For years, Highland’s straight-A students shared the valedictorian spotlight at graduation, at times filling the stage with double-digit recipients. But a pending policy may change the game for Highland’s current freshmen who are gunning for valedictorian.
A valedictorian title is a coveted spot that many high schoolers dream of. Traditional valedictorians are determined based on a weighted system, giving more difficult classes – such AP, IB, and concurrent enrollment – more “weight” on a GPA. However, Highland’s system has made it possible for students to be a valedictorian even if they don’t have a course load filled with AP and honors courses.
This has caused some to argue that the Highland valedictorian process has been watered down. This year, for example, the state will likely be filled with valedictorians even though the rigor of each student’s 4.0 is vastly different.
“Right now we can have a valedictorian that doesn’t even receive an honors diploma,” Highland principal Jeremey Chatterton said. “That’s not necessarily what a valedictorian should be.”
Beyond not receiving an honors diploma, some seniors are not selecting the AP, IB, and CE classes to ensure that they can maintain their GPA through their final year at Highland. This has raised concern that students are only getting this honor of being a valedictorian by doing the minimum amount of work.
“The big thing is looking at the strength of schedule,” Kyle Dittmer, Highland physics teacher and SIC council member said. “So all of this is sort of like a semi-weighted GPA . . . definitely what it’s going to do instead of being grade point average, it’s grade points.”
Dittmer explained how each class that students take will be worth points, with more rigorous classes being worth more, while home release periods will not be worth anything. This means a full schedule with more rigorous coursework would benefit prospective valedictorians. Beyond course rigor, items such as extracurriculars and test scores may also be considered.
Also, schools such as the University of Utah gives specific guaranteed scholarships for valedictorians, but, if the school has more than one then the funds are spread out between all of the recipients.
“The University of Utah gives special scholarships and things when you have one valedictorian,” Dittmer said. “But we have a lot of them. Then they spread that out and so no one really gets anything. It’s like everyone gets $3 type of situation.”
This new change to valedictorian guidelines will be implemented for the class of 2028, or current freshmen. Although final guidelines have not yet been determined, freshmen are expected to take rigorous coursework in order to be considered for the coveted valedictorian award.
“I know a lot of people that will probably push themselves a lot harder than they normally would,” Highland freshman Anna Matsen said. “That might create more of an atmosphere of stress within kids that want to be driven. . . But I know a lot of people that will probably be upset about it.”
