The Patterson Press

OPINION: College education should be free.

DBell — Sun, 19 Feb 2012 21:04:41 +0000

The dream of a college education seems out of reach to many Americans. But what if college was free? (Photo: nyc.gov)

By Deanna Bell, Patterson Press staff writer

Do you know anyone who never had the opportunity to go to college because it was too expensive? Unfortunately, this is the reality for millions of Americans for whom the dream of a college degree seems hopelessly out of reach. But what if college was free? I personally think that college education should be subsidized in the United States.

I believe that people who want to further their education should be able to, even if they are from middle or lower class backgrounds and cannot afford the expenses. There are many countries that provide free education at the university level. In these countries, the cost of college education is paid for by taxes or charitable organizations. There are hundreds of free colleges and universities around the world. Many of these colleges even offer online degrees.

If the United States chose to subsidize college education, the American people would benefit from having a better educated population. More people would have access to higher paying jobs and better insurance. Unemployment would go down, saving the government money on unemployment benefits and other expenses. Some statistics show that people with college degrees tend to smoke less and live healthier lifestyles. These are just a few reasons why the U.S. government should make higher education free.

Artist teaches Patterson students to make “living sculptures”

MChen — Sun, 19 Feb 2012 20:44:36 +0000

Artist Doug helps Patterson student Mark Wilson create a sculpture of a hand. (Photo: Mengfei Chen, Patterson Press)

By Mengfei Chen, Patterson Press staff writer

Ms. Broere’s art class welcomed a guest artist into their classroom on February, 03, 2012. Doug Retzler, a local artist who is creating a living sculpture installation for the Greater Children and Nature Conference at Cylburn Park, was invited to Patterson to teach students how to make a grass sculpture.

At the beginning of this project, students were taught to mold clay into the shape of a hand, using their own hands as templates. Next, Retzler and Ms.Broere took the clay hands and put them in a kiln (an oven used for making ceramics). Then, they returned the hardened clay hands to the students who made them.

Once the students received their “hands”, they used more clay to cover the surface and make it three dimensional. At first, most students don’t know how to make the hands correctly until Retzler personally guided them one by one. This gracious man bent down to the same height as the seated students, took little pieces of clay and mended every parts of the “hands”. At once, students learn the way Retzler does it, and they follow his example.

While the students continue to make more hand sculptures, Ms.Broere showed them a machine used for drying ceramic. Its unique appearance and powerful functions impress the class.

Retzler plans to use plant seeds in the clay hands and grow a variety of different plantings, which will become part of his art exhibit at Cylburn Park called “Greening Hands”. The same will also be featured in a “Nature Art in the Park” exhibition in Leakin Park later this spring. In 2008, a Patterson High School art class helped create a similar Green Footprint display for the Baltimore Eco Festival. More information about his projects can be seen at: www.artandeffects.com

Hand sculptures made by Ms. Broere's art students with the help of artist Doug (Photo: Mengfei Chen, Patterson Press)

Artist Doug shows students how to make hand-shaped sculptures (Photo: Mengfei Chen, Patterson Press)

Standing up to crimes against international students

MChen — Sun, 08 Jan 2012 20:37:40 +0000

By Mengfei Chen, Patterson Press staff writer

School is a place for students to seek knowledge and growth. It plays an important role in spreading civilization and culture. For a school to perform its role, it must be structured and orderly. Students need to feel safe and protected in school so they can concentrate on learning. Yet many high school students all over the nation do not feel safe at all. Every year, crime rates among teenagers continue to grow. International students, who are still adjusting to a new language and culture, are especially vulnerable to crimes like theft and assault, as well as threats and bullying in general.

Nowhere is this more true than here at Patterson High School, one of the most diverse schools in Maryland and home to students from over 40 different countries. It has come to this reporter’s attention that student-on-student crimes and harassment against international students at Patterson have been occurring at an alarming rate. Many students and even some teachers and staff members are afraid to talk about it, but serious incidents are occuring on a regular basis. In a recent survey, a shocking 57% of Patterson students said that bullying is a problem at the school. Now is the time to take a stand to improve our school’s safety and protect all of our students from harm.

These are two true stories from international students in our school. Their names are being withheld to protect their privacy:

(Original artwork by Mengfei Chen, Patterson Press)

“My phone was stolen!” a girl cried. All the girls that were in the bathroom came to her and inquired about what happened. She could not stop crying and even did not know what was the person who stole her phone looked like. She came to her teacher immediately and told the teacher all the details. Unfortunately, since the thief was gone and she did not know what they looked like, the teacher could not do anything but comfort her.

