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Jonathan Ogden Club gives back

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By Brionica Jackson

Patterson High School’s Jonathan Ogden Club continues to give positively to the community by putting smiles on the faces of children, people in need and the elderly while also having fun.

On Dec. 18, 2018, the club went out and gave blankets to the homeless on that cold day. The students not only gave out one blanket to each person like they intended to, but actually gave out multiple blankets to those in need. They also gave out well-packed lunch bags.

“When we live in the ‘best country’, it is sad to see people without a home. It saddens me to see people suffer. “, said Luther Hahn, 2019 Valedictorian and co-President of the Johnathan Ogden Club. It is sad for anyone to see or experience but it warms the hearts of people receiving and giving back.

The Jonathan Ogden Club performs many different community services like bringing gifts to children. “Kids might not get Christmas gifts at home and the one we give them might mean a lot”, Hahn explained. Touching hearts of such little children could cause change in that child’s behavior or mindset and give them hope for the future.

“Thanks to Luther Hahn and his amazing SAT and Grade Point Average of 5.2, we are now taking a trip to our first Ivy League school!”, Coach Kelley exclaimed.

In April, the club will be able to take an out-of-state trip to Princeton University in New Jersey. Students will take a coach bus to the college and spend the day exploring the Number One college. This will be the first time in all 20 years of the Jonathan Ogden Club they will be taking a trip this big. Hard work pays off!

Retraction

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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.

Boys soccer team wraps up successful season

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Coach Callahan gives a pep talk to the varsity boys soccer team (Photo credit: Moses Jeuronlon)

Dasia Whitfield

The varsity boys soccer team at Patterson High School has completed another successful season. The team had a total of 8 wins, 3 losses and 2 ties throughout the season.

I know that coaching can be very challenging because it is not easy trying to get the players to actually stay focused and make sure that this is something that they are willing to commit to and make sure that they are willing to give their all throughout practice and the game. Yet a good coach knows that if being part of the team is something that the players really want, then they will show it and put forth their best effort.

Mr. Callahan, the varsity boys soccer coach at Patterson, says that “the toughest thing about being a coach is finding the players that are going to be committed to coming to practice every day”. This is the toughest part for him because if you don’t have committed players then you won’t really have a team.

One of the team’s biggest highlights this past season was that they made it to the regional finals. Some of the lowest points of the season were when they lost to City without scoring any points, and also when they lost the regional finals to Hereford by a score of 5-0.

When asked if he had any players on the team that were his favorites, Mr. Callahan responded, “My favorite players on the team are the people that come to practice everyday and are working harder to get better.”

Patterson teacher participates in suicide prevention walk

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By Dasia Whitfield

Every year in Baltimore people walk to spread awareness and raise money to prevent suicide. This year’s walk took place at the Inner Harbor.

The walk, called Out of the Darkness, focuses on every age group from teenagers to senior citizens. About 1000 people were at this year’s walk. The awareness walk helps people who have lost people because of suicide or who have struggled with depression and suicidal thoughts themselves. The walk helps people to feel comfortable talking to other people about what they are dealing with when they realize that they are not in it alone.

Ms. Marchewka, an art teacher at Patterson High School who participated in the walk, says that “the walk at the harbor brings awareness to people, it lets people come out and talk about their issues or experience and not be shameful”.

The website AFSP explains that suicide claims more lives than war, murder, and natural disasters combined. Yet suicide prevention doesn’t receive anywhere near the funding as other leading causes of death. It’s up to us to make a difference.

According to Ms. Marchewka, the experience is very uplifting. You should consider going next time if you believe in the cause. I would recommend the awareness walk to anybody, especially to the people that are actually going through the situation so they can be more comfortable talking about it. I would have them surrounded by people that could relate to them and have empathy.

Ms. Marchewka participates in the awareness walk every year because she has been around and witnessed situations that have occurred and she can relate because of the fact that she has lost many people in her family due to suicide. She also knows people that have dealt with anxiety and depression.

I think coming up with the awareness walk was a good idea because we never know what people go through and or how they feel, and this walk could really help a person and give them that positive idea and see things on the brighter side. This walk can open the eyes of a lot of people.

Gay-Straight Alliance helps students feel safe and comfortable

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By Essence Talley

At Patterson High School there is a program called the Gay-Straight Alliance (GSA). This program gives students somewhere to talk and to express themselves about being different. This program is held after school on Tuesdays. Mr. Jade Donigian is the adviser for the GSA at Patterson High.

Mr. Donigian says some of the students inspired him because of the amount of confidence each student has in themselves.The program started in late September. The GSA got started because some of the students came to Mr. Donigian about the idea and wanted to feel safe and feel comfortable. The purpose of the program is to provide a safe space to talk about the struggles they go through and make them feel like they are not alone. One of the plans the group is coming up with is having a LGBTA prom.

One of the members of the GSA is Brionca Jackson. The reason why Jackson joined the program was because she thought it was beautiful, she could relate, and they needed a support system. Jackson’s future goal is to organize LGBTA events and recruit more youths to join the program.

This program is a good program for students to feel special and not feel different than anybody else. GSA is helping to make the students feel safe and comfortable.

Homecoming game brings alumni to Patterson

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Patterson played well and came very close to winning the game. (Photo credit: John Dingzon)

By John Dingzon

Patterson High School’s homecoming football game occurred on Saturday, Oct. 13th. Patterson played against Edmondson Westside. There were Patterson alumni from previous years that came to watch the game and it was also the class reunion of other previous classes.

