<p>The val and sal in my kids’ school had their names recognized on the Ceremony booklet and they had the honor to be seated on the stage visible to everyone, introduced to the audience and crowned with medals. But they did not speak.</p>
<p>The GPA topic has been flogged to death in other threads. But the bottom line is that if two students took EXACTLY the same courses (including many weighted courses) except that StudentA had a study hall where StudentB got an unweighted A in an elective like music or art during that block… Student A would have a higher GPA. </p>
<p>It’s fine for students to strive for Val or Sal if that’s their priority. But in schools with situations like above and/or lots of highly qualified students, Val/Sal only means you are a great student. It doesn’t mean you are significantly better/different from the ten or twenty kids behind you.</p>
<p>My school does the same. I think it is a good idea because even though you are not top 10 in your class, doesn’t mean you did not enjoy your experience in high school.</p>
<p>hey if you wanna see a GREAT valedictorian speech here. it was at the graduation i played at in the band this year for my high schools graduating seniors.</p>
<p>“… chipping away at rewarding excellence leaves us all diminished.”</p>
<p>Exactly so.</p>
<p>Over on the Senior Awards Rant, I’ve been arguing in favor of recognizing academic excellence, over other qualifications. (And taking a fair amount of flak for that.)</p>
<p>True story that may help to explain my perspective on talking at graduation: Some time ago (as the earth’s crust was cooling), I gave the valedictory address at my high school. It was . . . um, earnest . . . but not memorable in the least. In fact, four years later, my younger brother was slated to give the valedictory address at the same high school. He wanted to present the draft version of his speech to me. He started out, and got about a sentence and a half into the speech, when I said, “You can’t give that! That’s terrible!” It was actually my own speech, which even I had forgotten. </p>
<p>Perhaps my mother had saved the note cards, for the purpose of illustrating to my younger brother that QM was not <em>that</em> great. In any event, it was a lesson in humility. I think everyone would have enjoyed the original graduation more if someone else had given a funny or touching speech.</p>
<p>I am amazed by high schools with so many kids managing a 4.0. Our kids went to a private high school (scholarships) where a perfect 4.0 only happens now and then. I think when “perfection” is rare the kids are a bit more emboldened to take some risks in their course selection. Something is just wrong at a school where so many gets get a 4.0 or higher. JMO</p>
<p>It don’t think we can take for granted that every valedictorian views the duty to give a speech as a reward. Scholarship money, recognition in the graduation program, etc. makes more sense as a recognition of academic achievement. Seems to me that giving a speech ought to be a reward for excellence in speech-giving; an audition process is the best way to measure that.</p>
<p>“chipping away at rewarding excellence leaves us all diminished.”</p>
<p>Harvard uses an audition process to choose graduation speakers. There’s no diminishment of academic excellence there. That’s why they have summa cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa, prizes for top thesis, etc.</p>
<p>“I don’t think we can take for granted that every valedictorian views the duty to give a speech as a reward.”</p>
<p>True. If the honor wasn’t foisted upon my D, she would not have taken it on. But, in our city, as in others, print media is lacking. What used to be a yearly spread on the val and sal for area HS’s, no longer exists. She took the responsibility seriously and gave a very good speech. She deserved the recognition given by an introduction and delivering a speech more than someone else who, may or may not have demonstrated academic excellence throughout HS, wrote and submitted a speech. I do believe this practice of not recognizing the val and sal is chipping away at rewarding excellence. Afterward she was on cloud 9 and thrilled that she was honored in such a way.</p>