Welcome back, Hawks!! Hopefully you all had a nice relaxing summer vacation but are all ready to get back into the swing of things as yet another school year approaches us. As we start off the 2022-2023 school year the senior editors, Val Kohan and Sam Verdi, would like to introduce you all to the new and improved Talon 2.0 online newsite. The journalism program was lucky enough to have the opportunity to shift The Talon 2.0 news to a newly designed outlet. 

If you haven’t already heard, The Talon has shifted to a complete virtual edition this school year after the final printed edition released Spring of 2022. The final edition titled, “Exploring Our Local History”, strikingly focused on “uncovering the past of Whiting, Manchester, and Lakehurst”. Remaining copies can be found in the main office or guidance. **The final edition was written, edited, designed, and researched by your editors, Val and Sam.** 

A frequently asked question is, “What is The Talon?” This page also contains student-written columns including entertainment, nature, sports, and food. Some popular returning columns such as entertainment, will be newly titled under “The Daily Bugle”, covered by Val Kohan. The food column, “And Now For the Main Event”, will be returning with “the Food Critic” himself, Andrew Perez. The local nature column title has been changed to “Wild New Jersey”, covered by Sam Verdi. We would also like to be the first to announce some new additions will be coming to The Talon!!

If you missed out on the Yearbook Club/News Club poster during Club Rush week (September 12th-16th) no need to stress… Hop onto our Talon’s Twitter page (@MTHS_Talon) for further information since we covered Club Rush news daily including the News Club. “The Talon staff needs you!! Come be a part of the life long legacy of the AtCave. Write for The Talon news covering school news with student written columns!!” (To get involved, join our Google Classroom with code; gjrknqm). 

Get To Know the Editors of the Talon 2.0

Val Kohan ‘23, Editor and Entertainment Columnist ([email protected]) 

Valerie “Val” Kohan has been in the journalism program for four years (starting her Freshman year) and is currently a Senior. She is Editor-in-Chief with Sam Verdi of the online Talon 2.0. This is their second year being editors together and they thrive to make The Talon as welcoming as can be. Valerie was thrilled to be inducted into the Quill and Scroll this past November. She takes her many interests and turns them into articles posted on her Entertainment Column (originally started in October, 2020), such as Disney, Marvel, Star Wars, and other pop culture hot topics. As a student journalist at MTHS she puts her writing and photography skills to best use, publishing over a hundred entertainment articles in her previous years in the program. Just last year, she and Sam worked their hardest to produce the final printed edition of the Talon titled, “Exploring Our Local History” (previously mentioned above). As a striving journalist, photographer, Gryffindor, certified wallflower, aspiring Jedi and Avenger, cinephilia, and introverted bookworm, Valerie cannot wait to release more articles in her final year at Manchester to leave her mark in the school.

Sam Verdi ‘23, Editor and Nature Columnist ([email protected])

Samantha “Sam” Verdi has also been in the journalism program for four years (starting Freshman year) and is currently a Senior. Sam is Editor in Chief with Val Kohan, both creating the last printed issue of The Talon magazine as well as being inducted as a Quill and Scroll member last year. Sam is the nature and history columnist for the online news, the Talon 2.0. In October of 2020 Sam’s nature column, “Wild New Jersey”, began with an article on bees and has since featured strange animal encounters with articles talking about the wild creatures that roam New Jersey. Starting this year her history column, “Secret Origins”, will feature the fascinating past of Manchester, Lakehurst, and New Jersey, uncovering the secrets that are hidden in plain sight. Graduating from socially awkward to awkwardly social, Sam is excited to help lead the journalism program with Val this year and write for her two columns.