School Principal Mr. Benton and Assistant Principal Mr. Alukwu were also there and enjoyed the game.

“Today we have a good football game.” Mr. Alukwu said.

The game was well-attended with students, staff, teachers, former football players, school police officers, former faculty members and alumni all there to cheer on the Patterson Clippers. The game was enjoyable and although Patterson was defeated, it was still a good football game and the athletes put on a good show.

There were moments during the game that Patterson football team had some great plays and looked like they might win the game.

Many of the people came for the game, while others came for the class reunion.

The alumni and other previous students all agreed on one thing:

“Everyone is accepted and they are considered family, whether old or new student.”

Patterson Varsity Football Coach Larry Mitchell said, “The only thing that I was concerned about for the team was where their focus was at and their communications”.

Coach Mitchell had the football players prepare by practicing during the summertime.

“Usually for Homecoming day/senior day we try to start preparing for the game months ahead of the game.”

In the end, Patterson narrowly lost the game to Edmondson by a score of 14-12. If Patterson had managed to win the game, then they would have made it to the playoffs.

 

Students tour battleships on Fleet Week

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By John Dingzon

AFJROTC cadets and students from the homeland security pathway took a field trip for fleet week to the Inner Harbor on Monday, October 1,  where they learned more about fighter jets, other aircraft, ground vehicles and ships.

They also learned about military life as well as how to join the military and the application that they need to fill out if they are interested in joining the military later in their future career.

The military personnel talked about their experience in the military, including any battle experience and whether it was reserve or the front lines, as well as the eligibility to enter the military.

Ms. Brett and Ms. Knowles were the chaperones that led the field trip. The students and cadets had the opportunity to see not just American Navy ships but also international ships from other countries, including England, Australia, France and Germany.

The HMS Monmouth was present from England and as well the U.S.S. Milwaukee from the American Navy.

Most of the military personnel were on shore leave but others were in transition to different ships to report for duty and get ready to ship out.

Overall, students learned a lot on this field trip and enjoyed getting to see the ships.

Remembering robotics coach, Kevin Boone

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By John Dingzon

Mr. Kevin Boone, an engineering teacher and robotics coach from Digital Harbor High School, passed away in November 2018.

It was a very tragic of loss of one of the best engineering teachers in Maryland. Mr. Boone had been involved in the VEX robotics program since day one, when the program was first released here in Baltimore City.

Two of Mr. Boone’s former students for robotics at Digital Harbor High School, Peter and Isaiah, shared their feelings with the Patterson Press:  “We mourn for the loss of Mr. Boone, because he was like a father and a mentor to us and always looked after us. If he saw any errors, he would help and correct us.”

A lot of times Peter and Isaiah would stay after school or stay really late just to finish their robots and get ready for the Saturday competition and tournament.

Digital Harbor High School is currently postponing their participation in robotics competitions with other schools. It is unknown who is going to take Mr. Boone’s place as robotics coach.

Patterson engineering teacher Ms. Ball who was a close colleague and a friend of Mr. Boone. “I was devastated when I heard the news of his passing.”, Ms. Ball explained. “I had just seen him at the Digital Harbor High School VEX robotics competition on Saturday, and his passing was announced 4 days later on Wednesday. He was planning to visit Patterson to help my students with programming on the same day.”

Ms. Ball first met Mr. Boone in 2004 when our schools were competing in the first robotics competition.

The Baltimore City VEX Robotics Coordinator, Gino Tagaytay, held a special ceremony to honor the memory of Mr. Boone at the next VEX robotics competition at Patterson Park Public Charter School.

Personally, I first met Mr. Boone in 2015-2016. Ever since then, I have been working with him. Mr. Boone was an amazing engineering teacher. It is tragic losing someone like Mr. Boone who had been in the program since day one.

The only way we can honor Mr. Boone is to continue the competition all the way to the VEX Robotics tournament cup at Johns Hopkins University.

Mr. Boone helped Patterson teachers & students in all aspects of the VEX robotics program, from designing and building to programming and fundraising. He was always available to lend a helping hand.

We all started together back in 2004. He was one of the first teachers to engage in the VEX program and to offer workshops for new teachers interested in setting up a robotics program at their schools.

Prior to his retirement last year, he was teaching at Digital Harbor High School and served as the VEX Robotics Summer Training Instructor.

I’d like to think he and I were close professional colleagues. He was an incredible resource for Patterson High School. My students looked forward to working with him during the school year as well as the summer. He and I also hung out at “Beer & Bots” to learn about the latest “high-tech” gadgetry used for robotics. Talk about awesome–he even brought us donuts during the Saturday competitions.

Kevin Boone was an amazing person; kind; wonderful; generous (especially with his time). He was respected and admired by his peers, and quick to support his colleagues and his students. He will be greatly missed.

Amazon donates money to Patterson engineering department

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By Moses Jeuronlon

The Patterson High School engineering department received a sum of $15,000 in support from Amazon on Friday, Nov. 30, 2018.

The students of the engineering pathway, Amazon staff, and a representative from the mayor’s office all gathered in Ms. Ball’s classroom to meet each other.

A representative from Amazon give a brief presentation on some of the things they do each and every day. He also talked about some of the opportunities and benefits Amazon has given him as well as some of the fun times he had working for them.

According to John Digzon, a member of the robotics club who participated in the Amazon event, “I am really relieved because with Amazon support we can buy more resources we need for projects”.

After the presentation, the group left Ms. Ball’s room and went to the robotics room where students presented the robots they have been working on. They also demonstrated some of the things their robots can do at the Vex robotics competition practice stage.

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