Patterson High School hosted its second annual Culture Night on April 30th from 5:00-7:00 PM. The event was sponsored by the student organization, Catalyst for Change. People brought a variety of different foods from their cultures. There were several different types of presentations. There was music and dancing, and people wore traditional clothing styles from their cultures.
At the event there was a lot of food from around the world, including African food, Filipino food, Jamaican food, Arabic food, Mexican food, and American food. One of the musical pieces presented reminded a teacher about where she was.
One of the reasons for organizing Culture Night was “to bring everyone together,” according to Ms. Olunuga. Another reason was to represent “the culture of every nationality that is in Patterson High School,” said Ms. Godinez.
The event helped people start to understand and appreciate each other’s cultures more.
“I think everyone had the opportunity to connect more”, said a teacher whose name the Patterson Press did not catch. “It was a really rich experience.”
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.
Students let loose at the Homecoming dance (photo by Deontay Blackwell, Patterson Press)
Patterson High School held a Homecoming dance inside the school’s gymnasium, on Friday, October 20, 2023 from 7:00-11:00 PM. This year’s dance had a theme advertised on posters as a “sneaker ball” where people wear their best suits and dresses but with their best pairs of sneakers.
On the night of the dance, the girls wore long colorful dresses with some ignoring the theme and wearing nice heels to match, while the boys wore suits with ties and some wore polo shirts and jeans.
During the dance, the gym was kept dark with funky neon lights flashing all around. Music was blasted throughout the gym, featuring songs like Deli by Ice Spice and Back End by Finesse2tymes, with people forming dance circles and hyping themselves up. There was even a photo booth in the corner.
“It was good. We had tons of space to walk around and dance.”, said Henry Lewis, a student who participated in the dance.
Food was offered to the students with options like meatballs, pigs in a blanket, etc. They also served fruit and cookies as desserts with drink options like water and sodas. Most students did not express strong feelings one way or the other about the food, but some students complained about having to eat standing up.
“Where was the tables? Where was the chairs?” asked student Andre Green.
Despite this small complaint, it was clear that most students enjoyed themselves quite a bit. Overall, the 2023 Homecoming Dance was a big success. It was a Friday night that most attendees will never forget.
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