Interview with Jacquelyn Kowalczyk, Class of 1961

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Jacquelyn Kowalczyk (then Jacquelyn Prucha) as a senior (Photo: 1961 Clipper Yearbook)

Interview by Anthony Ward:

As Patterson makes plans for a new building in the near future, the Patterson Press looks back at a time when our current building was brand new. For us as students at Patterson it may seem as if four years in this place is forever, but what if you were in Patterson when it first relocated to this spot we are at now? Even more, what if you were coming from the original Patterson building before the current one you’re in today? Patterson alumnus Jacquelyn Kowalczyk was a student during last few years of the original Patterson and the first year of the Patterson of today. In this interview we discuss what it was like to be one of the first students to graduate from the new building in 1961. We’ll also get a glimpse of how her life has flourished since being a student at Patterson.

Patterson Press: What was it like being one of the first students to graduate from the new building?

JK:  Moving in the new building that last year was very exciting. We were all very proud to graduate from Patterson.

Patterson Press: Why did Patterson move to a new building?

JK:  I think one of the reasons may be the growing high school age population. The new school provides more space as well as newer facilities for science labs etc. We had no computers back then. Typewriters were the thing in those days.

Patterson Press: What was the difference between the two buildings?

JK:  The new building had a swimming pool but our class never got to use it since there was a structural problem, I believe a crack, and it took the whole year to get it fixed. The new building also had better science class facilities. The new school had fewer floors where the old school had about 5 or six floors.

Patterson Press: What traditions did Patterson have when you were there?

JK: One tradition each year was picking out 5 senor girls and one would be picked as Patterson’s Sweetheart by a committee of teachers.

Patterson Press: Was Patterson known for anything back then?

JK: It was a very popular school back then and had some very good sports teams.

Patterson Press: How were sports back then?

JK:  The sports back then seem just like today, football, baseball, basketball, lacrosse, track, wrestling, softball, badminton, bowling, tennis etc… One senior from my class did play for the Green Bay Packers for a while.

Patterson Press: How were the teachers?

JK:  The teachers were great and always ready to help you succeed. I was in the academic courses for college bound students and enjoyed all my classes.

Patterson Press: What were your goals when you were at Patterson?

JK:  My goals were to study hard and try to figure out what I wanted to do in life. Another goal was to enjoy my time in high school because it is one of the best times in your life. Patterson introduced me to many tastes of the world to help guide me to what I might want to per sue as an occupation.

Patterson Press: How was the school environment?

JK:  Our school environment was teamwork, friendships and cheering for our school.

Patterson Press: What clubs were popular at Patterson when you were there?

JK:  Yes, there were many. I was in the future nurses club, year book co-editor, chemistry club and national honor society.  There is a time capsule in your building where the students of the first Patterson put in mementos from the old building near Patterson Park. I was in the Latin club at the time and we wrote up a small scroll and signed it and it was placed in the time capsule. I wonder if it will be opened when your new building gets constructed.

Patterson Press: Were you involved in any after-school activities?

JK:  I was on the bowling team and we would go to a local bowling alley for our competitions.

Patterson Press: Was high school fun?

JK:  It was one of the best times in my life. We had science fairs, proms, sport events and lots of friends

Patterson Press: What was your high school graduation like?

JK:  Graduation was wonderful. I remember how we practiced singing our farewell song and how emotional it all was when the time came. My mother had made me a beautiful white dress which I wore the entire day. We had a large June graduating class, 200 I believe.

Patterson Press: Back then what did you think you’d be?

JK:  At first I thought I would be a nurse. Then it was a Chemist but that was not it. Math turned out to be my best course. My first job was with a local insurance company who sent me to IBM to get computer programming courses. So I have been working with computers even since.

Patterson Press: What college did you go to?

JK: College of Notre Dame of Maryland

Patterson Press: Would you say you’ve achieved happiness since high school?

JK:  Yes, I married the love of my life and have 2 wonderful girls plus 4 beautiful grand kids.  Also I have been working as a computer hospital application engineer for over 30 years and enjoy my occupation.  I have been blessed.

Patterson Press: Do you still talk to any high school classmates?

JK: I do have a couple of friends that I still get to talk to periodically.

Patterson Press: What do you think of Patterson now?

