By Mr. Funk

The Patterson Varsity Baseball team has had an excellent 2019 season. Led by a strong pitching staff and deep senior leadership, the Clippers rattled off five straight wins to start the season. The team’s 10-9 win over Mervo on April 1 stood out in particular, with seniors Terrence Taylor and Jason
Núñez rallying to tie the game in the bottom of the 6th, and freshman Emmanuel Caraballo winning the game with a walk-off hit in the bottom of the 7th.

A series of narrow mid-season losses to Poly and City–all by six runs or less–eliminated the Clippers from contention for the Baltimore City Championship game, but decisive bounce-back wins over Douglass and Mervo guaranteed Patterson sole possession of third place in Division I. The team heads towards the state playoffs boasting an 11-3 record and playing with a great deal of confidence, and impressive contributions from underclassmen like Josh Martinez indicate more great Clipper baseball seasons to come.

We’ll miss senior veterans like Tavon Mitchell and Mike Abreu, but over the past few seasons they’ve set a tone and example for the team that will live on here for years after they’re gone.

By Ziara Jones

Most people think that video games are bad because they affect kids and adults’ brains and health. Kids sometimes don’t want to eat or fix themselves something to eat, or if they have to go to the bathroom they would wait a couple of minutes and then they would go. They don’t have the time to do anything.

However, there are also good things about video games. Some games can even be very educational and help you learn.

According to Joanne Orlando, a writer for Curious Kids, “Children like video games because they are fun and because they can be challenging. You have to solve problems, work out the best moves for your character, and decide how to use your equipment and supplies in the best possible way. Making all these decisions can be exciting.”

People at Patterson High School have given their opinions about video games. “Children like video games because they are fun and because they can be challenging.”, said freshman Marquis Jones.

Nonetheless, many parents are concerned that their child might always choose to play a video game instead of playing outside and getting exercise.

Like most things, video games are best enjoyed in moderation. As long as you keep a good balance and don’t spend too much time looking at a screen, playing video games can be a healthy way to relax and maybe even learn something.

por Lizeth Rojas Hernandez

Decidí venir a hacer una visita porque quería conocer y saber cómo son las universidades. Creo que sería maravilloso aprender y experimentar nuevos horizontes. He aprendido que en la vida con esfuerzo uno puede lograr todo lo que se quiere. Es necesario que estudiemos para tener un futuro mejor para cuando seamos grandes. Sin embargo, la educación es cara y por eso me gustaría saber cuánto me costaría una clase en Goucher.

Conocer a Goucher College fue una experiencia incredible porque compratimos tiempo con el director y conocimos a algunos alumnos y ellos nos enseñaron sus recámaras y nos hablaron un poco sobre sus propias experiencias en la universidad. Nos explicaron las reglas universitarias y por qué es importante seguirlas. Nos dijeron que todo es posible y que luchemos por nuestras metas y sueños.

By John Dingzon

Patterson students participated in a citywide JROTC drill competition on March 29th. The event was took place at the 5th regiment Armory.

There were a lot of JROTC schools that participated in this event. Everyone was competing for the CEO Cup that is the trophy to win overall.
Whatever the outcome, at the end each school would still receive a trophy.

Patterson won 2nd place for the overall competition, while Poly won 1st place and took home to CEO’s cup. Patterson also won trophies in the following categories: drill – unarmed platoon, drill – armed platoon, squadron – armed drill, squadron – unarmed drill, and color guard.

There was also a competition called the knockout challenge, which the cadets participated in. The knockout challenge is when you have 4 element line leaders and the cadets stay in formation and the drill Sergeant gives them a command and they will move and execute the command. If the drill Sergeant says the command wrong and a cadet executed the command wrong, then that person is out, but if the person keeps up, then they stay until the drill Sergeant declares a winner.

During the event, there were also breaks where cadets had time to relax and socialize. During this time, some students saw familiar faces that they knew from previous events.

Patterson High School’s AFJROTC cadets did an outstanding job performing at the different levels of the event. A lot of eyes were focused on Patterson because last year Patterson won the CEO Cup and were in 1st place overall.

Technical Sergeant Smith and group commander C/Col. Batista were both proud of what the group had accomplished, and they thought that the cadets really did a great job.

By Shayvonne Hennix

For Black History Month, I interviewed two students from Patterson High School to hear their thoughts about celebrating black history and about how black people are perceived by other Americans. Here are their responses:

Sharissa Hennix (Cohort 2020)

Q: What is your ethnic background?

A: African Trinidadian.

Q: How do you think America views your ethnicity and your country?

A: I think they like view us as aggressive Trinidadians because for some reason people think West Indian people are rude, but for my black side of the family, I think people regardless think black people are bad and thieves, that they always kill black people for no reason.

Q: Do you think that black history should be celebrated all year long?

A: I mean, I feel like it is celebrated all year but it’s just highlighted more during February.

Q: Why do you think that is?

A: I don’t know. Probably something that happened a long time ago caused it.

Anonymous boy (Class of 2022)

Q: What is your ethnic background?

A: Black.

Q: How do you think America views your ethnicity?

A: Oh nah, them white people be geekin’, like, “F*** wrong with them killing people and s***?”.

Q: Do you think that black history should be celebrated all year long?

A: Hell yeah!

Q: Why?

A: What you mean? White people do it. Why can’t we?

