A few weeks ago, I was surprised to find a small portion of my senior class thrown into agitation. It turned out that our principal had made an off-handed comment to a senior saying something along the lines of wanting to get rid of valedictorians at our school. Luckily it was just that — an offhanded comment — and the principal confirmed to me that we would indeed still have valedictorians, to the joy of my classmates.
At Burlingame High School, the valedictorian title is awarded to anyone with an unweighted GPA of 4.0. This means to be valedictorian, you cannot have a B on your report card, AP class or not. Typically we have a quite a few valedictorians (last year we had 12), and I’ve never seen it as anything special. After all, colleges don’t see the valedictorian title, and beyond high school, the title seems virtually meaningless.
So what is the point of the title? Valedictorians were first saluted around the mid-1800s. In his book, “The Origins of the American High School,” William Reese explained that by the mid-1800s and early 1900s, public funding for high schools was quite small, as only about 10 percent of American adolescents were enrolled. To help increase the popularity of high school, schools started holding graduation ceremonies, hoping that graduates would impress townfolk and encourage them to support the school. The graduation ceremony back then was more a public spectacle rather than an intimate setting for friends and family (with one school admitting 4,000 guests, according to Reese). The valedictorian at these ceremonies was similar to a trophy for schools to show off, helping to gain taxpayer money, and the valedictorian’s speech was not meant for graduates’ ears, but rather, those of the town, who may consider enrolling their children in the school and supporting it financially.
Historically then, valedictorians have been meaningless: They are the dogs and ponies in a show for the town. So why do so many students compete for, relish in and even sue for the title today?
To be honest, I don’t know. As I walked out of my principal’s office after he confirmed that the show would go on, he had one final question for me. He asked me if I took any AP classes, and if I got any Bs throughout my years. The answers were yes and yes. Theoretically then, I might have a higher weighted GPA than some of the valedictorians at my school, and he asked what I thought about it. I answered that if people want valedictorians, that is fine by me. Getting obsessed with the title, however, is never good. I’ve read numerous cases of students getting into fights with other students, arguing with principals and even suing their school districts for trauma (easily found from a quick Google search).
At the end of the day, the valedictorian title is undeniably something to be proud of; it’s not an easy feat to get all As. But it’s important to remember that it’s just that— a bunch of grades.
Vishu Prathikanti is a senior at Burlingame High School. Student News appears in the weekend edition. You can email Student News at news@smdailyjournal.com.
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Keep the discussion civilized. Absolutely NO personal attacks or insults directed toward writers, nor others who make comments.
Keep it clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd, racist or sexually-oriented language.
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PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK.
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