DANIELLE GORMAN was musing about what it takes to secure the No. 1 spot at her highly ranked, competitive high school.
”Valedictorians are the type of people who take on too much and are unwilling to fail,” she said.
She should know. Danielle is this year’s valedictorian at Moorestown High School, in Moorestown. She often studied until 2 in the morning.
Danielle, 18, took one Advanced Placement class in her sophomore year, five her junior year and four senior year. Why not five? Because her math class, ”Multivariable Calculus and Differential Equations,” covered material beyond what the A.P. tests measure.
On top of her studies, there was mock trial, model congress and the debate team, along with four years on the track team. Oh yes, and there were those relaxing summers, like the one after her sophomore year, when she took a course on international law at Harvard Summer School, while at the same time completing a 50-hour internship with a law firm.
Danielle, who will attend M.I.T. this fall, said she chose challenging courses and pushed herself because she wasn’t sure what she ultimately wanted to do. She wasn’t shocked to find out she had been named valedictorian — she knew she was one of the three top students — but tried to keep herself from wanting the honor too intensely.
”I really conditioned myself to not want it or expect it,” Danielle said. ”I take things pretty stoically. It didn’t set in for a while, and then I was really happy.”
Another valedictorian season has come to a close, with students throughout the region having proudly stepped up to the podium to deliver their graduation speeches and receive the accolades that come from being the highest academic performer in their school.
But as the path to that honor has intensified over recent years, some administrators are beginning to question the valedictorian tradition. Several factors — including the increase in the number of high school students, grade inflation, intense competition for college acceptances and a savvier student body — have changed the game.
Some students strategize to win, taking on a heavy load of A.P. courses, which are weighted when grade point averages are calculated. Some avoid more creative courses, like art or photography, where grading can be subjective, and a B could ruin their shot at the top spot. There have been conflicts about how to measure the transcripts of transfer students who come from schools with different grading systems. In a handful of cases, the zeal for valedictorian honors has led to lawsuits.
Take Danielle’s high school in Moorestown, which landed in the national spotlight five years ago, when a high school senior sued the district in an effort to be named valedictorian. Blair L. Hornstine was awarded $60,000 by the Moorestown School District to settle a federal lawsuit that she filed after the district tried to name a student with a lower grade point average as co-valedictorian.