![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)
Dashing Through The Decorations
Voting for this year’s designs for the first annual Social Studies door decorating contest ends today.
December 15, 2022
Students walk through the halls, the pods filled with boring brown doors and plain silver handles. With finals just around the corner, AP Psychology teacher Kathryn Lemeshewsky worked with the social studies department to organize a door decorating contest in the 5000s to sprinkle the hallways with some holiday cheer.
“Quite honestly, the social studies [department] has gotten a little lame in school spirit over the years and I’m done with that,” Lemeshewsky said. “I’m ready to boost the spirit in our department and I’m trying to do things to get us all to hang out more and contribute more, because I like the people in our department.”
Each teacher had to decorate their door in relation to the holidays or the subject that they teach, with 51% of the work done themselves and the other 49% done by students.
“It was an idea that Mrs. Lemeshewsky had. The idea was just to bring some festive holiday cheer at the end of the semester to make people smile,” AP Economics teacher Kate Hartline said.
Students can vote between the three categories doors will be judged on – theme, creativity and craftsmanship.
“I wasn’t necessarily forced into it, more that it grew onto me,” Ancient Civilizations and Psychology teacher John Talarico said.
The winning prize has yet to be announced.
“This was Mrs. Lemeshewsky’s idea. She’s very convincing. She created the rules herself and she created the voting system herself, plus she’s [competing] in [the contest]. So I just thought that there is a little bit of conflict of interest,” AP U.S. History and AP Seminar teacher Matt Sassali said. “All joking aside, it was kind of a bonding thing as a department and something fun to do to get ready for the holidays.”
Voting ends at 3:00 p.m. Dec. 15. Photos of the doors in the competition are above. Scan the QR code or click the link below, and submit your vote for the first annual door decorating contest!
Matt Sassali • Dec 16, 2022 at 9:53 am
I was accurately quoted in this story, and I stand by my quote 🙂
Thomas Evans • Dec 15, 2022 at 1:38 pm
FACT CHECK – MISSING CONTEXT – The office door # 5025A was created by Social Studies Teacher Mr. Evans. It even says that on the bottom of his door.