Category Archives: Government/Social Studies

Patterson hosts Black History Night show

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by Kylayah Davis

Patterson High school hosted a Black History Night show on Wednesday February 28th. The event was organized by Mr. Fowler with performances from Patterson’s newly established Performing Arts Academy. 

In total, the Performing Arts Academy put on three shows in honor of Black History Month: two during the day on Tuesday, February 27th during 2nd and 4th period for students who made Honor Roll and Principal’s List, and then another event on Wednesday evening for families at 6:00 PM. The hosts would like to extend a thank you to all those who came out to support our young creatives and their hard work during the stormy weather on Wednesday night. 

The show opened with the Black national anthem (“Lift Every Voice and Sing”), followed by introductions and a welcome message by the man who produced this great show, choir director Mr. Fowler.

After this opening, a song called Siyahamba was performed by the choir called while student performers danced to the music. This dance was the debut of Patterson’s newly established dance program under the direction of Mr. Kwame and our modeling troupe under Coach Z. After this, the band went on to play “Wade in The Water”, a negro spiritual code song with solos by Korey Spruill and Christian Yates. The Show was split into four sections representing four key elements of Black culture: style, movement, gestures of dismissal, and music.

The style portion hosted by 10th grade student Araya Brinkley featured Patterson’s newly formed modeling troupe. The troupe performed a dance to the song “They Don’t Really Care About Us” by Michael Jackson and showcased African American fashions from multiple decades. 

The show also featured the poems, “I too am America” By Langston Hughes, performed by Micah Mcdonald and Caleb Johnson, and “Still I Rise” by Maya Angelou performed by Dinea Griffin, Octavia Caldwell, Tynazia Burgess, Tammie Gordon, Syniah Rawlings, and Demi Hines.

Christina Johnson showed her art which featured representations of Black girls. Cristina created four works of art for this collection:

  • Buttons for hair – Uses actual buttons to represent the kinky coils of Black hair 
  • Perm at home – Shows a Black girl getting a perm at home to fit Western beauty standards
  • Solitude – Showcases the loneliness of Black girls in ballet 
  • Damage – a representation of the words Black girls have heard or experienced because of their natural hair

The musical portion of the show was a fan favorite and was hosted by Mr. Fowler. This section showcased quick lip sync performances by students representing different genres of music, including R & B, HipHop, and Rap, with songs by The Temptations, Mary J. Blige, New Edition, Tupac, and Biggie.

“I’m Goin’ Down” was performed by Tynazia Burgess, “Hit ’Em Up” was performed by Sincere Bartfield, “Juicy” was performed by Charles Goodman, “Billie Jean” was performed by Caleb Williams, and “My Girl” was performed by Zion Woods, Devon Brown, Tyshawn, Aaron Washington and La’ron Howard.

To conclude the night, the choir sang the song “Glory”, featuring the band, with instrumental solos by Kylayah Davis and Winner Mbenga and vocal solos by Jeanette Giles, Octavia Caldwell and Sincere Bartfield. “Glory” was made for the movie Selma which depicted the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s, where African Americans and their allies marched for voting rights and an end to discrimination. 

The show was so well received that students wished for another one. Many students hope that we can make this an annual tradition with even better performances in the years to come. Once again, the organizers of this event would like to extend a thank you to all who helped with the production of the show. Finally, a special “thank you” to everyone who came out to support the show, and please come out to support more events from our Performing Arts Academy.

Patterson hosts Winter Spirit Week to raise money for SGA 

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By Deontay Blackwell

February 12th to 15th was Patterson High School’s winter Spirit Week hosted by Patterson’s Student Government Association (SGA) to raise money for the organization.

SGA raised money by asking students to pay for the opportunity to nominate a staff member to get pied in the face at a pep rally that was held on Thursday in the gym. The fortunate victim to receive this pie to the face was Mr. Ober, an English teacher.

