This printing marks a hundred issues of Verde Magazine by 21 different staffs of dedicated student journalists.
While the number “100” is a proud ribbon on a substantial body of work, this milestone is also a reminder of the commitment to finding and reporting the truth — and making it look good — that generations of Palo Alto High School journalists have reaffirmed during their years on staff.
“Verde’s 100th issue,” by Prahalad Mitra, Myra Xu and Naomi Boneh, reflects on Verde’s impact over the years through a set of whimsical statistics and brief vignettes on stories that have created substantial change in the community and beyond.
In addition to producing hard-hitting content, Verde continuously strives to produce stories that give a voice to the marginalized and broaden the perspectives of our readers. Our cover story, “The digital side of deportation,” by Avery Hanna and Ryan Seto, brings the journalistic spotlight to a global discussion through a local lens. Their reporting on the role of rising Silicon Valley companies like Palantir in the exploitation of vulnerable communities challenges us to consider the collateral effects of innovation alongside its benefits.
Reaching and covering members of our community, both in the greater Bay Area and on the Paly campus, is essential to upholding Verde’s mission of inspiring and educating our readers. Through the profiles “Zareen,” by Ben Cohen and Mia Baldonado, and “Phela the phenom,” by Jasmine Venet and Kylie Mies, adults and students alike have been able to share their passions, hopes and dreams in print.
Verde has long been a platform to elevate student voices, and “Acne scars: Skin deep” by Allison Chang exemplifies this ideal with a powerful personal story that reminds us to look beyond the superficial. Perspectives like this serve a greater purpose in fostering a collective of empathetic and accepting students, which opens up the stage for valuable opinions that allow us to learn from one another.
As students who have been a part of the exceptional media arts program here at Paly, we have had the opportunity to experience journalism beyond school sports scores; we have seen, and explored its tremendous ability to effect change. As succinctly put by humorist and writer Finley Peter Dunne, “Stories are meant to comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable.” We hope we live up to this sentiment.
For the next hundred issues to come, we believe Verde will stay true to its journalistic integrity by continuing to produce articles that are reported with diligence, written with devotion and edited with care. We aim to remain a publication that, at heart, serves as a platform for student journalists to advocate for themselves and their community.
On the cover
The monarch butterfly was first introduced as a major symbol of the recent United States immigration crisis in a documentary series aimed at reforming immigration policy called “Migration is Beautiful.” Technology has been the heart of Silicon Valley’s growth, but some companies blur the line between technological advancements and abuse of power. Photo and Design Editor Zoë Wong-VanHaren distorts the monarchs as they fly away, representing the disruption that these digital developments have had on immigrants’ dreams for a better future.
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The digital side of deportation: The use of technology in immigration enforcement
100 issues of Verde: Reflecting on our legacy
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