” Those girls they wanna beat us!!”, another girl exclaimed. She could not go to cafeteria because she was afraid those girls were waiting for her. Instead of keeping quiet, she decided to tell her teacher immediately. The teacher reported it to the assistant principal in charge of the monitoring the cafeteria.

Unfortunately, incidents like these happen far too frequently and are not always resolved. To address this problem, the Patterson Press sat down with Mr. Benton, Patterson’s Principal, to discuss solutions. Mr. Benton cited measures that had already been put in place to provide support for international students, recalling a special assembly of English for all Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) students held earlier this school year. While the problems facing international students certainly started long before Mr. Benton became the school’s principal, Mr. Benton assured the Patterson Press that he was commited to tackling the issue and making sure all students are safe and respected. “Teachers should be reporting these things directly to their principal and the Dean of Students, or at the very least, to hall monitors,” Mr. Benton stated. “Those individuals will follow up with school police.”

At the same time, Mr. Benton insists that these problems can only be solved if students stand up for themselves and their fellow students and report crimes and incidents in a timely manner. To assist students with this challenge, Mr. Benton told us several useful tips that may be useful for all Patterson students. Some of these points are summarized below:

<1>Don’t be an onlooker

“If you don’t stand for something, you’ll fall for anything”, Mr. Benton told us, quoting Malcolm X. When you see something happen, don’t be an onlooker just because of fear. The only result of this action is to ensure that the perpetrator continues their actions; the next victim may be you. If you were in trouble, you would want other people to help you. So no matter who is being victimized, lend a helping hand and support your fellow students.

<2> Learn how to describe a person

This is a very important lesson. Learn how to describe person’s notable characteristics and looks. For example, instead of just saying a person is African-American, you can say he or she has light, medium or very dark skin. Also if you see a person has a unusual feature (such as bright red hair), you can emphasize that. It will make it easier for the administration or school police to find the person. In short, if you are the victim of witness to a crime, pay attention and observe the perpetrator closely, and use correct and detailed words to describe him or her.

<3>Report thefts, attacks and threats to teachers/police/principals immediately.

Without delay, report the crime to people who can help you, such as teachers, school police and our principals. For international students this may be hard because of language barriers. So we advise those students to first ask other students who speak the same language. Also, international students can tell their ESOL teachers and report to the school police with the teachers. (When asked for comment, the school police said that they treat international students the same as anyone else who came to them to report a crime.) Another option is to go to the ESOL office, which has translators for many different languages.

Teachers can also make a difference by actively supporting international students when they have a problem. “When told an international student has been harmed in some way, I speak to the student to find out exactly what happened…”, Mr. Smith, an ESOL teacher at Patterson told the Patterson Press. “Depending on the severity of the issue…minor harassment or robbery, I’ll recommend a number of courses of action. From, ‘If it happens again, we’ll report it to an AP…,’ to ‘How do you feel about talking to the police? If you let this go, the person will find another victim and rob again.’” Mr. Smith has even escorted students to the school police to help them make a report. He has also made recommendations to the school administration and the ESOL Department on how to help prevent crimes and harassment from taking place. In addition to better tracking of incidents, “the best thing is ‘clear halls’ and second-best would be omnipresent hall monitors”, Smith asserts.

Mr. Tola, another ESOL teacher, believes that there also needs to be more “cultural dialogue to improve understanding and break down barriers.” He supports the idea of a cross-cultural “buddy” program that would pair international students with American-born students in a mutual exchange of culture and understanding.

Patterson High School is a community made up of both American-born and international students. We are studying together and sharing our cultures, which presents a wonderful environment for learning. If students, teachers, staff and administration can unite as one and take a stand against theft, violence and bullying, together we can build a happier Patterson family.

Patterson Launches Recycling Program

pattersonpress — Mon, 19 Dec 2011 17:30:08 +0000

Students pick up paper bags to begin their weekly recycling collection (Photo: Whitney Jones, Patterson Press)

By Ms. Loring

Paper recycling at Patterson is going strong! Each Thursday, after school, students gather in various rooms in the building to get their marching orders. They scour the school for full paper recycling bags, drag them down to the loading dock, and get service learning hours in the process. PHS recently entered a City competition and, though we didn’t fare well, we should take comfort in the enthusiasm and participation from students and staff. Next time we will do better! If you would like to participate – please see the following teachers in these academies: Ms. Sohn – Business, Ms. Franklin – Arts, Ms. John – Transportation, Mr. Buckless – Health and Ms. Loring – Success. Be a part of greening Patterson!

