At the Park

Friday Night Lights Star: The Patriot

Claire McFadden, Copy Editor

October 25, 2024

The Patriot stands tall on the sidelines.

The Patriot is the star of football games. He is an iconic symbol of Friday Night Lights. The Patriot goes to the football games along with some basketball games, his job is to hype up the crowd.

The Patriot represents Wheeling Park as a sign of strength and integrity. He also represents Park as a more patriotic viewpoint.

“The Patriot is a sign of upholding values, and I think that is what we all want to be as a Wheeling Park Patriot,” said Athletic Director and head footbal coach, Coach Daugherty.

The Patriot has many favorite activities during games, but his top favorite is seeing the crowd. His favorite tradition for football games is when the student section launches confetti after a touchdown. He likes to have a good time on game day

“I like to dance around and be goofy and see all the kids have fun,” said The Patriot.

It doesn’t matter if he is in the stands or down on the sidelines he loves to just be at the games.

Mascots are not just important for the student section and the audience, but also for the spirit of the football players themselves.

“It’s tradition for schools and athletic teams to have a mascot. College football and even professional mascots symbolize their program and who they are,” said Coach Daugherty.

The Patriot doesn’t only go to football games, he also attends basketball games.

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About the Contributors

Claire McFadden, Copy Editor

Claire McFadden, a dedicated copy editor, is currently in her second year at the Park Press. Claire is the proud writer of the September 2023 article, "National Chicken Month". When she's not working on the Press, Claire can be found on the field during Friday Night Lights, twirling with the marching band. Her love for performing extends to the stage at Oglebay Institute's Towngate Theater, where she recently took on a lead role in the performance of Fools. Outside of her professional and performing pursuits, Claire is a dedicated student and nature enthusiast. Her academic excellence was recognized when she graduated 8th with honors from Wheeling Country Day School's inaugural middle school class.

Maliah Miskiewicz, Co-Editor in Chief

Maliah Miskiewicz is the Co-Editor in Chief of the Park Press as well as a senior at Wheeling Park High School. When not designing the Press or taking pictures of everything, she devotes the rest of her time filming, anchoring, and doing whatever she can within WPHP. When not surrounding herself in everything journalism, you’ll find Maliah practicing and competing with the Speech and Debate team where she is not only a State Champion in Humorous Interpretation, but also a qualifier for Pennsylvania's State Championship. Maliah is also the Humorous and Dramatic Interpretation Squad Captain of the team, where she guides her teammates on the road toward the 45th state championship. Maliah is a freshman mentor, REAP Counselor, the Social Media and Publicity Director for WPHP, member of National Honors Society, SkillsUSA, The Quill and Scroll Society, The Thespian Society, Radio-TV Club, The Park Players, as well as playing tennis recreationally. Maliah is proud to have been a member of the Wheeling Park Press during the revival era of our paper, where our staff only consisted of 16 members who re-built our paper from the bottom up… #FoundingFather. She started as merely a Staff Writer, moved her way up to help develop an official aesthetic for the Park Press as the Design Editor, and now is proud to take on her title of Co-Editor Chief.