JK:  I am hoping that the students of Patterson today have the same pride in the school as we did in 1961.  School pride should always be a priority. It will be a great part of memories in your life.

Patterson Press: Do you have any advice for today’s Patterson students?

JK:  When I was young no one listened to old people but the advice they give is sometimes worth hearing. Now I am old so here is my advice. Study hard and find what you would like to do in your lives. There are many occupations out there to pick from so make sure you find what makes you happy. Always treat people as you want to be treated. Enjoy and cherish each moment that you can.

Patterson Press: Patterson has plans to move into a brand new building again within the next few years. What do you think about that?

JK:  I think it is wonderful except it really makes me feel old since my new building is now being replaced.

The Patterson Press would like to thank Ms. Kowalczyk for taking the time to answer our questions. We wish her the best of luck.

Students arrive at the new Patterson High School building for the first time (photo: 1961 Clipper Yearbook)

 

“Peace and Love” is theme of this year’s door decorating contest

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Ms. Bridgeforth’s door, 1st place winner (Photo: Shane Braden, Patterson Press)

By Tamika Addison,

The SGA hosted a Door Decorating Contest in February with the theme of Peace and Love because it was Valentine’s Day.  Ms. Bridgeforth’s class (Rm#212) won first place.  Her door decoration was pretty, with hearts and stones. The 2nd place prize went  to Ms. Holter’s class (Rm # 210). Her door was nice with pictures of two people and hearts with glitter.

Ms. DeRosa (Rm #217) and Ms.Frank (Rm#158) tied for 3rd place. Ms. DeRosa’s door looked very nice with pictures of students proposing with candy rings. And Ms.Frank’s door looked great with hearts with students’ names on them and a ship. All the students who participated in the Door Decorating Contest enjoyed showing off their talent and creativity.

 

(Photos by Shane Braden, Patterson Press)

The “300”: Small track team leaves opponents in the dust

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(Photo: Ty’Shawn Key, Patterson Press)

By Ty’Shawn Key,

Our Patterson boys track team of only ten Patterson Clippers recently went up against some of the biggest track and field teams in the city: Digital Harbor High School, Forest Park, and Dunbar. All of these schools hold records for some of the best times placed in relays, and have teams almost twice the size of ours or larger. However, even though we were amongst the smallest in size, we were amongst the biggest in heart! Our team of only ten people came in fourth against nine teams with a total of at least sixty people! We faced some of these “big dogs” head on and came out on top!

In addition to doing well overall, we Clippers also did well individually. Jacob Forest-Jones came in 1st in the Long Jump, 1st in the Triple Jump, and 2nd in Discus. Jonah Edwards came in 2nd in the 400 meters with a personal best of 55.44 seconds. Abhishek Younghang-Subba and I both placed in the top 5 places in the 3200 meter run. Darwin Lopez ran a personal best of 5:51 in the mile run. Our small team of only ten people took top spots over teams of almost twenty. We let them know that we are Patterson!
Since the meet, we have now titled ourselves the “300”. Just as when King Leonidas led his small group of 300 brave Spartan soldiers into war with armies many times their size, Coach Smith lead us into battle against schools more than twice our size. Just like the Spartans, we came out on top. Every time we train, we train like Spartans. Every time we run, we run like Spartans. Every time we win, we win like Spartans!
Our story is important is because I know that we are not the only Spartans in Patterson. In fact, I believe that most of our teams here in Patterson are forced to be Spartans. Being deemed the underdogs because of our size seems to be the story of most of our teams. Yet we know that you all have it in you to be better than those other schools in whatever sport you play. Be it golf, lacrosse, wrestling, track, volleyball, or whatever, we know that you can be the best. So as a challenge, we–the 300–challenge you to find your Spartan spirit. Then, once you do, we challenge you to instill your Spartan spirit in a teammate, classmate, teacher or community neighbor. We have to show the world that WE ARE PATTERSON!

Freshmen share their personal stories at emotional intervention

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(Photo: psychotherapist.org)

By Makenzie Reyes-Schettini,

The ninth grade girls spent a day in the gymnasium in February, where we participated in an emotional intervention called Point Break. (Ninth grade boys participated in the same program on a different day.) Almost all of us were in tears by the end of the day.