For this spirit week, each day had a specific theme: Monday was a cozy day where people wore their pajamas like onesies and pledge pants. Tuesday was twin day where students tried to match with their friends to look like twins. Wednesday was flip-flop day where teachers dressed like students and students dressed like teachers. Finally, on Thursday, students and staff showed their Patterson pride during the day by wearing our school colors which are blue, white, and black, and then ending the celebration with a pep rally. The different cohorts participated in fun games against each other or against the staff members. These games included musical chairs with basketballs and real-life Hungry Hungry Hippos.

All of these events were planned by the SGA, a small group currently in need of more members as they have an important role helping to run fun events within the school for everyone to participate.

“The money raised is for future events for the school”, explained Jayzanay “Jazzy” Blessett, one of the members of SGA.

SGA can help to benefit students with more fun activities if more students join. Also, if you have problems with the way that the school is run and and you want to address those issues, SGA can be a great way to make your voice heard.

Voting age should be lowered to 16

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By Wilfredo Portillo-Quinones

We learn in school that voting is one of the most important rights of citizenship. Yet most high school students are not allowed to vote because they are under 18. I believe that 16 and 17-year-olds should have the right to vote. As a teenager we have fresh perspectives with new thoughts and ideas that can add to what our government already has in mind for the country.

Our current government is run primarily by older people. When the two main candidates for President are the oldest to ever run in history, it feels like we’re lowering our standards. There needs to be a better mind at our highest office of government, especially when we’re making enemies out of other countries and military forces. I think if teenagers could vote, we would vote for a president with an open mind and someone who can relate to our ideas for the country.
Our country needs a leader who has an open mind about things and isn’t quick to make enemies. We as teenagers could support our government with ideas and feel better about our government if we knew we had a president who could relate to us.

There are claims that young people don’t care or even think about our government power and that is false. A lot of young people care about our government, as studies show. According to the website youthrights.org, people of the age of 17-18 vote more than people ages 20-40. In 2014, Chicago allowed their youth to vote and 75% of eligible people ages 16-17 voted compared to 54% of people ages 20-50, showing us that our youth care at least as much as older people do. In Baltimore, we let our youth vote for our mayor in one election and people of the age of 17 voted 35% compared to 36% of people 18 and older, showing us that teens will vote at more or less the same level as older people. This proves that our youth care as much as older people do. The same website also shows data that shows that contrary to popular belief, high school students actually know more on average about the government that older people. This makes sense when you consider that we are learning about government in school and the information is fresh in our minds. Despite some people’s claims that teenagers are too ignorant to vote, the truth is that youth have open minds, are as well-informed as other age groups, and should have the same rights as other Americans. We also care about our country and who our leaders are.

There are many organizations fighting for youth rights and they’ve proven the facts that teenagers have the right ideas for our country. We should support and fight for teenage voting rights. Voting rights for teenagers would create many new opportunities for us to become active citizens and make our country better. I hope these specific facts will convince you that teenagers above the age of 16 do care about our country and should be given the right to vote.



Health care out of reach for many in the U.S.

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By Dayanna Herrera-Mateo

 Healthcare prices have been a big problem in the United States for years. It is said that the prices are getting more expensive because of new health-related technologies.

From a global perspective, it has been reported that the United States has the worst healthcare prices and they continue to be more expensive than other high-income countries, and still, the U.S. is the only wealthy country that doesn’t have universal health coverage. Universal health coverage is when all people have access to all of the quality health services they need without financial problems.

Spending money per person on healthcare is almost two times higher than in Germany and four times higher than in South Korea. In the United States, people are more likely to die at a young age, the highest death rates are from avoiding conditions that can be treated, and we also have the highest suicide rate, which may stem from mental health problems which can also be expensive. About a total of 79 million Americans have medical bills and/or debt.

Immigrants have also been protesting in front of the Maryland State House in support of a healthcare bill which stated that healthcare is a human right. The bill would have allowed undocumented immigrants to access state health care assistance, but the bill failed to pass. The CARE Act, which was passed in 2016 and is still in force today, prevents many immigrants from receiving benefits from Maryland’s health care assistance program.

