![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)
FRIDAY FACULTY FEATURE: Peter DeFilippo’s Passion for Movies
This week’s glimpse into the life of English teacher Peter DeFilippo.
media by Elly Brooks
English teacher Peter DeFilippo reads a book and works on his computer Aug. 30. DeFilippo prepared a slideshow for his next class, literature of film. “My two favorite movies are ‘The Lord of the Rings’ and ‘Speed Racer,'” DeFilippo said.
September 30, 2022
Have you ever heard about someone that got their head stuck in a door and couldn’t get out? Someone that has such an intense love for movies that he has 30 movie posters all over his classroom? A teacher that secretly has a love for video games? Through the embarrassing stories, the inner nerd, and the intense passion for movies is English teacher Peter DeFilippo.
Q: What is your first and last name and how long have you been teaching at Rock Canyon?
A: My name is Peter DeFilippo. This is my fourth year teaching at Rock Canyon and my tenth year teaching in total.
Q: What classes do you teach?
A: So I teach English Honors, English, and Literature in Film.
Q: What do you enjoy doing outside of school and what is your favorite video game?
A: I enjoy going to the movies, I like going on hikes, and I really like playing video games. I like to read “It” and hang out with my friends. My favorite video game right now is “Elden Ring.” “Elden Ring” is a fantasy game that is notoriously difficult, and that’s one of the aspects that I really like about it, it’s really challenging.
Q: What is one of your craziest teaching stories?
A: That one I need to think about. Craziest teacher story that’s appropriate to tell students? One time, I accidentally closed my head in a door because I bent down to pick up the doorstop and I didn’t move my head out of the way. The door slammed shut on my head and I fell on the ground and rolled around screaming out, “my head,” and I was bleeding. And that was really embarrassing. That was at the first high school I taught at.
Q: What is your favorite movie and what different franchise would you rather be in?
A: I have two favorite movies, because I love movies. So it’s hard for me to nail down one. But my two favorite movies are “The Lord of the Rings” and “Speed Racer”.
Q: Okay, would you rather be in a Marvel or DC movie?
A: I’d rather be in a Marvel movie, but I’d rather be in a DC comic.
Q: Would you rather be in Star Wars? Or Harry Potter? Is Star Wars easy?
A: Hands down.
Q: What’s your favorite Star Wars movie?
A: My favorite Star Wars movie is the best Star Wars movie, “The Empire Strikes Back,” but a close second is “Rogue One”.
Q: Do you have any pets and why did you pick those interesting names?
A: I have two cats.
Q: And what are their names?
A: One of the cats’ names is Leonardo, and the other is Dario. My wife actually had him before I met her. He is named after a character from a Shakespeare play, called “Much Ado About Nothing”. We got Dario together and we named him after a character from “Game of Thrones”.