The Patterson Press would like to thank these two students for their time.                             

By Makhia Burley

The dance team at Patterson had their first major dance event on Thursday, January 31, 2019 at 6 pm in the auditorium. The show was called “Pretty Hurts”. In addition to the Patterson dance team, teams from other schools also participated in this event, such as Majestic Dance Team, Fatally Fem, Code Blue, Torch Dance Company, Douglass Dance Company, and Prestige Dance Team.

According to Ms. Green, the dance coach at Patterson, dance helps kids show self-awareness and social awareness. It helps kids know and understand their worth.

The first dance at the event was a flash mob and the song they danced to was “Pretty Hurts” by Beyonce. This was the opening of the show and the song was basically saying, “Hey, pretty really does hurt no matter what you wear or have, if you’re messed up on the inside, it really does hurt.”

The next song “I Was Here”, also by Beyonce. It is basically saying that the seniors wanted to leave their footprint at Patterson High because it is important to them and then they were turning the torch over to the freshmen and sophomore dancers.

The last song, “Scars to Your Beautiful”, by Alessia Cara, was basically reiterating the first part of the show but saying that it doesn’t matter because all of your scars are beautiful, so even if it does hurt, your scars are your story. They tell you who you came to be and who you are.

Tamia Johnson, one of the Patterson dancers, expressed how it felt dancing on stage. She said she was nervous but once she got up there, she was happy.

Ms. Green said seeing her dancers up there, she felt a sense of pride and accomplishment. “A lot of them always tell themselves what they can’t do. This shows them that they can do it.”, Ms. Green said.

Tamia Johnson said we need dance here at Patterson High “because it allows people to express themselves and feelings and allows people to come out of their shyness.”

Ms. Green also thinks it is important to have a dance program at Patterson High. “That’s the only way of self-expression. Instead of being angry or feeling down on yourself, sometimes people dance away their frustration and their anger and it actually helps you be creative.”     

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(Photos by Makhia Burley)

By Ziara Jones

This basketball season, Coach Tarver felt proud of Patterson High School’s girls basketball team for trying their best to win. The girls basketball team won 8 games and lost 7 games.

Coach Tarver was proud when they played against Central High School even though Patterson lost that game. Patterson High School had a close game against Central. The score was 40 to 46.

“I was most impressed with the performance of the girls  at that game. All the way to the end they worked together very hard. It was a really tough game; it was a high emotion game for Patterson High.”, Coach Tarver said. “I was impressed by the score because they had lost last year but it was score of a blow out, but this year they were very close.”

Tyshenna Avery scored 12 points, the most points in that game. Patricia Escobar had 6 rebounds, 2 assists, and 6 points.

The Patterson High girls basketball team is looking towards to what they hope will be an even better season next year.

By Meylin Diaz

Three students from Patterson’s Student Government Association attended a leadership convention in Ocean City, Maryland from March 27 through 29. Meylin Diaz, Keon Johnson and Brayan Pacheco represented Patterson High School at the Maryland Association of Student Councils (MASC) as delegates of the Associated Student Congress of Baltimore City.

The students learned great tips and received the keys to leadership. Ms. Brenda Moreno Martinez was doing a great job by helping others as an adviser.

This trip was a great opportunity to learn more about how to get the keys to  leadership. I learned how to be a leader and that our voice is our power . The part that I enjoyed most about the trip was when we got all the keys to leadership. I think Patterson gave me this great opportunity because this way I can teach others what I learned. The purpose of the trip was to learn about how to be a better leader and how to help others.

Versión en español (Spanish version):

Yo decidí venir a Ocean City porque esta es una gran oportunidad para aprender como obtener las claves para el liderazgo. Aprendí como ser un mejor líder y que nuestra voz es nuestro poder. Lo que más disfrute del viaje fue cuando obtuvimos todas las claves del liderazgo. Patterson me dio esta gran oportunidad porque de esa manera puedo enseñar a otros lo que aprendí. El viaje consistía en aprender como ser un mejor líder y como ayudar a los demás.

Meylin Diaz, Keon Jonhson y Brayan Pacheco representaron a la preparatoria Patterson en la Asociación de consejo Estudiantil de Maryland. Como delegados del congreso de Estudiantes Asociados de la Ciudad de Baltimore, los Estudiantes aprendieron grandes consejos y recibieron las claves del liderazgo.  

Ms. Brendahizo un gran trabajo ayudando a otros como consejera.

RETRACTION: In the article, “Students show off professional skills at conference”, which ran on the front page of the January 2019 print edition of the Patterson Press, Jill Biden was incorrectly referred to as the “former First Lady of the Obama administration”. The correct title for Mrs. Biden is “Second Lady”, as she is the wife of former Vice President Joe Biden. The former First Lady is Michelle Obama, who was not present at the Great Schools conference.

This error was NOT made by the students who wrote the article. The authors correctly used the title “Second Lady” and it was erroneously changed to “First Lady” during the editing process. The Patterson Press takes full responsibility for this error and sincerely apologizes to its readers and the authors of the article. This retraction will also appear in the May 2019 print edition of the Patterson Press.

Black Lives Matter (Dasia Whitfield)

Immigrant Stories (Essence Talley)

Pedestrian Safety at School (John Dingzon)

Soccer Without Borders (Asende Baele)

The Arts at Patterson (Moses Jeuronlon)