No More Competition: Demerits for Valedictorians

Carol Thetford / June 25, 2009

The York, Pennsylvania, school district has decided to eliminate the practice of honoring the top-achieving students as “valedictorian” or “salutatorian.” According to school board officials, this practice may promote unhealthy competition. Students, however, appear to have a different view of such honorifics. Caroline Klidonas, a 17-year-old rising senior asked in an interview on Tuesday with the York Daily Record,

“How would anybody succeed at anything if there’s not competition? You get what you work for and that’s all there is to it … Why wouldn’t the school want us to have that kind of mindset?”

In an interview with Fox News, Caroline expressed her displeasure with the school board’s decision to no longer honor academic excellence in her school district.

“…[students] would definitely like for valedictorian and salutatorian to be honored… if you have awards in all the other areas just like athletics and even the performing arts…why not the top two overall?” (more…)