Author Archives: pattersonpress405

Volleyball team puts up tough fight against Digital in season opener

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Douglass Varsity against Patterson Lady Clippers. (Photo by Justist Rice)

Douglass Varsity against Patterson Lady Clippers.
(Photo by Justist Rice)

By Justist Rice,

The Patterson Lady Clippers volleyball team (both JV and Varsity) lost to its host, Digital Harbor, in the first game of the season. Although they did not win, the Clippers played a wonderful game. They put forward all their effort and that’s all that matters. The final score for JV was 25 to 14; for Varsity, 25 to 20.

”Our number one thing we have to work on is serving; good serving wins games”, said the JV coach, Ms. Heggins. The server for the JV team, Erica Purvey, had this to say: ”Next game is going to be different. It was our first game and we were a little rusty but next game we will be ready”.

The Varsity coach, Mr. Murry, had a positive outlook. ”We played a good game. Everybody did their very best. All we can do is stay hopeful and get ready for our next game”, he declared.

The all star player for varsity was Tatyana Matthews, who made an amazing hit on her knees. The captain of the girls varsity team, Memi Desta, pointed out how much the team has already improved since the previous season. ”Our team from last year to this year really progressed and we are only going to get better”, she insisted. The good sportsmanship that the Lady Clippers have has made them true winners even though they lost this game.

Coding Club is Back to Making Apps

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Coding club (photo: Mohamed)

by Mohamed Alhamdani

Coding Club is back at it again!

Coding Club is an inspiring way to learn about computer science, Cyber security and a lot more things about the internet-even apps. In Coding Club, you can make websites; it’s about developing knowledge that is useful to have. In Coding Club, you learn new things that it is very far beyond the average human knowledge. It can give you a pathway of engineering or computer science.

“Coding club is a fun that to learn,” Mr.Yates said. “And at Coding Club, we have fun and snacks. We make a lot of things that you will like.”

Now you can even get the Patterson app. Download it on Playstore or the App Store.

Coding club is on Wednesdays after school in Mr. Yates’ room, #110, at 3:45. All are welcome.

Forsett and The Ravens part ways

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By Anthony McNeill,

After a week 4 loss at home against the underrated Oakland Raiders, not even 72 hours after the game, the Ravens cut veteran running back Justin Forsett. I think that was a bit of a bad decision because their running back group needs a leader to set the example for the young backs the Ravens have.

Justin Forsett is a veteran so I don’t think that was a good move. If the Ravens don’t sign a veteran running back that has experience with playoffs to give them a edge in close games, then the young guys will freeze up in critical moments .

Everyone knows the name and number of Justin Forsett (#29). Getting rid of him wasn’t very beneficial and was a big loss for the Baltimore Ravens . During the 2014-2015 season Forsett’s rush yard total was 1,266. It would have been beneficial for him to stay because when he came to the Ravens it was his first year rushing for over 1,000 yards.

Students should be allowed to leave the building during lunch (OPINION)

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(Thrown food around the lunch room) -photo credit Marina Siebor

By Marina Siebor,

I believe that students should have the ability to freely leave the lunch room during their lunch time.

Currently we are not allowed to leave for lunch because people are leaving and not coming back. Personally I think if you are going to leave for lunch and not bother to come back you shouldn’t be able to leave to go buy a lunch. However, students who are being responsible and coming back on time should not be punished for the actions of others. 

My reasoning behind this is that during lunch some students might not enjoy what we have for lunch that day and just want something else to eat, but didn’t bring anything to eat that day. Then what? Should students go the rest of the day without eating? We can’t have that happening. That is just my opinion on the matter.

I asked a student in my class, Jordan Gabel-Peralta, about this, and he said “I think people should be able to leave as long as it is guaranteed for their return. I see no harm in it as long as they return within 15 minutes, or in enough time to eat and go to their next class”.

Another good reason for this is we have no place to sit in the cafeteria. There are way more kids in lunch C than any other lunch period in the school. There are too many kids in the C lunch so some kids don’t have a place to sit at lunch. You will see kids standing up, eating by the air vents because they have no place to sit.

