<p>We have a class called Personal Finance where kids practice filling out insurance forms and leases and learn how to look up classifieds...Useful stuff, but I'm not sure it should be an actual class.</p>
<p>"life skills"</p>
<p>At my school, the top ten students sit in the front row of the graduating seniors during the graduation ceremony. Maybe someone reads their names, I'm not really sure. It's definitely not a big deal at all, which is nice.</p>
<p>two years ago my schools val was in all cp (college prep) courses whereas everyone else in the top 20 was in 5+ gifted/honors/AP classes. People made a really big deal about it but nothing changed. Luckily in my class the one person in the top 10 not in Ap's is number nine...and I'm number six so I don't really care..lol</p>
<p>that stuff about unweighteds being compared equally with weighteds is messed up. we even have ties with weighted max courseloads. (and our class officers sit in the front row during graduation)</p>
<p>"So you would discourage the arts? We do the 5 for AP and honors, but every year theres someone who loses out on valedictorian because they take band. Making band a 4 hurts these people enough.</p>
<p>my school is too competitive for anyone to "count" on being valedictorian. EXPECTING to get it is very pretentious. be glad you have anything."</p>
<p>First off, I never said I expected to get it. I didn't at all, and felt that the valedictorian this year at my school deserved it-- not the hardest course load but by far the hardest working in my school.</p>
<p>Second, just beacuse they are waited lower doesnt mean that I am discouraging them. You're talking to a kid who has taken band every year, is the captain of the high school band, and the first player in the invite only jazz band. I am by no means discouraging these classes. I get a 100 every quater in that class. It's not counted towards ranking however, and I dont think that's bad. I am sorry, but that class simply does not have the same requirements to succeed in. Although sometimes I spend more time out of school for band than any other class, that doesn't mean that it should be applied to my ACADEMIC performance. I play volleyball at my school as well. During the season, I dedicate far more time to volleyball than any other activity in my life, 3 hrs plus a day. I am not asking for academic weight because I am dedicating time to a school activity. I view the arts in a similar fashion.</p>
<p>As it is, in my school, I've taken all but two classes of the APs they offer and I've still had band in my schedule no problem. Academics, as I said, only one person in my school has a harder course load. He doesn't take band or art, but coulod fit it if he wanted to. I don't think you are hurting or degrading the arts by not giving them the same weight towards a GPA as an academic class. Vals should be based on academic performance, that's all I'm saying. That is, if they should be had at all, which I am not convinced of.</p>
<p>Firstly, sorry about the misunderstanding. The statement about "EXPECTING" to be val was directed at the OP, rabo.</p>
<p>Otherwise, I agree that band, and all of the arts, probably don't deserve the same recognition as academic classes, and so they should be thrown out of weighted GPA calculations much like how P.E. is treated at my school. However, weighting an A in band as a 3.0 is clear discouragement, any way you slice it.</p>
<p>When you're ranked 1 for 3 years and haven't experienced a drop in grades, I'd say it's safe to expect your rank to remain the same. I know the rest of you go to high schools that are state ranked or whatever and send 50% of kids to top 25 schools, but my school sends 50% of kids to 4 year colleges. There's a difference.</p>
<p>Remember that at least you can put "valedictorian" on scholarship and other academic applications. They don't need to know there are two of you.</p>
<p>Being a co-valedictorian is a lot better than not being one at all. Just think, if this girl had taken even harder courses than you and gotten a slightly better grade, you would not feel it was unjust, but you would be even worse off in the tangible sense.</p>
<p>**** happens. what have you lost? locals saying OOHH WOWW when you tell em ur valedictorian?</p>
<p>honestly the kid whos looking to have our highest GPA is going to be very annoying to listen to at graduation. i hope by some fluke he isnt valedictorian.</p>
<p>**** you. Did I not say now my money has been halved? That's $500 I lost.</p>
<p>Rabo, that totally sucks. I'm sorry.</p>
<p>An0nym0u5, on principle, wouldn't you be upset if you were ranked number 1 for 3 years and had a (slightly) higher GPA and a significantly harder courseload and someone else shared the valedictorian honor/prize with you? I think that most people would be really *<strong><em>ed off and upset about it. Even without the money, it would still *</em></strong> me off if someone cruised through high school on blow off courses and was sharing the honor with me. I don't think that would make me a bratty person, I think it would be a human and natural thing to feel and only the most saintly of us could avoid it.</p>
<p>there are more important things to worry about than petty honorary titles. especially since you still HAVE a title.</p>
<p>favorite movie quote:
"A man is as big as the things that make him mad. And nothing in this town makes him mad."
-Bad Day in Black Rock</p>
<p>val policy at my school seems pretty fair. we have unweighted gpas, so it IS easy to get a 4.0 by taking easy classes, BUT to get val, there are certain classes that must be taken (AP chem AP foreing language, APUSH,AP calc...). this year there are three val's, i am one of them. last year therre were 4, 2 in 2003. </p>
<p>but, most of you guys go to uber-competitive schools. my school sucks and there is essentially little to no competition for me. ehhhh, i'm decently happy.</p>
<p>sorry for ranting.</p>
<p>adamo -</p>
<p>The EXACT same thing happened to me! Our school switched to a weighted grading system this year, and I was named the valedictorian. Then, all of a sudden, some girl cried to her parents and complained to the superintendent because she thought that she would've been valedictorian under the unweighted grades. Then, for this one girl, they actually re-wrote the policy, even after the grades were all sent out to colleges and EVERY SINGLE PERSON in the class had their grades weighted. The policy essentially stated that the valedictorian was not necessarily based on grades, and the superindent could choose whoever they want.</p>
<p>But thats not all. Then, they made some weird 1 year weighted/3 year unweighted system, and manipulated my grades. The counseling office actually brought my grades down point after point, until they finally got me 5 hundredths of a point bellow the other person. And then, when I protested, they said "oh, we're not allowed to change transcripts." No joke. That's exactly what happened.</p>
<p>It's disgusting. I'm just going to be happy to get out of here, and go to BROWN : )!!!!!!!</p>
<p>Err sorry, not adamo, the person who started the threat... rabowakawhatever? Anyway, it ended up that we're both "co-valedictorian" and we get to flip a coin over who gets to say that valedictorian speech. I hate my school. Sure, in the end, it won't mean anything, but it makes me furious that they actually manipulated my grades to make it a "tie." I was about a full point (out of 100) ahead of this other person.</p>
<p>Strangely enough, I live in Central NY, too. Maybe it has something to do with the area. I guess the stupidity of administrators kind of radiates from a black hole of ignorance somewhere in the middle of the Catskills.</p>
<p>youre not a sole valedictorian???</p>
<p>youre never getting laid in your entire life!</p>
<p>Dude, if you would've known what I've had to go through, you'd feel for me. I had to fight to even keep my vale status instead of salu. And yeah, it doesn't matter after the graduation ceremony, but nothing matters in high school after the graduation ceremony. It's not so much the co-val, but it's the fact that what you've worked hard for is gone because of some corruption in the administration and a spineless superintendent. How would you feel if you just finished a track race, and trained for hours on end and weeks before to make yourself just a little faster. You beat the person next to you by about a hundredth of a second, but the ref says "Oh. Well, you beat em. But it's so close. Let's call it a freakin tie." It's just the principle.</p>
<p>Exactly. Thank you.</p>