hoops902
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Post by hoops902 on Apr 16, 2015 14:49:05 GMT -5
::I looked up the definition too and it aays usually the person ranked highest. Huh. Amazing what definitions do for the soul. ::
Thank you for confirming. The student "usually" having the highest rank who gives the valedictory. That would mean they aren't synonymous. It also clearly indicates which piece defines the term.
::I was also strongly encouraged by some classmates to take the honor and do it. ::
Same, though probably for different reasons. They wanted me to give the Principal the photo we all took on Senior Skip Day when he was driving around the county looking for us. The other kid giving the speech was one of the 5 kids who went to school that day. I probably still wouldn't have done it had my parents not bribed me into it.
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NomoreDramaQ1015
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Post by NomoreDramaQ1015 on Apr 16, 2015 14:51:51 GMT -5
Wow!! That is A LOT of dropouts!
Part of the problem was a program the school system thought was brilliant but poorly executed. You had to do group projects that were supposed to teach you all sorts of valuble "life skills" and you needed X amount of points in each category to graduate.
Problem was they weren't designing enough projects in enough classes to meet the requirements. One category was "self directed learner" There were TWO classes in the entire HS you could get that point in.
Even if you had a 4.0 GPA and all our coursework completed if you didn't have all those project points you weren't allowed to graduate.
So people said "screw it", dropped out and obtained their GED later.
I don't remember when they finally decided to quit trying to shove round pegs into square holes and eliminated the program.
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justme
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Post by justme on Apr 16, 2015 15:02:26 GMT -5
::The point everyone is trying to make is it seems your school is the only one where valedictorian had nothing to do with rank. At everyone else's school valedictorian= first in class.:: Waiting for all the other valedictorians on this board to indicate they were forced at gunpoint to give the valedictory. So far we have one valedictorian who has spoken up, and indicated that it was a choice. I have yet to see any others indicate they were physically forced to be valedictorian simply as a function of being #1 in class rank. Interesting to see all the non-valedictorians telling the valedictorian how that works. I didn't say it had "nothing" to do with rank, I said valedictorian was offered to the #1 in class. That person could do it or not. If they didn't, someone else would. That person would then be the valedictorian. It's only synonymous with first in class if by definition everyone who has ever been first in class also gave the valedictory. I know that to be false, it's an easy premise to reject. I was salutatorian so I'm not talking out of my ass. Both my title and the valedictorian was given based on rank. While I don't know if we could have opted out of the speech (neither asked but it's not like they could force you to speak), I do know that if they allowed someone else to speak they would not have been given the title valedictorian/salutatorian as those titles when to those ranked 1 and 2. I also know that in my state the valedictorian and salutatorian were guaranteed acceptance into one of the state schools, so the title dealing strictly with rank was state wide. No one was competing to speak - they were competing for the rank/title. Oh and I spoke directly after the valedictorian. I think the class president was after me. I think the principal was after all of us but I can't remember.
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movingforward
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Post by movingforward on Apr 16, 2015 15:13:32 GMT -5
Seems like everyone on this board was valedictorian or salutatorian - just further reiterates the fact that I am not true YM material - LOL!
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zibazinski
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Post by zibazinski on Apr 16, 2015 15:15:52 GMT -5
Makes me think something else.
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CarolinaKat
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Post by CarolinaKat on Apr 16, 2015 15:32:20 GMT -5
Makes me think something else. If it makes you feel better, I was a terrible student.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Apr 16, 2015 16:22:22 GMT -5
I was valedictorian, but I wasn't allowed to speak. This was 1971, and I subverted the student newspaper that I edited into what was basically an underground newspaper criticizing the administration, etc. This was a private girls' school, and the headmaster was horrified! He, um, didn't trust me to not subvert the valedictory speech so we just didn't have anyone give it. He couldn't take the rank away.
I have spent most of my life posing as Goody-Goody Two Shoes. Now you guys know the truth.
Confession beats definitions easily for the health of the soul.
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milee
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Post by milee on Apr 16, 2015 16:29:41 GMT -5
I was valedictorian, but I wasn't allowed to speak. This was 1971, and I subverted the student newspaper that I edited into what was basically an underground newspaper criticizing the administration, etc. This was a private girls' school, and the headmaster was horrified! He, um, didn't trust me to not subvert the valedictory speech so we just didn't have anyone give it. He couldn't take the rank away.
I have spent most of my life posing as Goody-Goody Two Shoes. Now you guys know the truth.
Confession beats definitions easily for the health of the soul. "Well behaved women rarely make history."
One of my favorite sayings. You rock.
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milee
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Post by milee on Apr 16, 2015 16:38:19 GMT -5
Seems like everyone on this board was valedictorian or salutatorian - just further reiterates the fact that I am not true YM material - LOL! I wasn't even close to having the #1 or #2 GPA in high school. Again, it's a nerd school and I'm only a sorta nerd. My boys and I were talking about this the other night since they go to the same school I went to. One of this year's graduating seniors has been on Jeopardy, is going to Harvard (both his parents who are surgeons went there and so did his older brother), near perfect SAT score, has won all sorts of national speaking awards, etc. and is a great kid that both my boys look up to. They were surprised to find out that his class ranking is something like 5 or 6. We used it as a chance to talk about things like - can you still be very successful if you don't "win", is it better to be an average student at a top school or the smartest person at a mediocre school, who is successful and why and how to choose what things to focus on.
You can graduate with a class ranking lower than 1 or 2 and still have hope for your life.
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hoops902
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Post by hoops902 on Apr 16, 2015 16:42:27 GMT -5
::You can graduate with a class ranking lower than 1 or 2 and still have hope for your life.::
Since you had a quote above, this actually reminded me of one of my favorite lines
"You know what they call the guy who graduates last in his class at medical school? Doctor!"