A helpful suggestion is that we create a system where if someone would like to leave the school for lunch they would have to see a staff member at the front door of the school building to gain access to the outside. They would have to sign a piece of paper with their name on it and the current time, promising to return. If they do not return before the lunch period ends then they should be marked absent for the rest of the day and their parent or guardian would be contacted.

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(People putting their lunch trays on the air conditioner due to there being no more room on the lunch tables) – photo credit Marina Siebor

In conclusion, I think students should be allowed to leave the school grounds to buy lunch, because people won’t always like what the school has for lunch and would like a little bit of freedom.

Seniors learn communication skills at PGC retreat

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PGC Poster (Photo: Mikal McCoy)

PGC Poster (Photo: Mikal McCoy)

By Mikal McCoy

Seniors who are participating in this year’s PGC program went on a retreat from October 12th-14th to help them prepare to work with 9th graders. PGC, which stands for Peer Group Connections, is a group of 12th graders who are learning communication techniques. PGC leaders are mentors to the 9th graders.

Some of the responsibilities of PGC members are to follow all school rules and go to all their class. Recently, 12th graders that were a part of PGC went on a retreat where they learned different tactics and why it’s important to communicate with others.

  During the 2nd week of September, PGC leaders were on a retreat for 3 days and 2 nights in Towson while their classmates were at school. One of the purposes of the retreats was to gather leaders together so they could learn about communication skills. “I learned how to communicate and listen to others, including 9th graders”, K. Lopez, a PGC leader said. When 9th graders transfer from middle school to high school, change can be surprising. Like most of us, 9th graders go through a lot of stuff that they would love to talk to someone about. That’s when PGC leaders are there to save the day. Communication is important; many problems can be solved if we simply communicate. “Communication saves relationships”, singer/rapper Drake says in his song, “Poetic Justice”, featuring Kendrick Lamar. PGC leaders are training every day to learn how to better communicate with 9th graders to create a brighter Patterson High School. Communication is key, but not everyone is willing to communicate.

Using communication skills helps get things done. In an organization or your everyday classroom, people have to communicate in order to complete tasks. Not communicating can have a negative impact on your environment. According to Al from http://www.crucialskills.com, “It is very frustrating when you want to talk something out with someone and the only response you get is, ‘I don’t know,’ or ‘I don’t want to talk about this,’ or worse, an icy-cold stare laced with a fake smile”. Sometimes we as students (and people in general) feel like there is no one we can talk to. PGC leaders are taking a class to prepare to work with 9th graders, communicating with them to solve problems and build relationships.

PGC advisors Mrs. Stiles and Mrs. D’agostino have been meeting every day with PGC leaders, guiding them to become better communicating leaders. This is the third year of PGC, and students are working together to communicate their way through the future.

Gardening Club promises benefits for school and community

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The Patterson Garden. (Photo: Mikal McCoy)

The Patterson Garden.
(Photo: Mikal McCoy)

By Mikal McCoy

Ms. Steigner and Ms. Scott are working together with students at Patterson High School to develop a ongoing gardening club. It is their hope that this gardening club will impact students’ lives in a variety of ways.

The Patterson High School garden was first created during the summer of 2011, around the time period when Mr. Benton became principal of Patterson High School. Using two grants, a hoop-house was added in 2013. In the past, students and teachers have worked on the garden. However, during the summer of 2016, little attention was paid toward the school garden. To get things back on track, students and teachers at Patterson High School are developing a gardening club.

Having a school gardening club is a goal Patterson’s Student Government Association (SGA), is pushing to reach. One of the problems we face today here at Patterson is that some students want to learn gardening while others do not.

In response to the question, “If there was a gardening club at Patterson, would you join?”, T. Moore, a student from Patterson, responded saying, “No, I don’t think I would be interested’.’ Although some students have no interest in joining a gardening club, others think it’s a great idea, ”If you grow food, you can save money and it looks good”, says M. Adams, an intern from Morgan State University.

