1200x800.jpg)
![Ice and snow make it difficult for drivers on the road. During snowstorms, drivers have poor visibility, and frozen roads make it difficult to stay in control. “Driving home from Denver [on Friday], the neighborhoods weren’t plowed. By the time we got back they were only plowing highways. We spun out, nearly got stuck and fishtailed a few different times,” Connor Pugh ‘26 said.](https://rockmediaonline.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Untitled_Artwork-e1732045465987.jpg)
![Varsity girls soccer midfielder Leah Sheahan ‘24 hugs a friend during the Senior Night celebrations before the home game against Mountain Vista High School (MVHS) at Echo Park Stadium April 29. During Senior Night, seniors were given flowers and the opportunity to walk out and take pictures with their family as their future plans and favorite memories were announced over the speakers. The Jags tied 0-0, losing the Continental League Championship. “We were obviously the stronger team but just couldn’t find a way to score, but otherwise our connection and our intensity was really high so I’m proud of that. We just have to find the net,” defense midfielder Clara Geuzaine ‘24 said. “[Losing League] wasn’t the best. It’s better than last year and like, I know our team and we are doing really good. I don’t want to jinx it but like hopefully [we’ll do] good [in playoffs].”](https://rockmediaonline.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Copy-of-DSC_4277-1-1200x868.jpg)
![In room 4101, Natalie Patterson ‘26, Ariana Magor ‘25 and Celina Salazar ‘25 create a poster in science teacher Kerry Reilly’s Chemistry Honors April 18. The three completed a worksheet and drawing to explain the implosion of a tank for their unit on gas laws. “At the start of class, we watched a video of the tank imploding,” Patterson said. “I think [making a drawing] is something new. I like more artsy activities.”](https://rockmediaonline.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/IMG_5019-1200x900.jpeg)
We Need a Covid Curve
The way to help students in these unprecedented times is to apply a Covid curve.
media by Kira ZIzzo
The featured image for the “We Need A Covid Curve” editorial.
April 22, 2021
5 weeks until finals week.
4 weeks until seniors are gone.
3 weeks until senior finals.
2 weeks until AP tests.
1 week until AP class finals…
Yet, I am writing this from my bedroom. As students this semester, we have gone through hybrid, fully in-person, and fully virtual learning models: the three headed monster. We have dealt with many different schedules. It seems like every few weeks, we have to adapt to something new. With so little time left in the year, we are back online.
Being back online has thrown all of us for a loop.
Instead of being able to be in class and collaborate with my classmates a week before my math final, I’m stuck in my room doing these assignments on my own.
Of course it was a justified decision to put us online, but putting us online this late in the year without a curve or a little help is unacceptable. Many students were holding on to a ledge approaching this last month, but being sent online right now with no help has basically just kicked us off the ledge.
Students are being forced to study in unfavorable circumstances. Stress levels are at a high across the entire school. Kids are burnt out and dealing with so much. They need help.
In a recent study by NBC News, nationwide, 39% of students have shown signs of depression, 66% are battling loneliness, and 13% of students have thought about taking their own life in the past year.
The way to help students right now is to apply a Covid Curve.
“We one hundred percent need a Covid curve or something to help us this semester,” Dylan Greer ‘22 said. “This is probably the most stressed and worst I’ve felt my entire life.”
A Covid curve is not a whole new idea. When we went online in the fall, we received a Covid curve as well. Going online at the end of the second semester is much worse than going online at the end of first semester due to final exams and AP tests.
Last semester, we had a Covid Curve of twelve percent. For example, an 88% and above was an A, 76% to 87.9% was a B, 64% to 75.9% was a C, and so on and so forth.
Some may say this is an easy way out, but we tend to forget that we are in a pandemic that has been going on for a year. The school should have planned to help students out with virtual classes, yet no new resources or policies have been implemented this semester to do so. Now, I’m not putting the blame of something as big as a pandemic on them, of course this is unpredictable and we are all in this together, but we need to help students out in these tough times.
In a recent Instagram survey of over 400 Rock Canyon students, 86% said that their mental health has gotten worse with online school and 83% have said their grades have worsened or they are worried about them dropping with finals coming up.
The school’s goals are to help students and guide them towards success. Our school’s mission statement is “To Empower, To Explore, To Encourage, and To Excel in Education ”. The only way to empower, explore, encourage, and help students excel this semester is to apply a Covid curve.