Scholar Gets in Last Word--on Radio Show : Graduation: Saugus High valedictorian Brad Bjelke gives his speech on “Mark and Brian” program after school officials stopped designating the top seniors.

It was the speech no one was supposed to hear. Now tens of thousands have heard it.

Brad Bjelke, 18, graduated at the top of his Saugus High School class with a grade-point average of 4.44 (he got extra points for taking honors classes).

But Brad never got to deliver a valedictory speech. School officials eliminated the honor this school year because, according to the principal, “it was a tradition that we didn’t think had enough positives.”

Mark Thompson and Brian Phelps--hosts of the popular “Mark and Brian” radio show on KLOS--disagreed.

The radio duo invited Brad to read his speech Thursday morning on their show, ensuring that it was heard not only in Greater Los Angeles but also in other cities where the program is broadcast, including San Diego, Tucson and Portland, Ore.

“We must follow our dreams and never surrender to frustrations or obstacles which stand in the way,” the tall, athletic Brad read as he sat before the microphone, with Thompson and Phelps at each side of him.

“Our life is what we make it,”Brad said.

The radio hosts had played a grossly out-of-tune version of “Pomp and Circumstance” just before Brad read the speech. They also serenaded him with other tunes during his time on the air.

But Brad was having a great time.

“This is a blast,” Brad said when it was all over.

Brad’s excellent adventure began at 6:30 a.m. with the arrival of a chauffeured car sent by KLOS to whisk him and his mother from their Santa Clarita home to the radio station in Culver City.

Brad had not gotten much sleep. The night before was the graduation ceremony, during which he received a standing ovation when he led the procession of seniors.

Saugus High School officials had decided to eliminate valedictorian, salutatorian, and top-10 honors for students this year. They instead designated anyone with a 3.75 or higher grade-point average as an honors student. School officials said the pressure to finish first had become so intense in recent years that one student became suicidal.

But the decision struck a chord with the public, and not just in Santa Clarita. After The Times reported that Brad’s mother had expressed her disappointment over the policy at a school district meeting in June, word of the situation spread nationally.

Phone calls poured into the school and the Bjelke household. Rush Limbaugh blasted the school’s decision for two days on his radio show.

“I’m a little surprised there has been so much media attention,” the easygoing Brad said during the ride to the station.

Brad’s classmates had given him an irreverent but good-natured, tribute late on graduation night. They pelted his house with wet toilet paper.

He said he kept hearing the thumps of the toilet paper hitting his house every hour or so.

“I got a couple of hours of sleep at the most,” he said with a grin.

Brad took a call on one of the car’s two cellular phones. It was the station checking on his progress. At the end of the call, he could not figure out how to hang up.

“You sure you’re a valedictorian?” asked the chauffeur, who had a British accent.

Brad, who plans to attend Cal Lutheran in Thousand Oaks this fall, was ushered through the iron gates outside the KLOS building and into a waiting room minutes before his scheduled 8 a.m. appearance. He said he felt surprisingly calm.

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He had agreed to a request from station officials to wear his graduation outfit while reading his speech, but, feeling uncomfortable, removed it shortly before going on the air.

“No one’s going to see me,” he said.

His mother pressed his speech into his hands, and suddenly he was on the air.

He delivered his speech in a clear tone without any hitches or interruptions. It was full of praise for his memories of Saugus High, but also contained a note of defiance for the school’s decision to no longer honor valedictorians.

“For reasons not thoroughly explained, our administration has decided that academic competition is not healthy,” he said. “However, I am privileged to represent the Class of 1994 and regardless of this year’s new policy, I still am the valedictorian.”

Brad left the studio to applause from the radio duo, but he was not done yet.

KLOS personnel guided him into an adjacent booth and handed him several sheets of news and weather reports, which he was asked to read at 8:40 a.m.

Brad looked a little startled, especially when Mark and Brian burst into the studio playing horns while he read the weather. But Brad read the information without difficulty.

Station officials were impressed.

Brad took it to heart.

“That was neat,” he said. “That’s what I want to do for a living.”