Category Archives: Departments

Swim team wins 3rd place at City Championship

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The Patterson swim team celebrates its 3rd place win at the City Championship (Photo: Patterson Press)

By Christian Pietrowski,

The Patterson swim team set off to Coppin State University for the City Championship on February 10, 2017. When we arrived it felt tense. We were all very nervous but we did finish the regular season 6-5 (six wins, five losses), one of the best seasons the Patterson swim team has had in a while.

We started off really well. We held fourth place for the longest time. It all came down to the very last race, the 400 freestyle relay where each of the four swimmers swims four laps. We were in fourth place behind Dunbar High School by three points. We looked around and didn’t see Dunbar on the starting block so that’s when we knew we had secured a 3rd place win but we still tried our hardest that last race.

Coach Mahoney said, “It has been a fantastic season and I am very proud of the group of swimmers that we had this year.” Melvin Alston, a senior on the swim team, added, ”The championship swim meet was fun even though Coach made me do 20 laps for the first time in a meet, but it was fun. Not only did we win 3rd place, we beat City College, one of the top swim teams in the city. And its been a fun year with the team.”

The swim team is looking forward to another successful season next year.

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(Photos: Patterson Press)

Why high school students should play sports (OPINION)

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By Christian Pietrowski,

In my opinion, everyone should play a sport in high school. Students should play a sport because it helps keep them focused.

If a high school student plays a sport it will help their grades improve because you cannot play if you have more than one “F” on your report card. This rule helps students because students will work hard to be able to stay on the team that the students work so hard on.

”After-school opportunities are enriching experiences for students.”, said Ms.Cook, a graphic design teacher at Patterson High School. “They are often the hook for students to stay engaged in school. They also provide hands-on opportunities for team-work and leadership.”

Senior Alvaro Flores added, ” High school sports can help athletes prepare for college and help them be seen and it can help students stay focused in school.”

Even if you are not a star athlete hoping to get a full-ride sports scholarship, getting involved in school sports can still be a fun and rewarding activity that helps you succeed in life.

Open letter to Donald Trump

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Dear President Trump:

My name is Tatyana Matthews and I am a 17-year-old junior at Patterson High School in Baltimore, MD.

I am writing to let you know that I am disappointed that you are now the Commander-in-Chief. The way that you degrade women, calling them pigs, ugly, and fat is not acceptable behavior for our leader. You have a mother, a wife, a daughter, and granddaughters. How would you feel if they were targeted in that way?

Your views on Hispanics go to show that you are out of touch with this culture. My mother, uncle, aunt, and cousins are of Hispanic background. They work hard every day, provide food on the table, clothes on our backs, and a roof over our heads. They are not causing any trouble like you said.

Lastly, your comments about helping all African-Americans get off welfare were inappropriate. Not all African-Americans are on welfare. I come from a strong background of hardworking families. I have been nurtured under a grandmother who raised a son and two daughters with no government assistance. My mother is also raising myself and my sister with no assistance from the government.

In closing, you need to choose your words wisely. Also, you need to connect with the people to bridge the gap of hate you created. We are a great nation and we need a great leader.

Sincerely,

Tatyana Matthews

The difference between love and lust

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By Justist Rice,

Love and lust are very confusing and similar things. The difference between the two is not that hard or complicated to figure out.

First, let’s start with lust. Lust is a strong physical attraction you have for a person. You experience lust before love because before you get to know someone what draws your attention to that person is physical features. When you lust for someone you see them in a sexual way, you feed off their physical features that you are most attracted to like their smile, or if you think they’re really attractive even their body structure could be one of those things that attracts you to that person.

Love is a totally different thing. Love is when you’re not just physically attracted but emotionally attached to that person as well. Love is a spiritual thing, a feeling that comes from your heart. Love is like a drug; its like an addiction. You start to feel like you need that person, and if you don’t have them then you feel incomplete.

It’s always good to have both of these things in a healthy relationship. If you have love with no lust in a relationship you will soon start to grow bored with your partner. You’re going to feel like that spark you had is slowly dying out. If you have lust with no love your physical attraction to that person will soon be the only thing that matters.

Blue Angels visit Patterson High School

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Blue Angels instructors speak to Patterson students (Photo: AFJROTC)

Blue Angels instructors speak to Patterson students (Photo: AFJROTC)

By Mikal McCoy,

Since 1946, the beginning of the Blue Angels, the U.S. Navy has flown their aircraft, performing for the public’s view.  Admiral Chester Nimitz organized a flight team in the past that were responsible for performing in their aircrafts for the public. The flight team’s first air show was on June 15, 1946 in Jacksonville, Florida. Back then, in 1946, planes weren’t as fast and accurate as they are now in the 21st century. Due to military progress and advancements in technology, over years planes have improved.

The presentation at Patterson was given in the auditorium by representatives and pilots of the Blue Angels. The audience was composed of Patterson’s AFJROTC cadets and other students who were invited to attend. Representatives and pilots spoke to students about what the Blue Angels are, what they do, and how it felt to fly in one of their high speed aircrafts.

According to an article on aol.com, “The F/A-18 Hornet fighter jets are capable of reaching speeds of just under Mach 2, almost twice the speed of sound — or about 1,400 mph”. Patterson students were pretty amazed at the stories they were being told. After the presentation, to show appreciation for the Blue Angels visit, Sgt. Smith, AFJROTC instructor, with help of students, gave Patterson T-shirts to the Blue Angels representatives. In return, the pilots gave a poster to Patterson. When the presentation was over, students returned back to class while the Blue Angels returned to work.

