The unhealthy competition, massive amounts of stress, and controversial ranking are all factors that deemed having a valedictorian at Libertyville High School as highly unnecessary.

In previous years, LHS had a valedictorian, a title for the student who holds the highest academic ranking in the graduating class. According to Mr. Greg Herman, science department supervisor, the title was solely based off of a student’s GPA. The student granted the title would give a graduation speech and would be awarded with a plaque on the wall in the school. In 2007, Libertyville stopped awarding the valedictorian label.

Now, students who have a higher GPA are put on the “Honor Graduates” list on a plaque at the front of the school. To give the graduation speech, seniors can audition and are then chosen by faculty.

As stated by Mr. Herman, the main reason why LHS does not have a valedictorian is because of overcompetiveness. In years before, students would be pushing themselves too hard just to get the title of being a valedictorian. Students would take summer school every year and would attempt to take as many pass/fail classes as possible to secure their GPA. This competition was very unhealthy. Students who wanted to be valedictorian would be aimlessly studying and taking as many AP courses for the wrong reasons; they did not want to learn, they just wanted to be granted a title.

Our staff concluded that having a valedictorian was not fair to other students at the top of the class. Only one valedictorian was given each year and was based only off a student’s GPA, not taking into consideration any sports and outside activities a student participated in. Students working just as hard with a little lower of a GPA were neither recognized nor praised as much as the class valedictorian.

However, not having a valedictorian does have negative impacts on the schooling system. If there is no competitive system to achieve this title, some students may not be motivated to work as hard. not many people are working as hard. Also, the student who is at the top of their class is not recognized, which seems unfair. Although being a valedictorian does not make or break your college decision, if a student was at the top of their class and was awarded the valedictorian label, he or she would have another beneficial thing for colleges to look at.

Being a valedictorian does not necessarily beneficially impact a student’s long-term life. Becoming a valedictorian can be a lot of work and if a student is awarded the title, it is possible that they are burnt out and have less motivation to work hard. It is understood that having the valedictorian label does not make that great of a difference in someone’s schooling career; it is the work one does to get there which is important.

Despite the negative aspects that having a valedictorian may bring, there are positive impacts to the current situation. Not having a valedictorian relieves pressure for many students. Students are not compelled to be granted this title so they do well in school for the right reasons and are overall less stressed.

As of right now, it looks like the valedictorian will not make a return here at Libertyville High School. Having a valedictorian seems very outdated and although some parents and teachers may want the school to have one, it is very unlikely that the valedictorian title will make a comeback.