Immigrants try to avoid hospitals even when they’re very sick and have a sickness that could even be deadly because they’re scared about the high bill that they could have, so they’re demanding healthcare insurance. There was also a video trending in which a lady was seen trapped in a subway train in Boston and you could see she was struggling but she kept shouting and begging others who were on the scene not to call the ambulance. That might be because ambulance rides can cost about $1,300. It is understandable that she didn’t want the ambulance to be called. 

Healthcare is too expensive for some citizens to even afford, and it has been a problem for a long time now. The U.S. also doesn’t guarantee government or public health coverage to all their citizens. People are getting stressed to the point where they go so far as to unalive themselves because of hospital bills or any type of healthcare bills. 

Bentley Law holds drunk drivers accountable for child support

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By Dayana Herrera-Mateo

About 43% of car accidents involve drunk drivers in the United States. About 10,850 people have passed away every year because of drunk driving crashes. In Austin, Texas, a new law was made in which drunk drivers who have killed a parent or parents have to pay child support until the kids turn 18.

The law took effect on September 1, 2023. This law was made after a fiery car crash that killed Cordel, Lacy, and their four-month-old son, leaving behind Bentley and Mason under their grandparent’s care. Cecilia Williams, the grandmother of Bentley and Mason, and the mother of Cordell, said that kids of this circumstance no longer have parents and she wants people who cause that sort of pain to be held accountable. She believes they should pay child support for the consequences of their actions.

At the moment, four states have passed the law. Tennessee was the first to pass the law, along with Kentucky, Maine, and Texas. Cecilia Williams is hoping that by December of this year, all 50 states will have passed this law. She also hopes this law prevents people from driving drunk and helps the victims who are struggling. 

Student loan debts remain major problem in U.S.

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By Jennifer Iraheta-Delcid

Whether you want to become a teacher or a doctor, both require a degree and education. Students all over the U.S have been experiencing overwhelming stress with the fact that they owe so much money from their loans. Student loan debt has grown a huge amount over time. Those debts determine which dreams students can achieve and which ones will simply stay a dream.

Student loans have increased tremendously over the past few decades. For example, as of March 2023, around 44 million U.S borrowers owed more than $1.6 trillion in Federal student loans. The average total student debt continues to be about $30,000 dollars. In the 1980s and ’90s, many high school students did not attend colleges and universities and those who did less than half borrowed money. On the other hand, in 2022, almost two-thirds of high school graduates attended college and took out loans. Student debt surpasses auto and credit card debt which shows how tremendously it has grown.

Student debt affects more than your ability to independently cover your living expenses and enjoy a decent standard of living. It also affects your dreams and your mental health. While you worry about your academic performance and finding a well paying job, you also have to worry about paying back your student debt. Having to pay back your loans can take many years, which can force you to sacrifice your dream job for one that financially supports you better. Student loan debt can cause high levels of stress and worrying thoughts. This takes a big toll on your mental health and well being.

Student loan debt is a major problem in the U.S that I hope gets fixed. It affects many students’ ability to accomplish their dreams due to the large amount they have to pay back. It impacts their levels of stress and worry as many other expenses need to be paid. Paying the students’ debts through loan forgiveness or reducing the cost of higher education would boost the nation’s economy by a huge amount while also benefiting everyone.

