For many of us students, June is an end — an end to the classes we’ve taken all year, the routine we’ve become accustomed to and, for seniors, an end to high school altogether. But in just as many ways, June is also a beginning.

As we present the final issue of the V23 pentalogy, we’re choosing to view this moment as the start of a new chapter — a blank canvas.

This issue explores the ways that Palo Alto High School students have confronted blank canvases in their own lives, both literally and figuratively. 

Senior Josh Donaker finds blank canvases in places others might not even look twice at — on the undersides of skateboards. Staff writer Jerry Fang and Business Manager Kieran Zajac offer insight into his creative process in “Donaker’s decks.”

What if your canvas wasn’t a canvas at all? The profiles “Setting sail” and “Flying toward the future” tell the story of students whose canvas is new terrain, from ocean to airspace. 

In “On display: Brave New Worlds,” staff writer Sofia Antebi and Design Editor Esther Xu showcase four Paly students’ artwork — literal canvases — exhibited in the New Museum Los Gatos.

Finally, in her perspective “Dear future me,” staff writer Paisley Annes poses questions for her own canvas of sorts: post-Paly life. While all of the other artists have settled on a medium, hers is still yet to be determined.

While we encourage the student body to similarly look toward the future, we would be remiss not to look back and thank the people who got us here. 

To the outgoing editors: Seeing your dedication to producing impactful stories inspires us to be the best journalists we can. We know that as you embark on your respective journeys, like those in this issue, you will each fill your own blank canvas and create masterpieces.

To our readers: We are beyond excited and honored to bring Verde through five more issues and fill these blank canvases — together with you. 

On the cover

Senior Josh Donaker reaches up to spray paint an expansive, blank wall in a photo illustration by Editors-in-Chief Jonas Pao and Yash Shetty. At this transitional point in the year, many are currently facing the same challenge as Donaker: what to paint. After the Class of 2022 graduates, the entire student body, staff and administration will explore how to proceed going forward. The blank canvas of the future is waiting to be filled.