Valedictorian

The times, they are a changing...

The top student in a high school’s graduating class used to earn the honor of being the valedictorian, and traditionally that one student delivered a commencement speech that helped send his or her classmates out into the adult world.

But at Arlington’s Washington-Lee High School this year, there were 117 valedictorians out of a class of 457. At Long Beach Polytechnic in California, there were 30. And at some schools — including North Hills High outside of Pittsburgh and high schools in Miami — there were none.

Valedictorian has been a meaningless accolade for a long time anyway.

For one thing, they grade AP courses on a 5-point scale, and my stepdaughter's high school even has a level above that, "dual credit" which is somehow better than AP and for which an A gets you a 6.0. When I was in high school, they started finding ways for kids to earn "honors" credit in orchestra, shop, tennis, etc., because otherwise all the top kids were quitting those in favor of classes that would inch their GPA higher. In the year above me, a kid transferred to a ghetto ass high school on the other side of town for his senior year, because he was a shoo-in for valedictorian there, while in our school he would have been ranked 10th-ish. College admissions staff have known for a long time that the top 50 kids in a competitive, wealthy district were all going to be better educated and more skilled than the valedictorian at every podunk backwoods Appalachian high school.

VALEDICTION

Latin valedicere to say farewell, from vale farewell + dicere to say — more at diction
First Known Use: 1613

Say goodnight, Gracie.

So long and thanks for all the fish

Let's not say goodbye, but au revoir ...

Later, taters.


Or in French...
Au revoir, dauphinois.

Arlington’s Washington-Lee High School this year, there were 117 valedictorians out of a class of 457

That's our school, and I know a couple of the 117 valedictorians. They are both smart kids. (I'd know more, but they are two years older than my kid. I expect I'll know a bunch the year she graduates.)

As long as they have this system, I'm hoping/expecting my kids will both be valedictorians, but the competition here is pretty surreal. Arlington, last I checked, was the most educated county in the country. Virtually every parent here was near the top of their class growing up in some podunk town, and every parent expects their kid to be at the top of the class here. It's very different from my experience growing up in Maine, where a sizable portion of my fellow students really celebrated graduating from Junior High School because they didn't plan to graduate from High School.

It's a ridiculous system though. What does it say about the kids who don't make valedictorian? I think it adds to the pressure.

Julia Jaynes, 17, who shared the valedictorian title with 29 others, said that if her school chose only one, it would destroy collegiality among her classmates. “If everyone wants to be the best, I feel like there’d be less collaboration,” she said. “It makes it so you’re only out for yourself.”

I can see those competing for the spot would be gathering their own entourage of groupies, hall gangs clashing, shouting wrong test answers at each other. :haha:

I was on the Dean's List. The Dean's "other" list. ;)

Seriously, my HS still has valedictorian and salutatorian. I know because friends of the family's daughters were V and S (and they are cousins!) I don't see what the meaning is in having 567 "tops" of the class. Everyone shows up, everyone gets a trophy. Sure, if they're stellar students there should be some designation but who in the heck does the speeches?

It's *A* marker in a longer race.

I can say that because I've gone further down the track, unlike these young students. Being first to the apex of the first turn makes available certain options, some of which are advantages, that those further back in the pack don't get. But the "track" is longer, and multi-threaded, so that fact, that snapshot, while true for that moment, isn't much of an indicator of anything about the whole race, much less the finish line.

It does say that hard work is sometimes recognized. It can be the result of good habits like diligence, goal setting and reaching, good organizational skills, a helpful and supportive personal network, etc. I applaud those young people for working hard and I hope they're able to use these habits to their advantage throughout their careers.

infinite monkey;933767 wrote:

Sure, if they're stellar students there should be some designation but who in the heck does the speeches?

Having gone to several graduations, I vote for "nobody". Skip to the diplomas.

I agree, get to the point. :thumb:

Heh. I like that, Bruce.

We don't really do speeches at our graduation ceremonies. The Vice Principal does a speech - but none of the graduating students do.

Might be different at other places - not sure how Oxbridge does things (given their propensity for Hogwartsesque quirks and traditions, it could be fucking anything)

At our school it was the student body president who spoke. He kept it mercifully short.

567 valedictorians = flatline bell curve