teen spotlight
photography by Shelby Shubird
stats
18, Senior at Saint James School
notable
National Honor Society
Latin Honor Society
National Technical Honor Society
Mu Alpha Theta
University of Alabama’s Foundation in Excellence Scholarship
qualifier
quotable
“A mind is like a parachute: It doesn’t work if it isn’t open”-
Frank Zappa
his story
Patrick shared that his favorite thing about attending Saint
James is being surrounded by friends and classmates who are
always willing to help. He is the team captain of the school
tennis team and a part of the Saint James Student Ambas-
sadors. He and his doubles partner won the Line 3 Doubles
State championship for 1A-3A, and Patrick was state runner
up for line 6 singles 1A-3A in Tennis. He shared, “One thing
most people don’t know about me is that I love to travel and
experience other cultures than just my own." He encourages
freshmen to “Take care of your grades right when you enter
into high school. It will help more than you know to build a
hard foundation for your GPA when you are in 9th grade.”
patrick whetstone
Saint James School
what’s next
After high school, Patrick wants to pursue a career in business
because of the degree’s diversity. He wants to be remembered
for being successful and hard working.
PG (parental guidance) rating
Patrick stated, “I’m proud of my family because of the things
they have created. My mom started a pet sitting business called
Happy at Home, and my dad started an automotive business
from scratch. My stepdad founded Hoops League, a youth bas-
ketball league.” His grandfather, Bob Moore has influenced him
most with being persistent and paying close attention to detail.
parents’ perspective
Katherine and Stephen acknowledged that “Patrick is a problem solv-
er. If something needs to be done, he takes the initiative and handles
it himself. He is confident, yet humble, intrinsically motivated, plans
ahead, perseveres through challenges, and has a positive attitude and
outlook on life. But what we admire most about Patrick is that people
are his priority.”
parent-to-parent
Katherine Barranco encourages parents to “Pay attention
to their children’s gifts and interests early on and help them
to discover and identify what they are. Parent with grace. They’re
going to make mistakes. Failure is part of life. Help them to learn
from it and try again.”
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L24
| Summer 2020
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