Pictured (left to right) at Xaverian’s “All Hands on Deck Reunion” are Bay Ridge Eagle Editor-in-Chief Rick Buttacavoli (Class of 1998), Guild for Exceptional Children CEO/Executive Director Paul Cassone (Class of 1972), Internship Director Ana Loposky, Justice Matthew D’Emic (Class of 1970), Assistant to Special Events Marie Lane and Joe Patella (Class of 1989). Eagle photo by Georgine Benvenuto

By Rick Buttacavoli

“Do you know Rick, our editor-in-chief? He’s a Xaverian grad.”

That was how it all started. A simple exchange of pleasantries between Eagle Sales Manager Marc Hibsher and Marie Lane, Xaverian High School’s assistant to special events, at a community event last October would lead to my enrollment as a mentor in the school’s groundbreaking new Intern Program at Xaverian (IPAX).

Internship Director Ana Loposky, who I knew from my time as a student at Xaverian, emailed me just a few days later with all the details. The program, designed to give honor students a chance to explore potential careers while gaining “real world” experience, was to run once a week from November 2011 through the end of February 2012.

There were two students interested in journalism, so I was asked if I could mentor both of them. I immediately agreed and both Lane and Loposky voiced their gratitude. In truth, I should have been thanking them. This was exactly the type of opportunity I had been looking for — a chance to impart whatever wisdom I had gained in my nearly 10-year career unto young men who, despite an uncertain professional climate for newspapers, still had an interest in the field I fell in love with when I was their age. The fact that I was once in their shoes — literally — made it a perfect match. read more »