BIG MAN ON CAMPUS: "Every time I check on his report card or his progress report, it's always A's and B's," Kelley Bagdasarian (left) says of Patterson's Forrest Dotson (center), a three-sport athlete for the Clippers. "He's been one of the best athletes we've ever had here," says athletic director Donna Bowers (right). "He's got a lot of school spirit... He really is a wonderful person. He's got a heart of gold, he's respectful, well-liked, and I just wish him all of the best."
Patterson's Forrest Dotson is considered a role model by junior Demetrieus Armstead (above), who said "Forrest is the big guy on the team, always knocking people around. But he's also a friendly one too."
(See video interviews with Forrest Dotson and others below)
Forrest Dotson is a four-year letter winner in football, and a three sport athlete when including wrestling and track. He’s been a two-year captain in both football and track.
Forrest ranks in the top 10 percent of his class, academically. He plans on doing the Towson bridge program, where he’s officially a Towson student although he will be taking courses at The Community College of Baltimore's Catonsville Campus.
Forrest, by far, is every coach’s favorite student-athlete. He works hard in the weight room, on the field, at practice, and in the classroom. Forrest is always at morning study hall and tries to recruit other players to compete with him in academics.
During Forrest's junior year, his mother passed away. I believe he missed one day of school for the funeral. Forrest currently lives with his grandmother and older sister, traveling over an hour and a half to school every day. Forrest takes two buses and the subway, yet he still manages to get to Patterson by 8:15 everyday.
Forrest is is the only person in his family to go on to college. He’s a quiet boy who will never disrespect anyone or get into trouble. Forrest always does what is asked of him and then some.
Forrest won the Patterson High School Health Academy’s Student Athlete of the Year Award, and was also the MVP in football for the Clippers.
--Kelley Bagdasarian, Patterson High School's academic coach, on three-sport athlete Forrest Dotson.
by Lem Satterfield
When many were celebrating New Years Day of 2007, Forrest Dotson, then a junior heavyweight wrestler for Patterson High, was mourning the death of his mother, Wilma Williams.
"I had to overcome my mother's death that put me on the side a little bit. And I overcame it, and it made me really grow stronger. It pushed me harder," said Dotson, whose grief led to the premature end of his 11th-grade wrestling season.
"My grandmother, she really helped me along. When it first happend, I was really upset and didn't know what I was going to do," said Dotson, referring to his grandparents, Mary Dotson, and Forrest Dotson Sr. "They took me in after what happened to my mother and helped me with my success."
Dotson also cited "the love of Ms. Bowers and Coach Kelley," referring to athletic director Donna Bowers and academic coach Kelley Bagdasarian.
"They cheered me up. When I came in the next day, they were helping me out," Dotson said. "They told me to come back, because I was going to stay out a longer time because I was grieving. I came back, kept getting good grades, and I kept going on."
Dotson returned to the mats for this, his recently completed senior season -- and only his second-ever -- in the sport.
Dotson pinned most of his opponents on the way to finishing the year as a Baltimore City League Tournament runner-up with a 22-3 record.
Dotson also threw the shot put as a member of the Clippers' track team.
In football last fall, the 6-foot-2, 285-pound Dotson was a two-way tackle, displaying the skills that have landed him a scholarship to Towson for finishing in the top 10 percent, academically, within his senior class.
Dotson is Baltimore City's male winner of the DigitalSports Applause Scholarship for the winter.
DigitalSports' Applause Scholarship is awarded in the amount of $500 toward the college education of an outstanding senior student-athlete who has exhibited great courage in overcoming adversity in order to make a positive contribution to his or her team.
In 2007-2008, DigitalSports has named 22 Applause Scholarship winners
in the Baltimore area, representing more than $11,000 in scholarship
awards. Winners have come from Anne Arundel County, Baltimore City, Baltimore County and Howard County
territories, as well as the Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association and the Interscholastic Athletic Association of Maryland.
Dotson has maintained a 3.4 grade average, according to Bagdasarian, including an A-average in English on his most recent report card.
"I'm the academic coach at Patterson High School, and I've been here since 2000. And by far, he's probably been the most academically advanced kid that's played football here," said Bagdasarian, who is instrumental in the Clippers' Play It Smart Program sponsored by the NFL.
"I've never once had to worry about his grades. Every time I check on his report card or his progress report, it's always A's and B's," Bagdasarian said. "He's always doing the right thing. Always pushing his teammates to come to study hall, and to get A's and B's."
Of his mother, Dotson said "I just keep her in my heart" as motivation "to go on, not mess up, and to keep going."
"You have to do wall, academically, or else, you can't get anywhere," said Dotson, who looks to major in business management.
Bowers said Dotson has been involved in sports since his freshman year.
"He's been one of the best athletes we've ever had here. He loves Patterson High School. He's got a lot of school spirit, and I think, most importantly, he's an excellent student, he really is a wonderful person," Bowers said.
"He's got a heart of gold, he's respectful, well-liked, and I just wish him all of the best. And I'm really going to miss him," Bowers said. "Deep down inside, he's just the nicest most wonderful person that you would ever want to know. And we were lucky to have him here for four years."
Junior football player Demetrieus Armstead is among those who consider Dotson a role model both on and off of the playing field.
"Forrest is the big guy on the team, always knocking people around. But he's also a friendly one too. Friendship, you know. Walking to the bus stop every night, telling jokes, you know, kidding around," said Armstead.
"Nobody fears him or anything," Armstead said. "It's just that on the field, you know, if he's coming, you get out of the way. That's what I would say."
Dotson also serves as a mentor to elementary school students as part of the Jonathan Ogden Play It Smart Program, said Bagdsarian.
"We go there maybe twice a month to mentor all of the kids. We either read to them, or guys like Forrest will tell them what it's like to be successful in high school," Bagdasarian said. "Forrest has been a part of that for the past three years."
Raising her left hand above her head for emphasis, Bagdasarian said Dotson "Always had the level way up here that everyone had to reach. And I know that he will be a success after high school at the college level. And we're all very proud of him."