Dear readers,

This month has been difficult.

Our own have been taken from us. Gabriella Chabot’s life was cut too short. The lives of the victims of the Parkland shooting were cut too short.

It’s human nature to want to look for the good when things are bad. But sometimes, we just need to take a moment and accept that things are bad. This month, things have been very bad.

But amid so much tragedy, we’ve seen a common theme: community.

Gabriella was a freshman at La Reina High School, but students and faculty from Oak Park, Oaks Christian, Santa Susana, Chaminade and Moorpark High School wore purple on Tuesday.

Parkland is a city across the nation, but we saw protesters in cities across the United States — a national community.

Our hearts are with Gabriella and her family and the victims of the Parkland shooting and their families.

Thank you, dear readers, for being a part of this community.

Medha Vallurupalli,

Editor-in-Chief