Patterson Weaver was born in the South Hills of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and graduated from Upper St. Clair High School. He then attended Penn State University where he majored in Political Science with minors in both Economics and Religious Studies, earning his Bachelor of Arts degree in 2001. During his college years, Patterson did volunteer work with Young Life, an international Christian outreach to high school students. This experience combined with his course work developed in him a desire to use his political science background to teach social studies at the high school level. To prepare, he pursued a Master’s of Science in Education (M.S.Ed.) at Duquesne University in Pittsburgh graduating in 2002 with a 4.0 GPA. He was honored as a Dean’s Teaching Fellow.
After graduating from Duquesne University, out of a love for the outdoors and the Rocky Mountains, Patterson moved to Colorado, where he became a high school social studies teacher in Custer County for three years. Patterson displayed a passion and talent for teaching, and in fact the Custer County chapter of the National Honors Society named him Teacher of the Year in just his second year there.
In addition to teaching courses in Advanced Placement Government and U.S. History, Patterson developed and taught a course in Practical Law and Mock Trial. Through teaching basic trial techniques and case analysis to his high school student, Patterson discovered a talent for the courtroom and a desire to explore that talent. He left teaching in 2006 to attend the University of Denver Sturm College of Law.
