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New online publication seeks to create safe haven

Senior Huda Navaid, founder and editor-in-chief of Haven, regulates and updates the publication’s online blog.
Senior Huda Navaid, founder and editor-in-chief of Haven, regulates and updates the publication’s online blog.
Senior Huda Navaid, founder and editor-in-chief of Haven, regulates and updates the publication’s online blog.
Senior Huda Navaid, founder and editor-in-chief of Haven, regulates and updates the publication’s online blog.

Palo Alto High School’s newest student publication, Haven, will debut in print next semester according to its editor-in-chief.

According Senior Huda Navaid, Haven was founded to create a safe, intellectual “haven” for writers to freely express themselves.

“I feel like often time[s] … [writers] have this viewpoint, but they feel like they can’t fully express it because … they feel like they’re going to be judged by the Paly community for their viewpoint,” Navaid said. “Haven wants to combat that by encouraging people to be themselves when they write while keeping a balance between being [themselves] and saying something that’s blatantly offensive to someone else.”

At the moment, the publication is available exclusively online but will expand to include an in-print magazine next semester. Navaid says that the in-print magazine will consist of in-depth articles, stories, poems, creative writing and prose. Second semester will also be the debut of Haven’s comedy-news show that will present satirical versions of both world and Paly news in a way that’s more accessible to Paly students.

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“Because we have so much on our plate … [students] don’t have time to read,” Navaid said. “So I wanted to give those people the opportunity to see the news in a way that’s simple, easy for them to understand and speaks to their community.”

Currently, members of the group may publish with permission onto Haven’s online blog, which launched last month and contains creative writing, foreign affairs, opinions and economics. Haven hopes to become an official club soon and is in the process of securing a teacher adviser.

The current Haven blog can be found online at palyhaven.wordpress.com. Students interested in joining the publication can also contact Navaid at [email protected].