In June 2025, almost a year ago today, Granny Ruth, a longtime activist for the Raging Grannies, urged youth to get more involved in Indivisible Palo Alto Plus’ protests. “When you all [Palo Alto High School students] marched out of campus to protest school shootings, we joined you on the streets,” Ruth said. “Now it’s your turn to join us.”

This wish was more than fulfilled on Jan. 30, when 1,000 Paly students walked out of class to protest the United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s activities. That day, students took to the streets not just to protest, but to amplify the voices and experiences of marginalized groups that are often overlooked.

Our cover story “Inside ICE Detention” brings this into focus. Through an interview with former ICE detainee Sophia, Managing Editor Lara Saslow sheds light on the physical conditions of detention, as well as the emotional uncertainty and fear that Sophia and many other detainees experience on a daily basis. As is common with political hot topics, stories like Sophia’s are often reduced to headlines or statistics, making it essential to remind the community that behind every decision is a person whose experiences are too often left unseen and unheard.

This same issue of visibility is occurring within our own Paly community. In the profile story “On our behalf,” Social Media Manager Angela Fang and Staff Writer Jaron Leung examine the power of student voices through Paly Board Representative and senior Dylan Chen, highlighting his advocacy for more student representation and the district-wide decisions he has been able to influence. In “Do you copy?” Culture Editor Tessa Berney and Art Director Ethan Bradley cover the journey of Copy Technician Veronica Rodriguez in her fight to keep her job. In both cases, these individuals’ voices were amplified through the support of their peers — student petitions for Chen, and the Palo Alto Educators
Association for Rodriguez — and the student press.

Accurate representation also shapes how people see themselves. Our culture story “Rewriting the rink” by Staff Writers Joshua Joo and Justin Chen explores how media portrayal of queer men is beginning to move beyond common and harmful stereotypes — a shift that has helped many gay students feel more recognized, even as others continue to struggle with internalized homophobia.

More universally for students, Photo Director Shaurya Thummalapalli shares his experience with burnout in his perspective piece “Finding my way,” reflecting on a college-driven mindset that often pushes students to sacrifice personal interests and mental health to feel successful.

In this issue, we encourage readers to question: Who is given a platform, and who is left unheard? What stories are amplified, and which remain unnoticed? We hope that this edition encourages you to realize that being seen is not just about visibility, but about being understood.

We also want to acknowledge that this is our last issue as a Verde leadership team. It has been an honor to serve our Paly and Palo Alto community. Readers, we have appreciated your support in readership for the past five issues, and we assure you that our next leadership team will uphold our Verde standards of being truthful, critical and diverse. As we depart, we want you to consider the question, “What does it mean to be seen?”

On the cover

In an illustration by Managing Editor Lara Saslow and Editor-in-chief Chloe Huang, a woman uses a magnifying glass to look into a miniature representation of Palo Alto High School to represent this issue’s theme of our community’s efforts to help others feel seen by amplifying their voices.