Student Government Association gives students a voice

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By Jayzanay Blessett

SGA members have a discussion at a citywide meeting (Photo: Mr. Frederick)

Student Government Association (SGA) helps students speak up on issues that go on in their schools. They also help plan events and make decisions regarding how the money is spent on the events. Currently, Patterson only has a few students who are interested in participating. I would highly encourage students to join or even check out some of the meetings because if you aren’t satisfied with some of the things that are going on, you can promote change and possibly even fix the issue.“SGA (Student Government Association) offers a forum for students to have a voice in their school and to also offer a as vehicle how they can voice their concerns to the school administration and look for ways to change the school to make it better for everybody–Students and staff–so that everybody can have an enjoyable time while they are in high school.”, explains Mr. Frederick, Patterson’s SGA faculty advisor.The elected positions in SGA are President, Vice President, Secretary, and Treasurer. The president oversees the whole association and focuses on their primary responsibilities. The treasurer focuses on how money is spent on events and the budget we have. The secretary records documents of the SGA and helps with planning and meetings. Lastly, the vice president works with the president, helping with primary issues and solutions. We are currently collaborating with another student group called Catalyst for Change during advisory since we have a small group.

I would also like to mention that students are eligible to run for a city-wide position for the Associated Student Congress of Baltimore City (ASCBC). ASCBC is a city-wide SGA that focuses on bigger issues that impact every student in Baltimore City Public Schools. On October 3rd, Patterson SGA members attended the ASCBC General Assembly, which focused on things that could make our experience as BCPSS students better. We talked about how we could improve high school choice, school lunches, how we could add more robust class courses in our schools, and more.

I am currently running for the Diversity Committee Chair, which targets issues that minority and LGBTQ+ identifying students face in BCPSS. My goal is to ensure equity in every city school and get rid of the stereotypes Patterson and many other city schools have, while also implementing policies to make sure our schools are as inclusive as possible. As a participant, I’d highly encourage students to take this opportunity because it will help you grow as an individual, build your communication skills, give you a sense of accomplishment, and will help you make a change for you and students. If you feel as though you have no voice to speak on issues at Patterson High, think again and join our SGA!

Patterson celebrates Culture Day

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by Thayer Oosterman

Patterson High School celebrated Culture Day on On Thursday, April 27, from 4:00 to 6:30 PM. There were many cultural expressions, with food and music from many cultures around the world. They had Latin American, African, Caribbean, and Middle Eastern food. Musicians were playing Latin and West African music. During the playing of the West African music, there was dancing, where people would be in a circle and would go and dance in the circle.

After the music, they gave out food with a lot of delicious food items, like Jamaican rice and beans, Syrian shawarmas and Tandoori food, Libyan kebabs, and many other tasty foods from a variety of cultures. They also had a thick, sweet drink and lemon tea. 

Near the end of the culture event they had a Kahoot game about the flags of the world, with many students and teachers and Principal Myrick playing. The Kahoot game went from 6:15 until around 6:30. After the Kahoot game and the end of the event, many students helped with the clean up or went to wait for the start of the play that was also taking place that night.

Culture Day was organized by a new student organization called Catalyst for Change. This was the group’s first big event and it was a huge success.

students share their dreams for essay contest

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Patterson students are participating in the fourth “Dream Big” essay contest, hosted by the Model Lyric. In honor of President Barack Obama, the Modell Lyric is asking students to share the important dreams they have for their lives, communities, and families. Students in grades 5th-12th living in Baltimore City and Baltimore County are eligible to enter the contest with either a 300-word essay, a one-page poem, or a 60-second edited video. Between 5-10 selected finalists will have the opportunity to share their work and receive a $100 honorarium.

Here are some of the essays Patterson students have submitted so far:

DeJanae Moore

“We must develop and maintain the capacity to forgive. He who is devoid of the power to forgive is devoid of the power to love. There is something good in the worst of us and some evil in the best of us. When we discover this, we are less prone to hate our enemies.” – Martin Luther King, Jr.

In Baltimore, Maryland, our murder rate is very high. People in Baltimore kill over dumb things. Bullets have no names at all. I believe everyone should learn how to forgive and forget and not hold grudges. Families lose someone they love very much, because people hold grudges over others, but “there is evil in the best of us and good in the worst of us” (Martin Luther King, Jr.).

