The Kestrel is Xavier’s online school newspaper, a source intended to update the community of Xavier about recent events and stories. Established in 1965, The Kestrel once showed promising intrigue in its early years as a printed hardcopy.  However, a slow decline led to an exponential drop once the internet age came about. Unfortunately, The Kestrel has not received much praise in recent years, and it has evidently become an insignificant installment in the school’s myriad of events and establishments. The lack of commitment to Xavier’s community news stories, coupled with the overwhelming outside internet traffic, pushed The Kestrel to the back of all Xaverians’ minds.

“I didn’t know about The Kestrel until last period.”  That was how Xavier senior Luke Velez ‘14 of Killingworth responded when asked what he thought of the school newspaper.  Another student, Rob Borea ‘15 of Wethersfield, had a similar view of the school newspaper, “The Kestrel…?”  The Kestrel staff wishes to rid the halls of such warranted ignorance by ensuring its renewed prominence.

A recent push for excellence has been set forth by The Kestrel’s newest moderator, Mr. Kyle St. George, an English teacher at Xavier.  The paper’s webpage has been completely remodeled with a sleek new elegance– formerly, the paper was a scattered list of links to articles on Xavier’s homepage.  The increased bulk of The Kestrel itself has been reinforced with soaring membership from practically no one to numerous strong and dedicated staff writers. The Kestrel staff is already working diligently on composing new articles and developing fresh ideas for the reformed newspaper. Writers plan to provide weekly articles and reports concerning the topics of sports, arts and entertainment, community life, and general news. Community Life Editor Matthew Marotti ‘14 of Killingworth says,

“We’re very excited about working with Mr. St. George on the new Kestrel. I’m really looking forward to being a part of such a dedicated group of people and giving something back to Xavier’s community.”

The Kestrel certainly has big plans for the future and hopes to provide Xavier with a convenient source for all of the interesting events and news taking place in the community.  The Kestrel team is determined to entertain and inform the community with relevant, current, and original articles that give a voice to Xavier High School students as well as express the views and opinions of the Xavier Community.