During Thursday night’s Cherokee County Bord of Education meeting, it was revealed that more talks had taken place regarding the immediate institution of the Latin honors system and the elimination of awarding valedictorian and salutatorian titles to the top high school graduates. But there seemed to be little change in the board’s position.
One thing that was added for a second reading on the policy is for the top two students to have first right of refusal to speak at graduation.
So, let’s get this straight. If someone was on the $25,000 Pyramid and had to describe the word “valedictorian” to their partner, it might go something like this:
“Um, it’s when you are the top student in your class, and you address the graduates, and you have the best grade point average …”
Almost everyone would get that answer, even those of us who were not valedictorians. The point being that we are apparently going to rank the students and let the top two speak to the class, just not call them by these two taboo names.
It’s clear why this policy was changed. There is a culture of unhealthy competition that is born out of taking additional higher-level classes, some of which are purchased online by families who have the means to do so. This unbalances the playing field and is not fair.
So here’s a simple proposal.
* Have all the students who are attending a public high school be judged on the same set of courses that are available to everyone for four entire school years. If you want to take extra courses, that’s terrific for your education pursuits. If you can afford to buy classes and that’s what is best for your child, congratulations and God bless.
However, those classes should not affect the class rank. Put them on your resume, where they belong.
* Count the classes all the way through to the end of the senior year. Yes, everyone takes P.E. No, do not stop the competition with a semester to go for yearbook purposes.
* Count up the grades and give us the top two students. Done!
You can even use the Latin honors system in concert with this method, as Ben Wilson’s thoughtful letter to the editor describes elsewhere on this page. That would eliminate the non-level balance between students of different means, while still rewarding the best of the best.
If that does not work for everyone, then there may be no system that will satisfy all concerns. But handling out participation trophies rarely inspires kids to greatness.
OUR VIEW: Val-Sals, Latin honors can coexist
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