(Photo: Whitney Jones, Patterson Press)

Students visit European Union delegation and Smithsonian Museum

pattersonpress — Sun, 18 Dec 2011 20:13:26 +0000

Students listen to a presentation about the European Union (Photo: Patterson Press)

By Lisbeth Infante

On the 8th of December, World History students and other students from Patterson went on a field trip to Washington D.C.

First, we visited the U.S. Delegation of the European Union. We sat down in a room where a very nice lady gave a presentation about the history of the European Union, its member nations and how the organization works. We were each given a folder full of information about what she was talking about. The folder included a big map of all the places in Europe, pictures of the different flags of European nations and a brochure with all the statistics on immigrants and other people in Europe. The presentation taught me a lot because I had never learned so much about present-day Europe before. Europe must be a beautiful place to travel to.

After leaving the European Union building and eating lunch on the bus, we went to the Smithsonian Museum of the American Indian and learned a lot from it. We experienced the traditional culture of American Indians and saw different artifacts, including weapons, clothes and different kinds of food that American Indians used to eat. Another thing that we found very interesting is the music, which was performed live by a traditional American Indian singer. American Indians made their own musical instruments and their own weapons.

We had a lot of fun during this field trip.

Students arriving at the European Union building (Photo: Patterson Press)

A representative from the European Union U.S. delegation speaks to students (Photo: Patterson Press)

Ms. Olson, SGA President Muluberhan Bahre and a representative from the European Union (Photo: Patterson Press)

Arriving at the American Indian Museum (Photo: Patterson Press)

Outside the American Indian Museum - U.S. Capitol Building in background (Photo: Patterson Press)

Live performance of traditional American Indian music at the museum (Photo: Patterson Press)

Patterson varsity basketball team defeats Mervo, 66-27

pattersonpress — Wed, 14 Dec 2011 23:53:58 +0000

(Reprinted with permission from http://pattersonbasketball.com/ )

Playing its first true road game of the season, Patterson made quick work of Mervo, forcing a running clock in the third quarter and cruising to a 66-27 victory.

The Clippers (3-0) led 24-9 after the first quarter and 43-16 at halftime. Where Patterson showed its offensive prowess in the first two games–scoring 100 and 91 points–it used a stingy defensive effort on Tuesday night for the comfortable win. It held Mervo to 25 percent shooting and forced 19 turnovers.

Aquille Carr and Devin Hebron had 15 points each. Carr added five assists while Hebron made all three of his 3-point attempts. Leonard Livingston had 11 points, six rebounds and four blocks, and through three games the 6-foot-10 center is averaging 3.7 blocks.

Shakir Brown, Kwynten Brooks and Anthony Lee chipped in six points a piece, while Nyme Manns added six rebounds. Lee has made all six shots he has attempted this season and both free throws. Brown, who also grabbed five rebounds, is averaging a double-double for the season–13 points and 10.7 rebounds.

Patterson opens up its new gym on Friday night against WEB DuBois. All fans are encouraged to bring canned goods and/or nonperishable items that the team will donate to a local shelter before the upcoming holidays.

Holiday Greetings!

pattersonpress — Wed, 14 Dec 2011 19:22:47 +0000

The Patterson Press invited students and staff members to share their greetings for the winter holiday season. This is what everyone had to say:

Best of holiday wishes to my colleague Ms. Foster, with whom I share lights, and has been so patient about it.

– Ms. Varela

Kudos to Ms. Scott and Ms. Reid for being such excellent mentors this semester!

– Ms. Varela

Feliz Navidad les deseo a mis compañeras del departamento de español: Sra. Flores, Srita. De Rosa y Srita. Waymire.

– Ms. Varela

Happy holidays to the AOE teachers! A special thank you to Ms. Ball, Mr. Yates, Sgt. Smith, Mr. Wagoner, and Ms. Nichols for being so welcoming.

– Ms. Varela

Happy Holidays to the Girls’ Junior Varsity and Varsity Basketball teams.

-Coach Butler, Coach Hope and Coach Kelley

Have a happy and safe holiday to the Patterson family! Have a happy and safe holiday to all my nail tech students! Have a happy and safe holiday to Skills USA members!

-Ms. Bridgeforth

Shout out to my best friend, Steve. Merry X-Mas and Happy Holidays! I hope you get what you want for Christmas.

Happy Holidays, Patterson!

-Anthony Green

Greetings to Mr. Alukwu. Happy Holidays!