When we came in there were chairs that formed a circle. We each took a seat. As we munched on donuts and sipped our water, the facilitators began to introduce themselves. This session was to be an opportunity for us to get things off our chests that we had been holding inside for too long. In the beginning, there was an awkward tension in the air, but it was soon replaced with a more calm and friendly feeling. We played games and listened to stories that were beneficial to both our lives and the lives of the people who told them.

As we got deeper into the day, we also got deeper into our emotions.We opened up to tell our personal stories that we hadn’t told anyone in years.We really conected to the people around us: those who we have known our whole life and those who we had just met. Point Break was not just an excuse to get out of class all day. Rather, it was an opportunity for us to express what we were really feeling inside.

Student mentors help freshmen avoid making the same mistakes

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Illustration by Shane Braden, Patterson Press

By Ty’Shawn Key,

Individual Advancement Mentoring (I.AM) is a peer mentoring program started last year by my brother Alonzo Key. I.AM was created because too many students throw away their freshmen year. Whether it is due to chasing popularity, getting involved with the wrong crowd, focusing on other things, having too much fun, or just pure goofing off, every year a large percentage of students squander their Freshmen year. I.AM was designed so we can get that year back. Our goal is to reach the minds of our incoming freshmen classes, and influence them to get on the path of having a more proactive high school career through the acts of peer mentoring. Our mentoring uses the simple tools of motivation and enlightenment through student voices. Older students are acting as the big brother or sister figures that some of our younger peers may lack. These mentors are a select few members of this year’s senior and junior classes.

The program is supervised by Mrs. McIntosh, myself and several other upperclassmen, including Kwynten Brooks, a star player on the Patterson Clippers Boys Basketball team, Johnny Alvarez, an amateur skater and photographer sponsored by Fly Geenius, Jamahl Loney, a DECA Regional competition placer, and several other decorated individuals. Together we are actively trying to change the lives of our Patterson 500 Family’s young men and women, the future faces of our school. Our mentors sacrifice every other Tuesday and Thursday Futures period to shed some light on these young individuals, so that they can have the advice and help that we all wish we had as freshmen.

Olagoke Sanusi, one of junior leaders, described working with the freshmen as an experience that he would never forget. “Never would I imagine that me and my few life experiences could ever really help someone else with their life and situations just by talking to them about it”, he said. “It put me in a position where I was that external factor for someone else. I was the one who decided to either give them the assist, or let them get fouled…”

This has been one of the best years of my entire high school career, and it’s not because I’ve been accepted into the school of my dreams or because I have achieved some of my personal goals. It has been one of my best years because I can now leave my school saying I helped change someone’s life. As the saying goes, “a diamond in the rough shines its brightest only after someone picks it up to polish it.”

If you know of any intelligent, caring, respectable, productive and well-spoken individuals who will be juniors or seniors in the fall, please direct them to Mrs. McIntosh’s office for mentor enrollment for next school year.

 

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Rosa Parks: A Woman of Courage

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Rosa Parks was arrested for refusing to give up her seat to a white man. (Photo: Wikipedia)

By Hannah Cangco

Rosa Parks was born on February 4th, 1913 in Tuskegee, Alabama. She was a civil rights activist. She died on October 24th, 2005, in Detroit, Michigan.

I believe Rosa Parks is an important role model for women, even today. She was a courageous woman who stood up for herself and for other African Americans. For example, on December 1st, 1955, she was brave enough to say “no” to the white man that asked her to give up her seat in the white people’s section of the bus. Many people consider that single act of defiance to be the beginning of the civil rights movement. This happened during the time of segregation, when whites and blacks were separated from one another throughout the southern United States. Rosa Parks was one of the first African American women to stand up for herself, knowing the consequences that would and could happen. To be specific, she got arrested while spurring the Montgomery bus boycott and other efforts to end segregation. Rosa Parks became known as “the mother of the civil rights movement”. In my opinion she is one of the most important women that have ever lived. She is an example for other women–not just for African Americans but for all women–to stand up for themselves and for what they believe in, no matter what others say or do.

Rosa Parks once said, “All the time I was arrested, I had no idea it would turn into this. It was just a day like any other day. The only thing that made it significant was that the masses of the people joined in”.  Heroic women like Rosa Parks can inspire the rest of us to take action. If women join together we can change the world.

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