In downtown Baltimore, the Blue Angels flew over Baltimore’s Inner Harbor, participating in Maryland’s Fleet Week 2016. Fleet Week is an event that is celebrated to promote the United States Navy. On October 15th and 16th, the Blue Angels performed using their aircrafts for the public to see what their aircrafts are capable of doing.

Learning to fly fast planes can be difficult, but the challenge is its own reward.

The Blue Angels flew overhead during the game. (Photo: Lionell Green, Patterson Press)

The Blue Angels flew overhead during Patterson’s Homecoming game. (Photo: Lionell Green, Patterson Press)

CyberPatriot competition teaches students cyber-security skills

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Image: Franklin County AFJROTC

Image: Franklin County AFJROTC

By Faran Nadeem & Amadou Bah,

CyberPatriot is a program in which students are given images (operating systems) that have some errors in it and we are supposed to secure them. As we secure the image we gain points each time and if we make it unsecured we will lose points.

This is an after-school program at Patterson High School although in many other schools they have a separate class about it. Our team name is the Cybernauts. The first competition of this school year took place on November 11th, 2016 and the competition was about 6 hours long, including the lunch break.

Two more competitions were held over the next two months. The competition is online and that is great so we can participate from our own school.

 

Patterson’s SGA represents at citywide student government meeting

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By Mikal McCoy,

Patterson’s Student Government Association (SGA) attended a city-wide SGA meeting at Vivien T. Thomas Medical Academy on Thursday, November 17th, 2016 at 3:30 PM.

The meeting was for all City Schools SGA bodies, to inform members about what is going on in the State and National SGA boards. Patterson’s SGA members John Dingzon (Secretary), Amadou Bah (Vice President), and Mikal McCoy (President), attended the meeting to represent Patterson’s SGA and to learn more about Student Government Association’s program. Other schools such as Digital Harbor High School, Carver High School and Booker T. Washington Middle School attended the meeting. During the meeting , speakers such as Kevin Davis, Commissioner of Baltimore City’s Police Department, spoke to students about what’s going on in the communities of Baltimore City.

Photo By: Patterson Press

Patterson SGA officers Amadou Bah (left) and John Dingzon (middle) pose with BCPD Commissioner Kevin Davis and an unidentified woman (Photo: Patterson Press)

Police Commissioner Davis spoke to students about being safe, steps they can take to improve their communities and how many districts are in the City of Baltimore. “I learned that there are at least 10 districts in Baltimore and community meetings that mostly people older than 55 attend”,said Amadou Bah. During the meeting, one of the focal points Commissioner Davis stressed was that young people don’t attend community meetings that are held to talk about the problems in the community.  “These meetings are a chance for you to give your voice and opinion”, said Davis. Commissioner Davis also told the group that if they attended a community meeting before the end of the year, he personally would take them on a tour of Baltimore City Police Department Headquarters.

Attending community meetings is important. A community meeting is an opportunity where young and older people can come together to talk, and figure out solutions to the problems in their communities. Overall, the citywide SGA meeting was very informative and Patterson’s SGA officers came back with fresh ideas about how to increase their involvement in the community.

Ravens player plays chess with Baltimore students

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A screenshot from the NFL ad (photo: Youtube.com )

A screenshot from the NFL ad (photo: Youtube.com )

By John Dingzon & Amadou Bah,

A special chess event took place at Roland Park Elementary/Middle School on October 10, 2016.  An NFL guest, Ravens player John Urschel, came in and played with students from multiple schools, including Patterson, Dunbar, and two other schools.

The point of this event was to show that football players have hobbies besides football. It also gave the chess team a chance to meet a professional athlete. A TV commercial was filmed at the event; the NFL has spent over $40,000 for it to be prepared.

John Urschel is a master on the field…and on the chess board. He took on 50 of Baltimore’s youngest chess whizzes. It took between 4-5 hours to make a 30 second ad. Several Patterson students and Chess Club co-advisor Mr. Baron are featured in the ad.

To watch the ad, click on this link.

Donald Trump’s beginning

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By Joselin Miranda,

In the month of November 2016, the United States elected a new president: Donald Trump. To many Americans, this was a very shocking election but to other Americans, it was the best. One thing that many Americans didn’t like was Donald Trump’s racial slurs. Many things he has said were about Mexicans, Muslims, African Americans/Blacks, disabled people, women and the LGBT community. Donald Trump’s slogan is ‘Make America Great Again’ which is supposedly what he is going to do, but is there a place for everyone in Trump’s America?

For me as a Latina in America, Donald Trump being elected as president is very hard to accept. Many things were said about Mexicans such as “When mexico sends its people they’re not sending their best. They’re sending people that have lots of problems and they’re bringing those problems with them. They’re bringing drugs, they’re bringing crime, they’re rapists…and some, I assume are good people”. For me being a girl in high school I am offended in so many ways. I may not be from Mexico but he’s basically talking about all Latinos. Here in Patterson High School we have a very diverse group of students, including Latinos, Asians, African American, Africans, Indians, and Muslims. In our Latino culture we are usually united together so we all take this as an offensive matter.

To the LGBT (Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender) community he disrespected their identity of who they are and who they’re interested in. Donald Trump said, “I have so many fabulous friends who happen to be gay, but I am traditional”, which means he doesn’t approve of it. This means he didn’t gain the vote of their community because the President Obama had approved of gay marriage.

Donald Trump always talks about women and how they are useless and nothing to him. In many feminists’ opinion, he was not a president women wanted, unless you were a stupid women. He would say how he could do anything to a women if he wanted to.

Donald Trump wants to “make America great again” but he does not respect the majority of the American people. We will need to unite together to survive the next four years.

An anti-Trump poster made by student Angela Rivas-Benitez Photo: Patterson Press)

An anti-Trump poster made by student Angela Rivas-Benitez (Photo: Patterson Press)

 

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