People hold grudges and take people’s loved ones’ lives away. How is that fair? How is that right? People are like this, because of the bad childhoods they have. They get upset and take it out on anybody – shooting bullets with no names!!! Earlier this year, I lost a close friend to gun violence, because some boys held a grudge towards him instead of forgiving and handling it correctly. They took his life and it all starts at a young age. I really wish everyone knew how to forgive. I lost a very close friend because of it and it hurts me the most. If everyone in the city would squash their problems and childish beefs, the murder rate wouldn’t be how they are now honestly. People wouldn’t have to lose their loved ones if everyone learned how to forgive.

Our problems aren’t all about violence we had a presidential election and our former president held a grudge towards our new one. Many people know this story. Donald Trump, our former president, did things that could have led to WW3 – many supported him and many did not support him. When election time came around, Trump lost to Joe Biden and Kamala Harris. Trump refused to accept defeat.

He is holding a grudge towards Biden for winning the election and becoming our next president. Political problems and violence are not the only problems in America today. There are many more – racism, human rights, etc. Everyone knows blacks were once slaves; some blacks still have not forgiven the whites which can cause much violence, etc. For example, white cops killing young black men and young black children, because of the past with blacks and whites. If they were able to forgive and forget, all of these things that are happening today would not be happening.

In conclusion, I agree 100% with what Martin Luther King, Jr. said about forgiveness. There are so many problems with the world today, because people don’t know how to forgive and forget. There are some good in the worst of us and some evil in the best of us. This quote is so true. There are many bad people in this world with so many good intentions; there are so many good people with bad intentions. It shouldn’t be like this in this society.

Hailey Guerin

“We must develop and maintain the capacity to forgive. He who is devoid of the power to forgive is devoid of the power to love. There is some good in the worst of us and some evil in the best
of us. When we discover this, we are less prone to hate our enemies.” -Martin Luther King, Jr.

ln the quote above, Martin Luther King Jr. explains how we should learn to accept the failure of others and see more good in people. I think accepting others and realizing that no matter how bad we may have messed up, there is still good in everyone.

I believe it’s important to have the ability to realize that we all make mistakes and shouldn’t be held accountable forever. Forgiving others doesn’t mean we are pushing aside what they may have done, however it means that we are accepting the fact that something conflicting happened, and if we don’t move on from it, we’ll never grow or find the good in things. Finding the good in people and things can be really hard sometimes” And there are
some circumstances where that person is too evil to see good in, but that doesn’t mean you betray them, instead you portray kindness to them. Although they may have done something horrible to you, that doesn’t give you the right to do the same to them. “Two wrongs don’t make one right. Two wrongs won’t right a wrong.” Said by Benjamin Rush. When we’re seeking revenge, we’re making a mistake, because it’s only going to make you feel better in that
moment. Not in the long run. ln my city, Baltimore, Maryland, we have an extremely high murder rate. lt’s like everyone’s out to kill each other for no reason. Just the other day, someone got shot on the corner of my street. When I was little, I could play outside with my friends, feeling safe, secured, home. Now, I can’t even go on my porch without seeing some kind of suspicious activity. lt’s really sad to see the city I grew up in go downhill so fast. Why is everyone so angry at one another? Why do people think that murdering someone is going ta solve the problem? lnstead, it’s going to make it worse.”

We all deserve love no matter our skin color, religion, etc. Under no circumstance should anyone be treated differently for something they can’t control. When the election was going on, there was a lot of protesting. The two main debates that were being protested were Trump or Biden, but with these names came along with lots of stereotypes. For example, voting for Trump basically meant you were racist, against LGBTQ+, Trans rights, and the BLM movement. And voting for Biden basically meant you supported LGBTQ+, Trans rights, and the BLM movement. I’m not saying that these stereotypes are true nor false, however, I believe that everyone has a voice. Everyone deserves to be heard. Why is it that we can’t have our own opinion, without having to protest? Around my neighborhood, protesting turns into rioting, and killing. lt turns dangerous. I don’t think we should have to protest about basic rights, or even politics. We as
individuals need to learn how to accept the fact that no one is perfect. Even the most put-together people aren’t quite put together all the time.

ln conclusion, learning to seek good in the worse is so important for many aspects of not only your life, but others too. lf we all take our time and slowly learn, we will come together as a better community.

