After tedious school days, many teachers enjoy sitting down and relaxing in their homes. Grady math teacher Jason Patterson, however, does quite the opposite: he spends his spare time out on the court.
“I play recreational league [basketball] every Sunday,” Patterson said, “and over the summer I play semi-professional.”
Patterson has come down a much different path towards his career than the average teacher. He’s played basketball for a variety of organizations, and has traveled all over the world in doing so. After his contracts expired, Patterson settled back down in his hometown, but not to take a break. He is still shooting hoops, just doing a little algebra in between.
LIFE AS A BASKETBALL PLAYER
Patterson attended Lithonia High School in DeKalb County, where he played for its basketball team. Even from his early years, Patterson aspired to be an athlete.
“I played every sport at a young age, and I was pretty good at all of them,” Patterson said. “But my favorite was basketball.”
After attracting the attention of college scouts, Patterson packed his bags for Furman University with a basketball scholarship, and, after a year, transferred to Morehouse College with a scholarship as well. Following his duration as a basketball player in college, Patterson decided to put his desired career as a math teacher on hold.
“I expressed to my agent that I wanted to continue playing,” Patterson said. “So he took my videos and my stats and began searching for a team.”
It did not take long for the Rome Gladiators, a World Basketball Association (WBA) team, to see talent in Patterson. After college graduation, Patterson played for the Gladiators. His contract with the team only lasted for a year, but soon after, Patterson signed with a team very distant from the courts he had been playing on all his life. The Kirovograd basketball team, part of the Higher-League of Ukraine, was the next step in Patterson’s career. It was an experience he will never forget.
“I hated the food, so I only ate fruit,” Patterson said. “I never really trusted the translator, but the people over there love Americans- which I had thought would be the opposite- so it did not turn out too bad.”
Not long after his seven-month contract with Kirovograd expired, Patterson decided it was time to hang up the jersey- at least temporarily- and commence working in the classroom. He’d received teaching offers from various schools, and knew it was time to do what he had been planning on for a long time.
LIFE IN THE CLASSROOM
“Hey, are you interested in joining the military?” Patterson asked one of his advisory students.
“Shooting a gun and getting paid by the government does sound pretty good,” the student responded.
A grin spread across Patterson’s face. “I’m going to pretend I didn’t hear that,” Patterson said, “but go to the college and career center this period. Some military schools are having presentations there.”
“I don’t know, Mr. Patterson,” the student said. “Advisory is pretty chill.”
“Are you sure? There is free food,” Patterson said. The student hustled out of the room.
Teaching math is something Patterson has wanted to do all of his life because as a student Patterson had a true passion for the subject. Even while playing basketball, he had always dreamed of a larger goal of ending up in the classroom.
“You can’t play basketball for your entire life,” Patterson said. “So the longer you wait to start your career, the harder it’s going to be.”
Patterson’s love for the profession seems to radiate. Many students have built particularly close relationships with him.
“He’s a very quiet man, but we can always talk about sports, grades, or whatever we want to talk about,” senior Ryan Switzer said. “He kind of keeps to himself, but he has these little bursts of personality that I get to see being in his homeroom that really make me like him. My Wednesday with Mr. Patterson is one of the highlights of my week.”
Along with students, Patterson is very popular with his fellow staff members. After working at Grady for only a year, he has made friends with many of the teachers.
“I like Mr. Patterson’s confidence,” Grady math teacher Linda Brasher said. “I remember last year when Mr. Patterson came to Grady, he seemed very confident, which sometimes people could take as a little arrogant. You have to get to know him to realize that that’s not his intention. He’s just a confident guy, which is awesome. It’s a great trait. I think everybody likes him.”
On any given day of the week after school, Patterson is not hard to spot; he often spends time in the solitude of his room. He may seem quiet, but Patterson actually has an open sense of humor that’s hard to miss.
“Our homeroom had some bad experiences with teachers in our freshman and sophomore years,” senior Eliza Renner said. “[Junior year] our homeroom was prepared for another let-down, but Mr. Patterson was not only super cool but super interested in us and we were super interested in him. He’s funky. He’s not a boring guy. He’s got a good sense of humor.”
Patterson is a man of many interests. For the most part, he believes that he’s found the right balance between basketball and teaching. Patterson still plays basketball a lot, in a recreational league on Sundays and at a semi-professional level over the summer. Even with all the things going on in his life, Patterson still has time to spend with his girlfriend and family; and, of course, with students at school.
“Mr. Patterson is a very cool guy,” sophomore Tate Lancaster said. “He’s also very mysterious. One time he told us that he took his girlfriend to something, and another time he said that he has seven girlfriends! How many girlfriends does he have? You’ll never know.”