-Basil Shofani (Success Academy)

To all the Chinese people: Happy Holidays!

-Jin Gui Liu (Business and Finance Academy)

To all my family: Happy holidays! Happy holidays to my friend, Dina. Have a great holiday season.

-Zawadi Alenga (Arts and Humanities Academy)

What’s up, Ms. Nash, Elizabeth and Keyisha? Happy Holidays from Qu’Chae =)

-Qu’Chae Madison (Arts and Humanities Academy)

Happy Holidays. Hope my grade will go up.

-Jin Gui Liu (Business and Finance Academy)

Shout out to my friend Lourdes Huerta. Happy Holidays!

-Marisol (Arts and Humanities Academy)

To all Patterson High staff: God bless. Happy holidays to you and your family.

-M.K. Spriggs (SRO)

To all Patterson High students: Happy holidays to you and your family.

-M.K. Spriggs (SRO)

To Daniele: Happy holidays!

-Fawaz Abuhamad

To Ms. Austin: Happy Holidays. Thanks for all you do for me.

-Mr. Alukwu (Transportation Academy)

To the student reporters and faculty advisors of the Patterson Press: Have a wonderful holiday season and keep up the great work! You rock!

-Mr. Pesa (Arts and Humanities Academy)

I wish happy holidays to all people of the world, especially my friend I left in Nepal. I hope this holiday brings love, cooperation and peace in the world.

-Parshu Nepal (Business and Finance Academy)

Happy holidays, Patterson family. I wish everyone will have a peaceful and productive New Year. And Congrats to the class of 2012!

-Muluberhan Bahre (Arts and Humanities Academy)

Happy Holidays, Lizabeth. I love you. Te amo mucho.

-Karar Hashim (Arts and Humanities Academy)

Greetings to Mahmoud Sara. Happy Holidays!

-Edward

I want to wish all the high school students a happy holiday. Have fun, be safe and show Patterson Pride wherever you are.

-Xavia King (Transportation)

I want to make a shout out to my sister, Shenaya Jefferson, and express my holiday spirit to everyone’s family here at Patterson.

-Jamari Heim (Professional Health Academy)

I wanna shout out to my sister, Roshell, and my brother, Jamari and all the professional health fam. Happy holidays!

-Shanaya (Professional Health Academy)

Happy Holidays to all of my friends and the staff of Patterson High School, especially my BF (Khem Adhikari).

-Arpaua Palwl (Business and Finance Academy)

I wish a happy holiday to all my friends and all people around the world. My message to all my friends is, I really miss you a lot. Merry Christmas!

-Dhan Khatiwada (Professional Health Academy)

I wish a happy holiday to all people and my friends. My message to all my friends is, I have great memories of you and also miss you all. Merry Christmas

-Dik Rai (Professional Health Academy)

I wish Happy Holidays to all people and my friends around the world. And also a message to all my friends that I have great memories of you and I am missing you all.

-Mano Neupane (Professional Health Academy)

I wish happy holidays to all people and my friends. My message to all my friends is that I have great memories and also miss you all. Merry Christmas.

-Arjun Ghaley (Professional Health Academy)

Happy Holidays! Christmas Mano!!

-Gauga Bajgai (Professional Health Academy)

Shout out to Mr. Pesa. Happy Holidays! I just want to thank you for the trip to Washington to see things about World History.

-Brennan Meeks (Arts and Humanities Academy)

STEM Competition showcases student talent in engineering

pattersonpress — Fri, 25 Nov 2011 18:56:22 +0000

By Tyler Lillard

Patterson High School held its 4^th annual Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) competition on November 17th, pitting teams of students against each other in a variety of challenges. There were approximately thirty teams of four students each, including one middle school team and two visiting high school teams. First, the students met in the auditorium with their teams for the orientation. Then the competition began in the breezeway and near the auditorium. The competition was fierce, and the students had a lot of fun competing. The judges had fun also.

During the competition, each of the six stations was an activity related to one of the four STEM areas (science, technology engineering and mathematics). While some activities were easy, others were very challenging. Stations included a zip line challenge, a double egg drop, a math page, a paper rocket, an aluminum foil boat to hold marbles, and a tower that is supposed to hold a tennis ball on top of it to withstand an earthquake.

Industry partners served as judges, including representatives from AT&T, the Baltimore City Fire Department, the National Foundation for Teaching Entrepreneurship, Whitman, Requardt, & Associates, the U.S. Department of Transportation, Morgan State University, and Booz Allen Hamilton. Many Patterson teachers and staff members also served as judges. Another industry partner, Northrop Grumman, sent their video crew and recorded our whole competition including the awards ceremony.

