Category Archives: Clubs and Organizations

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.

 

 

 

 

Patterson High School Feria Comunitaria y Regreso a la Escuela (SPANISH)

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(Photo: Patterson press)

(Photo: Patterson press)

Escrito por Angela Rivas,

Note: This article is written in Spanish for the benefit of our Spanish language readers.
La feria comunitaria es para informar a los padres sobre los servicios de la comunidad. Igualmente se celebra el regreso a la escuela para que los padres puedan venir a conocer a los maestros de sus hijos. Nuestra sexta feria fue un éxito. Muchos padres vinieron a disfrutar de todos los juegos, los refrescos y recibieron información de diferentes grupos que ayudan a nuestra comunidad hispana.

Había diferentes organizaciones por ejemplo la organización Centro Sol  que se enfoca en ayudar a familias latina “Porque tenemos un programa para jóvenes y queremos invitar a los jóvenes a participar, también tenemos programas para adultos. Encontramos recursos para mejorar la salud y la oportunidad para latinos. Amamos Patterson y las actividades de Pa Lante.”Dijo Monica G.V.  También estaba el periódico de Mundo Latino, ellos se enfocan en llevar las noticias a todas nuestras familias Latinas. “ Es un periódico con base en Baltimore que se dedica a difundir noticias de las comunidades Hispanas de Maryland, Virginia, y DC.. Pedro Palomino es el director del periódico y tuvo a 2 hijos estudiando aquí hace muchos años. Él también fue Presidente de un equipo de padres latinos en la escuela.” – Pedro A. Palomino  Otra organización que estuvo presente fue Casa De MD “Nuestra organización ayuda a la comunidad inmigrante. Tenemos un programa después de escuela “Mi espacio” que ayuda a los jóvenes de edad 14-21 años” – Monica Camacho. Estas son tres Organizaciones de muchas que estuvieron presentes en nuestra sexta Feria comunitaria/Regreso a la escuela.

Hubo juegos, presentaciones y sobre todo hubo mucha diversión. La música, los bailes formaron gran parte de la noche. Fue muy lindo ver como nuestros estudiantes, padres, maestros, se unieron para pasar una tarde muy feliz. Todos somos parte de una familia, la familia de Patterson High School, siempre luchando por el bienestar de nuestras familias y de nuestros estudiantes. Nuestra sexta Feria Comunitaria/Regreso a la  escuela fue un éxito. Esperamos el próximo año sea mejor y puedan venir más padres a disfrutar con nosotros.

Chess Club Gears Up To Compete With Other Schools

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Students practicing after school

Students practicing chess after school (Photo: Amadou Bah)

By Amadou Bah,

Chess Club is back again. You can sign up in Room 216, Thursdays only.  Newcomers are welcome. The goal is to build a chess team that can be competitive against students from other high schools.

Mr. Tola, the founder and main faculty advisor of the Chess Club started playing chess when he was seven years old. He didn’t master chess until eight years of age. Magnus Carlsen and Garry Kasparov, two of the greatest chess players in the world, inspired Mr. Tola. Then, in 5th grade, he completely stopped playing.

He started playing chess again when he began teaching here at Patterson.  He often plays chess more in school than any other place.  He doesn’t get easily distracted. “It doesn’t matter where I play chess; I can handle the background noise” Mr. Tola told the Patterson Press.  One reason why he started the chess club was that he wanted Patterson students to enter into championships. The purpose of the chess club is to help students develop good strategic thinking. Chess is considered to be a strategy game. When you’re playing chess, you have to think before moving a piece. In order to win the game you must have a better plan then your opponent. “The more you practice, the more you’ll become better”, Mr. Tola said. Anyone can sign up and the Chess Club will teach you how to play.

 

Mr. Tola, faculty advisor of the Chess Club Photo: Amadou Bah)

Mr. Tola, faculty advisor of the Chess Club (Photo: Amadou Bah)

 

5th Annual Patterson Community Fair Welcomes Students Back For Another Great Year

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A student (right), Ms. K. O'Brien (formerly Flores), and Patterson Principal Vance Benton dance with a belly dancer (right) (Photo: Patterson Press)

A student (right), Ms. K. O’Brien (formerly Flores), and Patterson Principal Vance Benton dance with a belly dancer (right)
(Photo: Patterson Press)

By Valerie Flores

Patterson High hosted its 5th annual Community Fair on September 24, 2015, in the cafeteria to welcome new students and old students back for another great school year.

As always, there were so many people, from jobs like State Farm, to after-school programs that we have here at our school, like the J.R.O.T.C program. Several colleges came to visit our school, too. Towson University came to this great event to help students make it to college by providing information about their college, as did B.C.C.C.

Lauren Hepner from Art With a Heart said, “I never had this during my high school years. This is different and cool to bring people together, which is awesome for us because not many schools have any events like this.”

Ms. Mahoney, who has been a teacher for about 16 years, loves the event. She said it’s really nice to be part of the Patterson family because it creates events like these.

