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Arnoldsburg resident Kelley Houchin was the spokesperson at last night's school board meeting against a policy revision which was on the agenda to eliminate the valedictorian and salutatorian as academic recognition for graduating seniors.
Other community members spoke out against the change.
Following a discussion about studying the matter further, the board decided to not change the policy, leaving the honors in place.
The decision was followed by applause.
Here are Houchin's comments to the board:
You were asked at the July 18 meeting to repeal the valedictorian/salutatorian policy. We were told it was a national trend to eliminate these awards and that by doing so you could actually recognize more students by recognizing as a group say the top 10% of the class.
I ask you to consider our current policy and how it meets the needs of both the students and our community.
Your current policy recognizes any graduate that has a GPA of 3.399 - 3.599 as a honor graduate. They receive a single honor cord to wear at graduation, are recognized at the academic awards program, and receive special notation in the graduation program.
Any graduate with a GPA of 3.6 or better is recognized as a high honor graduate. They receive double honor cords and a medallion to wear at graduation, attend an honors banquet given in their honor, are recognized at the academic awards program, and receive special notation in the graduation program.
Your current policy also allows the "student or students with the highest GPA to be named valedictorian and the student or students with the second highest GPA to be named salutatorian. In addition to the above recognition, these individuals then receive college scholarships awarded by various colleges and universities as "valedictorian" scholarships. One example of this is the $1000 valedictorian scholarship given by WVU. US Senator Robert C. Byrd also gives a scholarship to each high school for their valedictorian. Locally, our valedictorians/salutatorians receive scholarship monies and plaques from Calhoun Banks, a year subscription to the Calhoun Chronicle, and the honor of speaking at graduation ceremonies.
To put it in perspective, The Calhoun High School class of 2005 graduated 69 students. Of those 69, 4 were named honor graduates and 11 were named high honor graduates for a total 15. There were three valedictorians and one salutatorian. Mathematically that is 21.74% of the class receiving academic recognition.
To refute some of the reasons given to repeal this policy I say:
- Academic competition is not evil or unhealthy. It is realistic.
-Valedictorian/Salutatorian awards are not unfair to middle school students that take high school classes; they are informed that they are taking these classes before they sign up for them and that the grade they receive will appear on their high school transcript.
-Students do not take easy classes to be win these awards; these students consistently win other academic awards and scholarships that would not be possible if they were not taking challenging curriculum.
-When asked, Our high school principal reported he has had no problem with valedictorian/salutatorian selection under the current policy during his tenure as principal.
-We should do what is right for our students regardless of the national trend; however, 82.49% of School systems across the country are still calculating class rank according to "The College Board National High Survey Report"
Please do not repeal your current policy. These awards are important to the students that work so hard to receive them; they are important to our small community; to family and friends that have ventured beyond and it does not cost the board of education a penny.
We have different strengths and weaknesses and our individual successes should be celebrated especially when they are central to what school systems are supposed to be aboutâ¦.educational success. Please don't buy into what amounts to nothing more than academic socialism. Please vote to retain our policy and continue to recognize the valedictorians and salutatorians of Calhoun County High School.
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