Some Schools Are Bidding Farewell to Valedictorians

Valedictorian--In schools and colleges, the student, usually the one ranking highest in the class in scholarship, who delivers the valedictory (farewell speech).

--Webster’s Second College Edition Dictionary

The practice of naming valedictorians is changing at Orange County high schools.

Moreover, as the 1987 high school graduations this month have demonstrated, valedictorians themselves are much changed. Among other things, valedictorians are no longer forced to be graduation-day orators.

A generation ago, the valedictorian was a high school stereotype. The top-ranked academic scholar gave a long speech at high school graduation and became the focal point of most scholastic honors.

But today Orange County schools have a wide variation of that old practice. About a fourth of the county’s schools have no valedictorians at all. Many other schools have multiple valedictorians. And it is rare to find a high school where there is a sole valedictorian who actually gives what used to be called “the valedictory.”

Most Orange County high schools have tryout competition for students who want to speak on graduation day, and the competition is not limited to the top academic students. In a Times survey, Orange County high schools reported that this year the student speakers on graduation day included a mix of honors graduates and middle-of-the-road students.

The survey also reflected a growing number of high schools in Orange County that no longer attempt to single out the top academic achiever and call him or her the “valedictorian.”

“Very often with big classes the difference among honor students in GPAs (grade-point averages) is very, very small,” noted Maggie Carrillo, principal of Anaheim High School, which doesn’t have valedictorians.

Added Thomas Anthony, principal of Capistrano Valley High School: “We have 23 valedictorians in our graduating class this year. The range of their GPAs is from 4.0 to 4.4.” (A 4.0 is all A’s, but students can make A-plus--higher than 4.0--by taking honors courses and achieving A grades in such classes.)

Nonetheless, a large number of Orange County high schools still have only one person who is named the graduating class’s official valedictorian. Both students and faculties at these schools have indicated satisfaction with the more traditional system of having only one graduate named the top academic achiever.

‘Life Is Competition’

Principal Michael Kasler of Fountain Valley High School, which has the largest in enrollment in Orange County, says that the system of narrowing down to one winner is realistic.

“Life is competition,” Kasler said. “I have a very competitive school in terms of both academics and athletics.”

He says that he doesn’t think it puts too much pressure on a student to vie for the valedictorian spot.

“These kids are taking honors-level classes, advanced-placement classes,” Kasler said. “I look on the teachers in those classes as being like coaches: they watch over the kids and prepare them, just as athletic coaches care for athletes in training sessions. Parents also play an important role, as they know how much pressure the students can take.”

This year’s valedictorian at Fountain Valley High was Dung T. Do, an 18-year-old immigrant from South Vietnam. Kasler said: “His record is amazing. I looked at his grade transcript, and there is nothing but A’s for his entire high school career.”

Also Took College Courses

In an interview, Do modestly did not want to talk about his academic achievements. But when pressed, he gave his overall grade-point-average: 4.8. Moreover, Do disclosed that while he was getting A-plus grades in virtually every high school course he took during the past four years, he also was taking college courses at nights and in late afternoons.

“I’ve completed 70 college credits,” said Do, who took the courses his junior and senior years in high school at Golden West, Orange Coast and Coastline community colleges, and also at UC Irvine.

He said he took second-year calculus and general chemistry courses this year at UCI, and those courses proved somewhat difficult “because I was absent a lot, having to fly to the East to interview for colleges.” Nonetheless, Do said he successfully completed the UCI courses while achieving his goal of becoming valedictorian.

“I set that goal for myself when I was in the eighth grade,” said Do, who was 7 years old when his family escaped in 1975 from the Communist takeover of his home city of Saigon.

Now a naturalized U.S. citizen, Do said he didn’t find it hard to learn in American schools “because I started school here.” And while he conceded that the system of having high school valedictorians may be too stressful for some students, he felt no particular stress in aiming for that spot. “My parents have always had great expectations for me, but they have helped me along the way,” he said. “They are good at listening and offering viewpoints. They don’t tell me what to do, but they give their opinions.”

Competed All 4 Years

Do also said that while he was competing for valedictorian during all four years of his high school career, it didn’t keep him from having fun. “I joined all the clubs I wanted to and had a good time,” he said. While not aiming at organized athletics, he played volleyball and tennis with classmates and learned karate. “I really enjoyed high school,” he said.

Do is now headed for the University of Miami in Florida, where he has a scholarship and guaranteed admission to that university’s medical school when he achieves his bachelor’s degree. “I’m not sure what medical specialty I’ll pursue, but I’m thinking of ophthalmology or dermatology,” he said.

While Do’s experience indicates that a student can be a valedictorian and still enjoy high school, some high school principals say they think that the system of having just one valedictorian can be overly stressful for students.

Said Capistrano Valley High Principal Anthony: “Limiting it (a valedictorian) to one student sets up a lot of competition. It sets up some really intense pressure, and I think high school students already have too much pressure on them. Also, when there is just one valedictorian, there can be a lot of jealousy.” Anthony says he prefers his high school’s system of naming multiple valedictorians.

‘One Who’s the Best’

But Jerry Jertberg, director of curriculum and educational support services for Placentia Unified School District, says he doesn’t think it’s either good or bad for a high school to have only one valedictorian. He says the three high schools in Placentia Unified vary, with Esperanza High still having valedictorians and El Dorado and Valencia high schools not designating anyone. “I don’t think having a valedictorian results in unfair competition,” Jertberg said .

“It should be up to the high school and its traditions. As for having only one top winner, well, everything comes out that way. There’s always going to be one person who’s done the best.”

Jertberg added that since almost all high schools no longer force the valedictorian to be a graduation-day speaker, “that pressure is off, and that is the thing that bothered many of these kids.”