Amari Dukes

An important dream I have for myself is to become a doctor and help many kids and adults with cancer. I’ve always had this dream ever since I was a little kid. I always wanted to help sick patients, sick people that have a disease, and sick people that have a disease that may or can kill them. The reason why this dream stuck with me is because I’ve seen many kids suffer in hospitals, because of cancer – especially babies. Babies can’t do anything when they’re sick. They can’t talk to tell you what’s wrong so it’s really sad. They have to sit and suffer until someone who can help them really helps them.

I want to become the first African-American female doctor to ever find and make a cure for cancer. The reason why I want to become the first female doctor to ever find and make a cure for cancer is because the kids won’t have to suffer anymore. Those doctors who fight for their own lives or risk their own lives just to help sick patients won’t have to worry about it anymore. I personally don’t like seeing people suffer even if they did something bad in their
past life. That still doesn’t give them the right to suffer. At a time like this, we don’t need the
extra pressure.

This is my dream. I hope everyone takes my words and use them as an inspiration to others in different cities and in different countries around the world. My dream for my family is to get them out of this cruel world once and for all. When I get my money from being a doctor, I will buy a big house for all of us. I will make sure that the area that we live in is a better place and more importantly a better environment for all of us. It will be more peaceful, no drama, no violence, and most importantly no gun violence. Hopefully, I will inspire others with my words and my dreams.

Satrina Thomas

I have many big dreams in my life and for my family. First off I hope in the future I become wealthy and very successful in life. I want my family and me to be in good health. I wish for the future to be better than today. I wont to hove a nice house, a kid, and be married to the love of my life.

My dream job is to be a veterinarian and for that to happen I need to do hard work for thot to come true. Hard work always pays off. There is this vet show I watch and its called Dr. Pol and he inspired me to help animals and show animals that they con hove a second chance in life. I used to walk my dog every day until she got this lump on her pow and I don’t want her to walk so much. I hove a strong connection with animals and I toke core of my dog every day but I do not toke core of other people’s dogs. I don’t wont my dog to suffer as much.

I want to be able to provide for my family for whatever they need. I want to help out the poor and to just be a good person. I want to make a change in the future and be a role model for anyone and for kids to look up to me and be like “Dang, I wont to be like her one day!” l just want to be the best person I hove ever been before. I want to make the world as peaceful as it con ever be. I want love all around the world and to show people who they truly are. That there is always a person that truly loves them and never gives up. This is my big dream for me and the future.

Alpha Camara

A dream I have for myself is to be able to buy anything I want for myself as a teen. I want to have a car and an apartment for myself. I’m going to do this by investing, getting a job, and managing my money in a responsible manner. I want to have my own car by the time I am 19-21 and I want to have my own house by 20-22. I want to have a job that pays me well so I will live comfortably as an adult.

I dream of buying my mother a house and car as well. I want to invest in the stock market and one day get a job in it. I want to be able to vacation like a cruise in the Caribbean, the tropics, Mexico, Japan, and/or some cool place in Europe. As an adult, I want to live somewhere in the US where there are palm trees like Florida and Arizona. I also want to live somewhere where it is hot, there is a beach, and where I can buy a nice house/condo for myself.

I dream of donating a lot of money to a legitimate charity. I want to get one of my dream cars “a foreign” and I want to have a dog, probably a pit bull, a German shepherd, or a Rottweiler. I want an overall comfortable, chill life as an adult. What I need to do right now at 14 years old is focus on school, starting to make money, and learning how to manage my money. My plan right now is to start a bank account, try my hand at stocks, buy things that I want/need during my high school career, and upgrade to making this a job.

