An Indiana school district has proposed doing away with choosing a valedictorian for graduation. The Greater Clark County School Board, which is based in Jefferson, Indiana, is looking into scrapping the system as it only fosters "unhealthy competition" among students in high school. Instead of honoring one student with the highest achievement as Class Valedictorian, the Greater Clark County school district might set a new system that will recognize more honor students.
Specifically, the proposal calls for honoring the top 10 percent of the graduating class. In some high schools with a big population of students, this could mean that 50 graduates will get their honorable recognition.
"We've got all of these great students that work very hard, and become very distinguished in their academic career and we want to be able to recognize more of those students at the end of a given year," said superintendent Andrew Melin via WHAS11. He stressed that the top 10 percent aren't usually recognized during graduations, when they deserve to be acknowledged for working hard on their grades during the four years of high school.
A valedictory system also promotes unhealthy competition because there are students who focus more on getting the top honors instead of feeding their interest. Some kids apparently pick out easy classes so they can earn high grades without sweating about it, and without actually learning anything valuable, Fox News reported.
Nonetheless, there are some who oppose the proposal, including Clinton Riggle who is vying for Valedictorian at his high school, reports The Blaze. Riggle justified that the valedictory system is supposed to encourage students to "set the bar" and he sees the recognition of the top 10 percent as a handout. WDRB reports that there are also parents who want to retain the tradition of naming a Class Valedictorian because of concerns that scrapping the system could send the wrong message to the students about working hard.
The Greater Clark County school district is still deliberating the matter. If approved, however, then the new system will be introduced to the incoming freshmen class who will graduate in 2020.
Parents, what can you say about this proposal? Would you want the same system for you children's school? Let us know your thoughts in the comments!