Around the world, a large number of people believe eating healthy can improve our mental, physical and spiritual environment. Ms.Scott, an ESOL teacher at Patterson, believes students should eat healthy because eating healthy helps a person focus in class. “When you eat healthy foods, your brain responds to the ingredients like a car reacts to gas. If you put the right gas into the car it will perform to its highest potential”, explained Ms.Scott. In the past, Patterson’s garden has produced large quantities of quality vegetables such as strawberries and tomatoes, which students have eaten.

Patterson High School is a place where students and teachers can grow food and eat healthy. Patterson’s gardening club is dedicated to teaching, growing, and providing healthy foods for the surrounding community. Ausar Mesh, a teacher on healthy living, gave a few words to share: “Urban farming may not be the solution to all the problems in the inner cities across America; however it’s a prerequisite to the achievement of practical solution of the most faceted issues. Food sovereignty in urban neighborhoods and global climate change into connected sustainable organic urban farming is a low industry that is ambitions enough to tackle both issues on a micro and macro economic level”.

The gardening club will teach students useful skills and contribute to a healthier community. To get involved, see Ms. Steigner in Room 113.

Patterson continues tradition with 6th annual community fair

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A stand from the community Fair (Photo: Patterson Press)

A stand from the community Fair (Photo: Patterson Press)

By Mikal McCoy,

Patterson High School had its 6th annual Back to School Night and Community Fair on the evening of September 22, 2016. Students, teachers and family members met together in the cafeteria to share a night of fun.

During the fair, there were games, activities and food. “It was a lot of food, a lot of chicken, vegetables and drinks”, said Yero Goloco, a student who attended the fair. For entertainment, different activities were planned. Students who were asked agreed that the fair was entertaining. “There was a lady belly dancing, people played drums, and there was a dance battle”, said Amadou Bah, another student who attended the fair. These responses reveal that people enjoyed the food and activities, but the Community Fair served other purposes as well.

Many families attended the fair. Students from Patterson High School invited their parents, friends, and relatives. Around 500 people attended the event. Dozens of community organizations, businesses and universities participated in the fair, along with many school groups and programs such as Robotics, Gardening, Coding Club and more. Each club had a stand with representatives who spoke with students and family members about what they do.

One group that attended the Community Fair was Patterson’s AFJROTC program. Cadets who attended the event helped out with setting up and seating visitors. “I was standing outside, greeting people, giving them their tickets for their sheets”, explained Abdullah, one of the cadets. Teachers, students and family members came together to make the Community Fair a success.

This year marked the 6th consecutive year that there has been a community fair event at Patterson. Ms. O’Brien and Mr. Alukwu started the event in 2011. “It was an idea that Mr. Alukwu and I came up with the summer before Mr. Benton became the principal”, recalled Ms. O’Brien. It takes planning, organization, and thought to come up with an idea like a school community fair and make it work. This year’s event was no exception.

 

 

 

 

Clown scares sweep the nation

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Killer Clown

“Killer Clown”

By Christian Pietrowski,

Clown scares have been a hot topic in the news lately. People dressed as clowns have been seen following people around. There have been reports of people having clowns following them in every state except Hawaii.

The clowns follow people around, acting scary. In some cases it has caused schools to close because there have been clowns near the school. Even if some reports are true there are some cases where people where lying about seeing clowns. For example, three middle schoolers from Annapolis, Maryland called the police claiming to see clowns following them but when the police investigated they found out from security camera footage that the kids where lying and trying to cause a ruckus.

Yet many cases around the United states have been found to be true. According to FOX News and The New York Times there have been 12 arrests of people dressing up as clowns to scare people and also 12 people have been arrests for filing a false police report. The clown sightings first began to be reported in late July or the beginning  of August. The clown sightings started in South Carolina. The first report was from a mom saying she was at a park with her two kids and her son saw a clown trying to lure the kids into the woods with him. Thankfully, no one has been killed by these clowns that people are seeing.

Be cautious if you see a clown but don’t be too scared unless the clown is in an odd place.

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