On May 9, a parade of students emerged sporting a certain kind of spirit wear sold in Rock Ridge’s school store, The Phoenix Peak. This was not a coincidence, but a movement by the store in conjunction with the school to commemorate the initiative “May I Serve.” Rock Ridge’s contribution to the celebration was offering a unique set of attire based around military children and students with disabilities.

A large selection of the shirts promotes positivity and awareness of disabilities in general. One such shirt reads “Break the stigma,” a message about the stereotypes often placed on those with disabilities and their competence to complete jobs of all types.

Another shirt depicts the instantly recognizable Phoenix logo colored royal purple overlaid on an American flag. Purple has long been used as a symbolic color for military children. The school recognized the importance of children in these circumstances and thus created a shirt commemorating them, thanks to school counselor Ashlee Erestain who reached out to the Marketing I class. Numerous students choose to enlist in the armed forces directly or attend one of the many academies around the country. Others are simply children of military families who face the struggle of constant relocation. Nevertheless, the shirt helped promote the school program for everyone related to the military.

The store has made a tremendous effort to spread the word of the “May I Serve Day” initiative through these shirts, and has covered a great number of the bases that impact both students at Rock Ridge and their parents.

“The awareness helps,” marketing teacher Ben Stodola said. “Every time someone wears it they might be like, ‘Hey what’s this for’ and there’s a different story tied to them.”

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Dayanna Anton

Approached by the special education department, this shirt is one of two created by the Marketing I class focusing on students with special needs. It focuses on the theme of “Break The Stigma,” sending the message that there is no such thing as “disabilities.” The students of the class got to choose the design of the shirt, but in the end, the class partnered up with the department to properly represent students with disabilities. Senior Naolee Makonnen was in charge of the design.