Overall, I want to have a successful adulthood. My main goal is to be happy and comfortable as my life goes on. I plan to make this dream reality within a few years, and not to have to worry about being broke or depressed.

Ivyanna Anderson

Dreams don’t always come true in the world unless you push yourself to work hard and study hard for what you want to do in life.  My father loves to work with cars.  He had to work hard in school for it.  He had to work hard, study, and push through all the hard, difficult times in life just to become what he wanted to do without college.  A huge dream of my stepmother was to be in a medical field.  She had to study hard, get good grades, and go to college getting her degrees to be in the medical field.

My dream is to spend at least one day with my father as a daughter Daddy date with no interruptions.  For my dream, I just want to be able to be a teenager, go out, have fun, and do stupid stuff as teenagers should.  I don’t want anything more but to be a physical therapist and to be free in the world.  A big dream is to have a family and be happy with a loving husband.  My dream is for all the bad memories and nightmares to go away.  I wish for no financial problems and no health issues in my future.  My dream is to have a job with good pay, a home with no problems, and a family with no broken pieces.

Where do I start with my dream for my community?  Let’s start with how people should stop killing people over stupid stuff such as a dollar.  An example of a real life situation: my best friend Ty’quoin Jones died from gunshots over a few dollars at the age of 14.  I dream for kids to be able to play outside – for kids to be kids and not want to be gangsters.  I don’t want these girls growing up being “thots” and used for their bodies.  What many people call life is not life at all.  Where is the happiness?  Where are the hard working people?  I’m tired of people dying, because they’re smart or because of nothing.  I’m tired of kids not able to be kids, because of all the killing, robbing, sex trafficking, and abuse.  When do kids live?  When do kids have fun in life?  I dream for racism to go away.  I wish for black culture to be able to be free and live their life till they can’t anymore.

A dream poem: I dream for a world with love, hope, and care.  I dream for a world we all can share.  I dream for love, peace, and harmony for a world you can live and be free.  I dream for highs to be goals and lows to be nos.  I dream for people to see with their eyes but all I see is people don’t care that other people die. We scream, we shout save our lives but no one hears our suffering cries.

Jabria Allen

Hey, my name is Jabria Allen and I want to talk about more of what I want to do and what I do. I have been doing hair since I was 10 with my mom but I really started taking this seriously when I turned 12. I have been receiving clients from then to now I still have the clients from then. I want to say that I’m very thankful for my clients and that I’m proud of myself and my braiding skills.

So let me tell you about braiding: you would have to make sure the parts are straight in neat and when you get clients you have to make them feel comfortable have nice conversation make them give you good reviews because of how you treat them and how you did their hair. Also, when you do hair you can’t like do it when you feel like it so when you start you are going to have people coming to you DMing you saying they need you to do their hair.

More about my business: when I get older I will build a hair studio and have good workers in my shop that do good hair and I’m planning on working on my my business with my mother since she does good hair and she’s been doing this for over 13 years, so I really look forward to doing this with my mom. If there are any girls that would like to do braiding class with me, I could show you how to do it. And not only that–starting this year I will also have books that you can look through and it will help. I’m also looking forward to start everything starting in 2021: new year and new beginnings.

Because of the pandemic it has been a little hard for me to reach and achieve my goals, but no matter what the situation is, I’ll never stop what I am doing. I dream that one day I will wake up and say “I made it–my dream came true!” I will never let down my supporters who been with me from the start. This is something I look forward to. I’m going to make my mom and dad proud, make them feel like I’m not just growing up to do anything. I want to achieve my goals and I dream that one day I’ll have best clientele.

