We, as the new editing team, wanted to highlight 25 years of stories, 25 years of exploration and 25 years of lasting friendships: 2024 marks Verde’s 25th year. 

On the cover, we honor our history by showcasing a collage of our favorite Verde covers from each of those 25 years. Each of those covers marks a chapter in our history, years marked by diverse issues of their times, from gun violence to pandemic-ridden years to the rise of AI in education. 

As we bid farewell to our 25th year, we are still bringing forth stories of camaraderie, excellence, resilience and student and staff culture. Our anniversary issue features a poignant reflection on the career of longtime social studies teacher John Bungarden on his 24 years of teaching (and interesting tie-wearing) as he moves into retirement, written by senior staff writers Asha Kulkarni and Nadia Soberg. 

As one door closes for Bungarden, another opens for students as they head into a new school year. In “Turning up the heat with Bobo,” written by editorials editor Andrew Kassel and staff writer Keshav Kapur Srinivasan, junior Shreyas (Bobo) Shashi’s budding passion for cooking shows success in his new business run out of his backyard grill. 

Change and new realities are further explored, on a generational scale, in the culture story, “Growing up glamorized,” in which senior staff writer Felicia Buchholz and features editor Chloe Huang delve into the developing pressures on current adolescent culture and the emerging trends and behaviors as a result of the changing norms. 

As Verde also continues to change and evolve with the current and emerging generations, the impermanence of each pentalogy’s staff is exacerbated by the graduating seniors, and the fledgling new staff taking its form for the next volume.

To our outgoing seniors: we extend our heartfelt thanks for your contributions to Verde. We wish you the best of luck in your future endeavors and in forming your own collage of experiences. 

To our readers: As the class of 2025 who are closing the 25th volume, we hope to turn the page onto this next quarter century of Verde with the same sense of enthusiasm and passion as our predecessors. We will look back on past issues and editors with pride while looking forward to upholding Verde’s legacy and placing our own five covers on the coveted MAC105 wall. 

On the cover

Twenty-five Years of Verde — A collage highlighting our favorite covers from past issues of Verde pays homage to the 25th anniversary of Palo Alto High School’s news and features magazine. The cover, designed by managing editor Divya Ghandi, is overlaid with a translucent green color leaving blank the traditional V. for Verde.

Find the full PDF of our magazine on Issuu.