![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)
Students Throughout District Vote in Mock Election
Throughout the day Tuesday, Nov. 7, students flocked to the Learning Commons to vote in the Douglas County mock election, a District-wide event where students can vote on computers to simulate the actual voting experience.
Students take a picture at Winkelman’s “I Voted Selfie Station” after voting.
November 7, 2016
Throughout the day Tuesday, Nov. 7, students flocked to the Learning Commons to vote in the Douglas County mock election, a District-wide event where students can vote on computers to simulate the actual voting experience.
Librarian Bryan Winkelman first began the mock election two presidential elections ago as a school-wide election when he was librarian at Highlands Ranch High School. Four years ago, he opened it up to three schools, and this year, four high schools and two middle schools are participating.
“It’s my baby,” Winkelman said.
This summer, Winkelman built a website to offer supporting materials such as information about ballot initiatives and instructions on how and where to vote. Each school participating has its own page on the website.
“I really think it’s important,” Winkelman said. “It’s an opportunity to get people involved in the election, involved in the issues, to see how the process works.”
Because of the school’s seven period schedule, the entire student body of Legend High School was able to vote in the mock election, while students at Rock Canyon mostly had to find their own free time to vote, much like the actual election.
“Ours is more like the real election,” Winkelman said. “You have to find some time.”
After the results are in, Winkelman will create an electoral map for the presidential election based on the number of votes cast at each school, allowing students to compare the percentages of the popular vote versus the electoral vote.
“[Legend] is going to be California on our electoral map,” Winkelman said with a laugh. “We (Rock Canyon) are hoping to maybe be Ohio.”
As of noon Monday, nearly 2000 votes had already been cast throughout the district. 390 Rock Canyon students registered to vote before the election day, but others were still allowed to register and vote on the day of.
Near the polling station computers was what Winkelman called the “‘I Voted’ Selfie Station” where students could take pictures with props like Trump and Clinton hair, or a maple leaf that says “I’m Moving to Canada.”
Winkelman’s informational website (including election results) is found here.