Jordan Blair

My name is Jordan Blair.  My dream is to become a police officer, have a family, and be happy.  I want to live in California, go to the beach, enjoy life, have fun with my family, take care of my Mom, teach my kids right from wrong, and go out and chill with my friends.  I want to be something important in life, give back to my community, and the homeless people.  My community is bad.  Every day someone gets shot or killed for nothing.  You can’t walk outside in peace.  It’s always someone trying to hurt you, when you leave your house.  You got to watch your back, don’t tell strangers where you live, and don’t let people know you have money.  That’s the reason I go to school – to get an education to make my family proud and have a better life.

Becoming a police officer gives me an opportunity to help to uphold the law and help the community to become a better place.  Watching the news every day and seeing all of the crime in the community I’m always thinking of ways to help in the community – going to outreach centers and community centers and showing the young people there is a better way than committing crimes.  One of the hardest things is getting people to trust you and understand.  Corruption is very high in the police department and the only way that will change is hiring people that are honest, committed, and faithful that will help to change the police department.  We have to come up with homicide strategies by keeping recently arrested felons from returning to the streets.

A blast from the past: Fashion inspired by history

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Students in Ms. Tucker’s cosmetology class created hairstyles, makeup and nail designs inspired by several different cultures and time periods from history.


1. The Middle Ages

We were inspired by the Middle Ages.  Why, one might ask?  Because this age falls between Classical Antiquity and the Renaissance Period (A.D. 476~1450), we wanted to see how the previous and the following era influenced the Middle Ages.  “Madam Butterfly” was created as a result of us demonstrating the towering hair styles from the Middle Ages which were considered very flattering and elegant.  This striking presentation was accented with complimentary nail color bringing this look into the twenty-first century. 

-Mo-Yah Jones Benjamin, Author

-Olga Reyes Villanueva, Contributor


2. Victorian Age

In the Victorian Age (1837-1901), women preferred a more soft and natural look.  Because of her fair skin and blonde hair, we decided to use earth tones both with her make-up and nail color.  Women from the Victorian Age pinched their cheeks to create a natural blush effect.  When wearing subtle makeup, earth tones such as dark chocolate nail color is very complimentary.  Her overall look, including her conservative hairstyle, is perfect for a professional woman.

-Bryonna Butler: Author

-Bre’Asia Thomas, Aislinn Garcia: Contributors


3. The Greek Culture

Hairstyling became a highly developed art in the Greek culture (~500 B.C.).  “The Mermaid” reflects the Greek contributions to beauty because of her curly locks and hair accessories.  We used shells to create a decorative hair clip emphasizing her soft waves.  We used multi-colored loose glitter that could be mistaken for such minerals as chalcopyrite, epidote and apatite to mimic the colors and textures of fish scales.  The Greeks used lavish cosmetics made from ground cinnabar (an orange to brick-red mineral) and kohl around the eyes creating what we now call the ‘smoky eye’. 

-Shauna Key, Author

-Meylin Diaz, Co-Author

-Beontae Carter, Contributor

-Dayonna Ckyyou, Contributor


4. The Egyptians

The Egyptians were very innovative with their creativity.  They used minerals, insects and berries for makeup. That’s amazing!  Don’t you think? Not only that, they used henna paste to stain their nails red.  Red is the color of power, so we painted the mannequin’s nails fire engine red and applied the same color to her lips.  The Egyptians were the first to cultivate beauty in an extravagant fashion, which is why they used a lot of jewelry in their hair.   Wearing jewels was believed to protect the owner and give them strength.

-Adamary Reyes, Author

-Arnyah Brown, Contributor


5. The Chinese Culture

Throughout the Chou Dynasty (1100 B.C.), gold and silver nails were  strictly reserved for royal family members.  The color purple is also associated with luxury, power, and ambition. Naturally we selected our home football team to create our Ravens Girl a.k.a. Ms. Jackson #8. Not to overdo it with the gold, we incorporated silver glitter with her purple nails.  We also used clip-in hair streaks, colored hair spray and gold hair accessories to complete her look.

-Shayla Jackson, Author

-Ariell Hayes, Co-Author

-Luz Amaya, Contributor

-Ayslinn Garcia, Contributor

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