For many people, a big highlight of high school is the selection of a valedictorian. A valedictorian is defined as a person who excelled academically, earning themself a 5.0 GPA (or whatever the highest was in the class), while also having a combination of the most rigorous classes, also known as AP classes. It’s incredible to get that sort of validation and be able to put on your college resume that you were the first out of hundreds of other students. Yet, here at LM, we are taking away that dream from students by not rewarding them for their hard work and dedication, just because the district doesn’t want to hurt anyone’s feelings. Yes, all students should be honored, but the ones who put in the most effort and work should also be getting the true recognition that they deserve. 

One of the many problems with having a valedictorian is that multiple students are bound to get perfect 5.0 GPAs with the same amount of AP credits. However, that shouldn’t stop us from recognizing all of those students. Now we don’t even mention the names of those who went above and beyond. Although the names of high achieving students are marked with an asterisk in the graduation program, it’s not enough recognition. They are overshadowed and put into the crowd of everyone else, letting all of their hard work get overlooked. Kendall Tickle ’27 stated, “Students deserve recognition for all the hard work they put in during their four years in high school.” Currently, the way LM decides who speaks at graduation is by letting anyone who wants to speak write a speech. From those students, only one is selected based on their writing ability. The person who is elected as class president is also given the chance to speak at graduation. So why can we not do the same for the valedictorians? Why not have all the students who tied write a speech and choose from them? By doing this, we can still recognize at least one of the top students in the entire school. But, there are other ways we can honor valedictorians. Give them a rope, also known as “honor cords”, signifying their hard work or put “valedictorian” next to their name on the program or in the yearbook. Small things like that can make a big difference to students and their families, as they will finally be able to feel seen for everything that they have worked for. 

Along with this, not being awarded the title of valedictorian shouldn’t be something that students are afraid of. While you might not take the most rigorous classes, or achieve the highest on tests you spent hours studying for, you can still be great in other ways. There are many extremely talented athletes and skilled artists who can demonstrate all of their hard work in their own activities. Not only that, but obviously not everyone will get valedictorian, it takes a different kind of person to achieve that status. “In life there is always going to be someone ahead, and if we cannot recognize them at this level, then we are not accepting that fact,” stated Alexa Saler ’25. For those few students who do have the time and ability to realistically attain this level, it gives them the incentive to utilize their full potential. If there is no reward then why would students not just only give half their effort? 

For other students, it’s not just about the fact that they aren’t being recognized and rewarded. It also matters for college resumes. Imagine you are matched against another applicant, and the one deciding factor is that they were ranked fifth in their class of three hundred while you do not have a class ranking. Especially for a valedictorian, this can be truly heartbreaking to not get accepted into a dream college because this title isn’t even offered to you. Not only can you not express this, but colleges will think LM cares less about how well their students do and more about not hurting their feelings. “Having a valedictorian shows that we are a school that values academic excellence and that our students strive to be the best version of themselves,” expressed Maya Tomasette ’27. LM is a very prestigious school with a high expectation in academics, so why isn’t this transparent to everyone? We are putting our school down, making people think less of it and its students by doing this. Not only are we seen as lesser but our students are also seen as inferior. Pitting students against students from other schools just because other schools have access to something as simple as knowing their own valedictorian, is just plain stupid. 

At many schools valedictorian is not just about grades and AP classes taken, but also about extracurricular activities, such as Student Council, sports, DECA etc. If there is the incentive of getting awarded valedictorian then students are more likely to join in on these clubs and activities. Fostering the idea that students will have more school spirit and involvement. There are many people in our school that don’t even know who our class president is. With the incentive of having a valedictorian there are lots of different ways students can better understand their school and environment. 

In the end, students at LM give it their all when it comes to academics, so we should be rewarding those willing to sacrifice aspects of their lives for this accomplishment. While everyone is good at different things, and while others may prioritize sports or clubs over other aspects of school, we should be recognizing those at the top of the class who have successfully dedicated themselves to their schoolwork. LM can highlight these exceptional students,  by just attaching minor details, such as adding the “valedictorian” title onto the graduation program, giving them a special rope at graduation, or letting them speak at the ceremony.