After the students went through the six different stations, they went to the media center for lunch while the judges tallied up all the teams’ scores. After lunch the winners were awarded trophies, and everyone received a certificate of participation. The winners are as follows:

1^st Place: Sarah McLaughlin, Sonia Mbock , Stephanie Megginson

2^nd Place: Indigo Newsome, Tori Jones, Parshu Nepal

3^rd Place: Salah al deen Al-Batayneh , Baha al deen Al-Batayneh ,and Hassan Al Defaaei

This year’s STEM competition brought attention to some of the incredible talents that Patterson’s students have to offer, while also allowing participants to have some fun. Many students are already looking forward to next year’s competition in the hopes that it will be even bigger and better.

Performers bring Chinese culture to Patterson

MChen — Mon, 21 Nov 2011 04:19:40 +0000

(Photo: Deyanna Bell, Patterson Press)

By Mengfei Chen, Patterson Press staff writer

A group of professional dancers and musicians from China celebrated China’s cultural and ethnic diversity with a dazzling performance entitled “Colorful China” at Patterson’s auditorium on November 15. The performance featured dozens of performers in richly decorated costumes representing China’s fifty-six ethnic groups. Historical and geographic themes like “the Fantastic Prairie” and “the Ancient Times” brought China’s diversity to the stage.

“We choose to have this show at Patterson High School is because we were told that this school has students from over 40 different countries” explained Mr. Wu, the Chinese government official in charge of the performance. “China is a diverse country [so this school is a good match for the theme of our performance]” Mr Wu added.

Before the performance, the Chinese performers worked with a number of Patterson students from a wide range of ethnic backgrounds and national origins so that they could be a part of the performance. During “Colorful China”, these students dressed in Chinese clothes, held Chinese traditional instruments and participated in the show.

As students poured into the auditorium, a slide show of photos flashed across a screen above the stage, showing views of China both traditional and modern. ” Colorful China” presented a gift for Patterson High School and after Mr Benton welcomed the crew, the perform began.

The first scene was based on a Chinese festival. It showed how various Chinese ethnic groups celebrate their new year. The Miao people, one of the many ethnic groups in China, celebrate their New Year in November. Performers used dance to show the how jubilant the celebration is. The dancers cheered and greeted the coming new year.

The second scene was a wedding ceremony. The enthusiastic groom danced and sang to express how happy he was. The bride danced with him and responded to his love. This strange wedding really let the audience experience Chinese culture and made them feel as though they had been transported to China. At the same time, dancers invited students to join them, giving students a chance to interact with them and gain a more personal connection to the dance.

The third scene was a performance of traditional Chinese musical instruments. Four musicians played four different instruments: the gu zheng, the pipa, the Chinese flute and the urheen. They played one at a time first and then together. Those instruments reappeared in a later scene about the history of classical music traditions in China.

The final scene was also the most intense and involved all of the dancers and musicians who had performed earlier. Patterson students wearing traditional Chinese costumes walked across the stage, as the Chinese performers joined them in one last dance. The man who played the groom in the wedding ceremony twirled with impressive speed, revealing a special cape that opened up into a huge spinning top. As the show came to an end, all the performers stood together on the stage and took a bow as the audience showered them a thunderous applause.

“Colorful China” built a bridge across international borders by allowing Patterson students to experience another country’s culture. Many students hope to see more performances of this kind from other countries in the future in order to build positive relationships with people from around the world.

(Photo: Deyanna Bell, Patterson Press)

(Photo: Patterson High School Yearbook staff)

Students create gifts for the Chinese performers (Photo: Patterson High School Yearbook staff)

Steel drum ensemble performs at Patterson

pattersonpress — Mon, 14 Nov 2011 17:46:57 +0000

Steel drum musician Kevin Martin brought his Rock Creek Steel Drum ensemble to Patterson on November 2 to perform for students and staff. The performance was the start of a six week artist residency with Mr. Martin, who will teach students how to play steel drums, helping us to start our own Patterson Steel Drum Ensemble. Students who are interested in participating should sign up with Ms. Warzer in Room 251B. Practice will be after school on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and/or Thursdays (depending on the week) in Room 14 in the basement, next to Ms. Holter’s room. Listen to the end of day announcements for reminders.

: Steel drum player performing for Patterson students and staff (photo: Deyanna Bell, Patterson Press)

: (photo: Deyanna Bell, Patterson PresS)