![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)
Crafting a Better Future
Senior Studies creates a drive to help teens not just survive, but thrive.
media by Eila Liu
Reagan Synk ’23 places a box for the Creativity Drive outside of room 4113 Nov. 18. Synk worked with Morgan Tempel ’23, Zella Schnitzspahn ‘23 and Trey Spuhler ‘23 to collaborate with Urban Peak to give to the homeless. “So many people donate the needs, but nobody thinks about the wants. A lot of these kids are just trying to survive and we want to make them feel like they’re more than just surviving, that they can enjoy life,” Synk said.
November 29, 2022
For the next few weeks, Senior Studies students have been given a challenge: to create a drive to collect resources for those in need. While others thought about collecting food or clothing, Raegan Synk ‘23, Zella Schnitzspahn ‘23, Trey Spuhler ‘23 and Morgan Tempel ‘23 went about it in a different way.
Synk, Schnitzspahn, Spuhler, and Tempel hoped to collect supplies to allow for creativity.
The idea of a Creativity Drive was constructed using boxes as a medium for donations. In collaboration with Urban Peak, an organization dedicated to aiding homeless youths, this Senior Studies group will collect art products to bring happiness to homeless teenagers’ lives.
Their donation collection boxes, decorated in bright hues, streaks of colors and ideas for donations, are open for contributions from Nov. 18 to Dec. 9. They’re located near the front office, library, art rooms, gym and room 4113.
“So many people donate the needs, but nobody thinks about the wants. A lot of these kids are just trying to survive but we want to make them feel like they’re more than just surviving, and that they can enjoy life,” Synk said.
The group will be accepting donations of journals, notebooks, yarn, paint, colored pencils and any other creative medium.
“I know people at Rock Canyon don’t really think about it, but there are people in our school who are suffering from homelessness. I think it’s good for people within our community to reach out to people in need,” Tempel said.
But, due to the already large supply of markers, Synk advised against donating those.
“We were on a Zoom call with an Urban Peak coordinator,” Synk said. “And she said, ‘One thing that we’ve learned is [the teenagers] love to journal. It’s something that helps them calm down and enjoy their life a little bit more.”
Urban Peak works with youth experiencing homelessness in Denver, Colorado and provides support programs.