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cktc
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Post by cktc on Apr 16, 2015 17:05:24 GMT -5
My oldest sister was set to be valedictorian heading into senior year because she only had one B and a full course load of AP classes. One of the other kids (or parents) made a stink because they weren't eligible for all the same AP classes so the school dropped the weighted GPA system, and the non AP student was awarded Valedictorian. I can't even remember where she finished, but I don't recall her making a speech.
My class was the first to complete all 4 years under the new un-weighted system. With the lack of parity we ended up with 9 valedictorians and 2 salutatorians in a graduating class of 90 something. The administrators shoved us all in a room and told us to figure out what we wanted to do for a speech. We broke the speech up in sections, and before the next meeting the biggest A-type ended up writing the whole thing and assigning everyone their parts. I remember another valedictorian and I felt steam rolled so we both went a bit off script at the ceremony and thanked our families.
I always wondered if the school went back to weighted GPAs after that or kept up the tradition of having 10% of the graduating class be #1.
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Shooby
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Post by Shooby on Apr 16, 2015 17:08:44 GMT -5
Well most everyone I know associates Valedictorian with #1 in the class. Duh.
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ken a.k.a OMK
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They killed Kenny, the bastards.
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Post by ken a.k.a OMK on Apr 16, 2015 17:09:31 GMT -5
By "drop outs" do you mean dropping out of school? I was in a magnet college prep technical school. You entered in as an advanced or regular student in the 9th grade. It was for science and engineering. There was another program you could be moved to later if you were doing poorly. Almost everyone graduated from the 3 programs. The top program students were usually able to skip their first year of college.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Apr 16, 2015 17:18:25 GMT -5
I actually was one of those "you say 'jump' I say 'how high?'" kind of kids, but I was stretched pretty thin in HS with work and sports. I was always in the top 10% from doing what I was told consistently, but mostly I wanted to get out so I could get closer to being an adult. I figured most of my decisions would start when I became a full adult and aged into options. I wasn't there yet in HS for the most part, there was a ton of things important to society that I couldn't legally do for the bulk of HS, so there was a big sense of waiting.
On speech awards, mostly I kind of figure that if a boss gives a special award and wants a ceremony done a certain way, it's sort of a package deal if accepted, for diplomatic reasons.
I do speeches okay, I got an award for a speech in college that was in an auditorium filled with 200+ people, but I was a wreck the whole week beforehand, walking around the track late at night with nervous tension, mumbling the words and feeling sick. I'm happy to avoid them by and large unless there's a clear reason to accept.
I did turn down having my picture in the paper, I'm okay with turning down an award entirely if it has little to no practical value and would mostly just be stressful. Being a bridesmaid for a bridezilla friend is an honor I'd also be cheerful to get out of on a technicality because of the cost and stress involved. Younger sis is going through the drama right now with her friend, that wedding is going over the top.
At my high school though, it was pretty much rank = speech, go for it. I guess it could've been challenged, but it wasn't to my knowledge. I don't know what the protocol would've been, but for sure it would've bent the administrators out of shape and caused drama. Most of the kids who got top in my graded tended to be involved in things like theater though, so they didn't have an issue with it.
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bobosensei
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Post by bobosensei on Apr 19, 2015 11:17:18 GMT -5
I was valedictorian, but I wasn't allowed to speak.
My school stopped letting students speak because one year the Valedictorian got up and criticized the entire administration. So then they decided that the Valedictorian had to turn their speech in for approval, but a few years later it happened again when the student turned in an acceptable speech then didn't use it and instead spoke out against the administration.
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MJ2.0
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Post by MJ2.0 on Apr 19, 2015 12:57:58 GMT -5
I was valedictorian, but I wasn't allowed to speak.
My school stopped letting students speak because one year the Valedictorian got up and criticized the entire administration. So then they decided that the Valedictorian had to turn their speech in for approval, but a few years later it happened again when the student turned in an acceptable speech then didn't use it and instead spoke out against the administration. That is kick ass!
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moneymaven
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Post by moneymaven on Apr 19, 2015 17:28:41 GMT -5
I was valedictorian, but I wasn't allowed to speak.
My school stopped letting students speak because one year the Valedictorian got up and criticized the entire administration. So then they decided that the Valedictorian had to turn their speech in for approval, but a few years later it happened again when the student turned in an acceptable speech then didn't use it and instead spoke out against the administration. These are the kids who will make a difference. I love it!
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Wisconsin Beth
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No, we don't walk away. But when we're holding on to something precious, we run.
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Post by Wisconsin Beth on Apr 20, 2015 8:14:18 GMT -5
Seems like everyone on this board was valedictorian or salutatorian - just further reiterates the fact that I am not true YM material - LOL! Not me. I was something like 75 out of a class of 150 - just squeaking into top 1/2!
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Shooby
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Post by Shooby on Apr 20, 2015 8:15:53 GMT -5
My school stopped letting students speak because one year the Valedictorian got up and criticized the entire administration. So then they decided that the Valedictorian had to turn their speech in for approval, but a few years later it happened again when the student turned in an acceptable speech then didn't use it and instead spoke out against the administration. These are the kids who will make a difference. I love it! Or, they are the ones who think it is "all about them" and can't get along with authority and are chronically unemployed.
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billisonboard
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Post by billisonboard on Apr 20, 2015 8:28:03 GMT -5
Seems like everyone on this board was valedictorian or salutatorian - just further reiterates the fact that I am not true YM material - LOL! Hell, I didn't even gradwate high school.
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