Harvard alumnus weighs in on valedictorian selection process
While I find your prescriptions for graduation awards both reasonable
and perhaps, in some ways, favorable to the current system (“Time to
change who is honored come graduation,” July 19), I feel that they
are based on loose, even faulty, premises, which require further
clarification.
First of all, it is clear from my experience that overachievers in
academics are rarely one-trick ponies. Your editorial seems to
suggest that it is book worms and nerds who covet the top honors and,
thus, spend all of their time doing school work. In isolated cases
this might be true, but it’s much more common for high-achieving
students to relieve stress from academics, and express themselves in
equal measure outside of the classroom. (For example, I know a
Burbank High School valedictorian who was voted “Most Athletic” in
his graduating class.) Besides, if today’s valedictorians and
salutatorians really were so single-minded then we should reward them
for it. Heaven knows they probably haven’t been rewarded tangibly
during high school -- i.e. no social life, no popularity, etc. In
this day and age, when young people often shun the rigors of
education, we should reward those who sacrifice for it.
There has always been competition for this honor. While new -- and
admittedly alarming -- tactics are currently in vogue, including
stacking up on AP and honors classes (by the way, this isn’t nearly
as new as you might think), the ferocity of the battle is not
appreciably greater. Burbank is no stranger to this controversy. I’ve
been hearing these same things since I was old enough to care about
who wins, which was younger than you might think. While a more
egalitarian interpretation would perhaps quell the competition, it
would also devalue the distinction. A value judgment that must be
made here: reward the few or the many? Either way, the criteria
should be clearly defined, the entire process transparent. In the
end, I’d be willing to bet the farm that the top students know
everybody’s GPA anyways.
I’m all for spreading the kudos around -- in awards and graduation
speeches. However, we must be clear about the meaning of
valedictorian. Traditionally it has gone to the student with the
highest grades. And, by definition, this student speaks at
commencement (giving, of course, the valedictory address). As far as
I know, Burbank High School has always had a committee select
speakers for graduation from among the general student body.
Valedictorian and salutatorian are invited to speak as well, but
because they are not announced until that moment, it’s understandable
that the speeches given might be lackluster. (In some cases, as in
1996, the valedictorian had been inadvertently denied this privilege,
but that’s a completely different story.) Why not announce the award
recipients prior to the graduation ceremony, like they do at
Burroughs? But if we call it valedictorian, its bearer should speak.
My main problem with the egalitarian argument is that the
valedictorian was never designed to be for everyone -- including all
those who “suffer” because they’re busy doing other things. These are
choices that must be made in high school between different goods. But
they are just that: individual choices. To argue that some monumental
change should be made misses the point by taking it too seriously.
These kids will survive, valedictorian or not. The important thing is
that they understand what they want, and their motivations -- not
now, but in time. High school should never be this serious, and it’s
usually the parents, not the kids, who make it this way. For now we
can excuse the teenager who drops out of a summer typing class
because even an A worth 4.0 will bring down his GPA (my brother, 1994
BHS co-valedictorian), or fills his senior year with seven AP classes
to bolster it (me, 1996 BHS co-valedictorian). (On a side note, I
stayed with the typing class and worried my entire high school career
if it would weaken my chances of being valedictorian. In the end it
did not, and to this day I’m a much faster typist than my brother!) I
doubt that changes in the award system will do much to dissuade
overachievers from their course, no pun intended.
It’s not like the graduated, adult world is devoid of those who
manipulate the value of their perceived merit. (I wonder where the
kids get this from?) Eventually you learn the perils of such
perspective, and you grow out of it on your own. But high school
should be a time for growing into yourself. Most problems can be
fixed with earnestness later.
MATTHEW W. BAKER
BHS Class of 1996
Harvard University
Class of 2003