The Patterson Clippers varsity boys basketball team won the Class 2A State Championship on March 16, beating Wicomico by a score of 79-56 to secure the title. The game took place at the Xfinity Center at the University of Maryland, College Park. This is the third state championship Patterson has won, the most recent time having been just two years ago in 2017.

“We started out our game vs. Wicomico very aggressively, pressing and trapping them all over the court. In the second half, we were able to tire them out and extend the lead to over 20 points.”, Coach Harry Martin explained. “Wicomico was definitely a scrappy team that battled and played hard. Their coach has over 800 wins so we have a lot of respect for their program.”, he added.

During the game, Marvin Price led Patterson in scoring with 31 points.
Tyrone Thomas has the most assists (seven) and Marvin Price led the team with ten rebounds.

“When the final horn sounded and I knew we just had won another state title, I felt a great sense of joy and accomplishment.”, Coach Martin recounted. “A lot of work goes in to being one of the best teams in the state.”

Patterson basketball player, Lizandry Nunez, also shared his reflections on winning the championship. “It felt great!”, said Nunez. “We got what what we worked hard for all year, at practice and at summer workouts. It was a relief to hear the final horn go off, knowing that we won.”

According to Coach Martin, basketball has become a year-round sport at Patterson. In order for our school to compete for a state championship, the team has to put in maximum effort all year to get better. The conditioning, weight training, and basketball workouts cover almost the entire year.

By Coach Walker

This season was an inspiration to a lot of our young men and women. We actually for the first time in school history had 2 females compete in wrestling. This wrestling season was a well-accomplished season for the Patterson Clippers. We started the season with 22 wrestlers, a number of which had never wrestled before. Under the direction of Coach Walker and Coach Smith, our first time wrestlers quickly became acclimated to the sport.

We had 3 wrestlers place in the city tournament. Markel Ross placed 3rd, Anthony Lopez placed 3rd, and Dominic Rabey placed 4th overall. All three of those wrestlers also qualified for the regional tournament in which Anthony Lopez placed 7th overall in the entire North Region.

As a team, we were able to compile a 5-3 record, which was good enough to place 4th overall in the entire North Region.

As the head coach, I couldn’t be more proud of the effort and fortitude displayed by my team. The hope is that through my coaching they were able to become better young men and women. For me, it wasn’t about becoming better wrestlers; it was about becoming better people, and I believe we accomplished that. While I will not be returning next year, I just want to say that I love you all and wish you the best moving forward.

Editor’s note: Students at Patterson High School wrote anonymous messages about what they wish people knew about the community they most identify with. I am a member of the LGBTQ community. We are still people. We are still humans.  I am a member of the Hispanic community. Not everybody is “Mexican.” We are just like you, and everybody else. I am a member of the introverted community. It’s really hard to talk and socialize with other people, especially strangers. Some of us may come off as shy or even rude, but most of us just think a lot about how to react to new people. I am a member of the female community. Girls are not just pretty. We are also smart. We should be respected and treated like humans, not objects. I am a member of the Black community. Some of us kill each other for nothing. We need to change everything about that. I am a member of the caregiving community. People who have never been a caregiver cannot understand the experience. I am a member of the Muslim community. I wish people would understand that what’s shown on social media and shared on the internet isn’t a reliable source to have your questions answered. People need to understand that getting a personal answer from a Muslim you know gives you a deeper view on the reality of Islam. My favorite part of being Muslim is that, no matter where I go with my hijab, I will always get an “As-Salaam-Alaikum” or “Salaam, sister.” I love that a lot. I am a member of the artistic community. Drawing is easy sometimes and sometimes it’s not. When I finish what I’m drawing, I feel proud because it ends up looking amazing.  I am a member of the Christian community. My favorite part of this community is meeting every week after church to discuss what it’s like to be a teenager.   I am a member of the East Baltimore community. It’s dangerous over here.  I am a member of the young Black men community. We are brothers who all want to be successful at what we do and will always be there for one another.  I am a member of the biracial community. Everyone assumes I am something I’m not. Just because someone has curly hair and light skin doesn’t mean they are Hispanic. I am a member of the Muslim community. I wish people understood that Muslims don’t condone violence and that we’re all about peace. I wish people understood that ISIS aren’t real Muslims. If they were, they wouldn’t commit such acts. I am a member of the soccer community. We are about communication and hard work. We are also about love, peace, and equality.  I am a member of the Black community. WE ARE BEAUTIFUL.  I am a member of the creative community. I wish people understood I make my own ideas for me and for me alone. I won’t stand for people who think art and creativity is trash. I will fight for my community if I must.   If you’re curious about an unfamiliar community . . .  let’s share ideas. We have good intentions; we want to learn about communities outside of our own. We’re interested in building relationships, and even inter-community. But how to make that happen can be confusing, or even intimidating. Thankfully, there is no shortage of resources to help us get started. In fact, Baltimore Racial Justice Action, a nonprofit “provid[ing] a variety of racial justice educational events, workshops, and services for individuals, groups, and organizations” recommends dozens of books, articles, websites and films on their site alone. In the process of creating community, knowledge is a necessity.  Deanna Lavery also recommends a comprehensive list of resources. The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Administration has a page devoted to numerous programs that could be the starting place for learning about unfamiliar communities. Beyond that, Deanna says, “I always go where the people are. I meet them where they are.” To form community, she says we must “listen, listen, listen.”  Are you hesitant to learn about other communities? Do you have suggestions about where to start? Let’s continue this conversation.

By Mr. Phillips

The Patterson boys lacrosse team finished the season with 2 wins and 8 losses. In spite of this disappointing record, the team did show a lot of strengths, especially conditioning at the midfield and attack positions and strength in the defensive positions. Opposing coaches noted that Patterson played hard the entire game, played physical, and have underclassmen who should improve next year.

The team’s biggest weaknesses were passing accuracy, lack of experience and eligibility. We only had 1 player with a significant amount of previous high school lacrosse experience. Lack of experience shows up in game situations when players chase the ball rather than defend their assigned player or zone. This led to a lot of open shots on the “weak side” when defenders left their zones. Good lacrosse requires a high amount of trust and teamwork, which is not built in a 2 month period, but requires a few years.

Eligibility was a big problem this season. We started with nearly 30 students attending conditioning and ended up starting our final game with just ten players healthy and eligible.

Patterson can only get better. We have not had an active lacrosse program for several seasons. We will be getting underclassmen involved in summer club lacrosse and younger players will get better at playing together.
Our MVP was Brandon Chambers (2019), team captain, who played long-stick defense and also filled in as goalie on several occasions. Brandon is an extremely hard worker and well-respected voice of reason in a huddle. His willingness to help teach freshman was outstanding.

An unsung hero for the team was Desmond Wilds, who played goalie after our starting goalie became ineligible. Desmond started in the goal against Poly, which was our strongest game in terms of hustle and effort. Playing goalie on an inexperienced team is a very difficult job because a person who doesn’t know much about lacrosse will assume that the goalie is a bigger factor than defensive lapses.

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)