Ms. Dagostino also stated that the event is great because it gives her a chance to meet new members of the Patterson family.

Kendric Senior, a freshman this year, said he enjoyed the flamenco dancing (there has been a flamenco dancer at the event every year) and the group of students selling snow balls to support their club.

Michael Candelario, a junior, has been at Patterson since his freshman year. He said the school is diverse (Nepalis and other Asians, Hispanics, Whites, Blacks, Arabs, etc.) and he gets to see these people and meet new students at the event.

The Community Fair has become a cherished annual tradition at Patterson, drawing hundreds of students, parents and community members every year. It has even been copied by other schools in the city. If the success of this year’s fair is any indication, it is safe to assume that this remarkable event is not going away any time soon.

 

 

 

 

 

Pa’Lante students attend rally for Anthony Brown

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by Ms. K. O’Brien (formerly Flores),

Students from the programs Pa’Lante and PGC attended a rally in PG County in support of Maryland’s Lieutenant Governor Anthony Brown last October. At the time, Brown was running for Governor of Maryland.

Students heard speeches from Congressman Elijah Cummings, Governor Martin O’Malley, Lt. Governor Brown, and even President Obama. All of the speakers sent the urgent message to get out to the polls and vote and to remember the rights that we have fought so hard to gain.

The students who attended were Franklin Aguilar, Jennifer Aristy Moran, Charles Jennings, Adiya Mason, and Heidy Ramirez. Ms. O’Brien (formerly Flores), her daughter, and Mr. Benton and his wife and son also attended the event.

Lockheed Martin talks to students about engineering

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Students pay close attention to Lockheed Martin presentation (Photo: Patterson Press)

By Alex Hunt,

The Robotics Club brought in an engineering contractor for the government to talk to students about pursuing a careen in engineering and technology. The guest speaker came from Lockheed Martin, a Maryland-based company that is making the F-35 Lightning II  airplane for the Air Force.

The U.S. government has hired Lockheed Martin to produce a wide range of aerospace and defense aircraft, ground vehicles, missiles, guided weapons, missile defense systems, naval systems, radar  systems, sensors, situational awareness tactical communications, training and logistics, and safety management unmanned systems. Lockheed Martin also makes non-military high tech devices, such as a “food printer” that uses food coloring and other materials to make food.

“The Robotics Program at Patterson is great friends with Lockheed Martin”, explained Ms. Ball, an engineering teacher and the faculty advisor for the Robotics Club. “Lockheed Martin helps kids to become interested in the engineering career and also give kids a main set of ideas of what to say and do when you become an adult engineer.”

According to Ms. Ball, Patterson students benefit greatly from the encouragement and knowledge about real-world education and careers given by companies like Lockheed Martin.

Patterson Press returns to Newseum

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Students and chaperons pose on the roof of the Newseum with a view of the Canadian Embassy in the background. (Photo: Jamal Artis, Patterson Press)

by Jamal Artis

The Patterson Press went to  the Newseum in Washington, D.C., on December 4. It was a fun learning experience at  the museum, where we learned a lot, including about the Berlin Wall. The West Berlin Wall was the free side, where they had put graffiti art on the wall in 1986. It was East Germany, starting on August 13, 1961, that completely cut off contact with people coming in and out of the rest of the city. They also added a guard tower to keep  the people in the city; if anybody tried to leave, they got shot at by the person that was in the tower. We learned a lot about the Cold War in Germany. It went on for around 30 years.

The exhibit that was the most fascinating was the 9/11 exhibit. They had a few parts of the Twin Tower from 9/11, and they found a guy’s camera that got destroyed in the fire. Some students cried  a little over what happened to the twin tower that day. We also were put on the teleprompter and a video feed makes it look  like we’re on the news channel.

We also learned about major bank robberies  in the 20th century and the first phone, typewriter, and  printing press. The trip to the Newseum was fun and a great learning experience. I hope we do it again someday.

Refugee students meet after school

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By Dhan Bhattarai and Manisha Monger,

Refugee students who are here today at Patterson have a lot of opportunities to learn after school. The International Rescue Committee helps to provide support for these students through a group called the Refugee Youth Project (RYP). This program helps refugee students. The RYP meets every Tuesday and Wednesday and is open to all refugee students.

This program helps students to learn reading and writing skills, helps them with their homework and many other things. All the students who participate in the group enjoy spending time together after school. It helps them to learn more things and provides every student with basic knowledge that they need for success. For more information, see Ms. Harris in room 314.

To read this article in Nepali, click here.

Chess team returns for another year of fun and competition

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Chess players ponder their next move (Photo: Joshua Carr, Patterson Press)

By Joshua Carr,

Patterson has a chess team. They meet on Thursdays after school at 3.35 in room 317 (Mr. Tola’s room). Students who do not know how to play chess will taught how to play. You do not need to have any experience to join the club.

Playing chess is fun for students and also helps them to concentrate better. The chess team will compete in two citywide tournaments: one in December and one in April. For more information, see Mr. Tola in room 317.

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