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TACOMA, Wash. -- Among the jittery seniors waiting to walk out at Tacoma's Lincoln high school's graduation, is a 19 year old who is small in stature but big in achievement. Duc Nguyen moved to the U.S. with his family from Vietnam 4 years ago and didn't speak a word of English. He remembers kids making fun of him and thinking he'd never make it. But tonight he graduates with a 3.97 GPA and as class valedictorian. He insists his gift isn't intellect. He says he's a slow learner. But he makes up for it by working hard. His parents...

Kymberly Wimberly is an 18-year-old mother who was valedictorian of her graduating class at an Arkansas high school. Well, co-valedictorian. Wimberly, who is black, alleges in a lawsuit that McGehee Secondary School Principal Darrell Thompson assigned a white student with a lower GPA as co-valedictorian after she was named the sole valediction. She’s asking for $75,000 in damages and for the school record to be corrected, according to the suit. Molly Bratton, Wimberly’s mother who works as the school’s media specialist, learned of her daughter’s honor from the school counselor. But shortly after, said she overhead someone in the copy...

You’ve heard the stories: Pee-wee football and t-ball leagues doling out trophies to every single kid on every single team, even those chubby non-athletes that probably sucked and rode the pine pony most of the season. But coddling high school seniors? Give me a break. Yes, some high schools (in fact, way more than you probably realize) are giving multiple “Valedictorian” titles to graduating high school seniors who have merely achieved over a certain grade point average. And not just to two or three students… try 30 or even, 94! A New York Times story by Winnie Hu highlights the...

The Oak Park Unified School District voted unanimously Tuesday night to approve a program that will replace the current valedictorian and salutatorian recognition during graduation. Under Oak Park High School's valedictorian and salutatorian system, only students who have taken the most rigorous classes in all subject areas were eligible for the top recognition. However, the school's new Honors at Graduation Program will use unweighted GPA to determine if a student qualifies for Summa Cum Laude, Magna Cum Laude or Cum Laude. To receive the Summa Cum Laude recognition, a student must have a 3.90 or higher GPA on a 4.0...

DENVER, Oct. 10 /Standard Newswire/ -- Liberty Counsel filed a brief asking the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals to rule in favor of Erica Corder, a high school valedictorian who was forced to publicly apologize for sharing her Christian faith during her 30-second message at graduation. Liberty Counsel filed a federal lawsuit against Lewis Palmer School District in August 2007. Erica was one of fifteen valedictorians from the Lewis-Palmer High School class of 2006. For more than two years, she has been the subject of criticism because the school continues to portray her as a student who engaged in improper...

Grapevine High School senior Anjali Datta holds the highest grade-point average of the 471 students graduating from Grapevine High School this year. In fact, Grapevine-Colleyville ISD officials believe her GPA of 5.898 may be the highest in the high school's history. It's still not enough to make her the valedictorian, which brings a one-year college scholarship from the state. Her closest competitor's GPA is 5.64. No one disputes that she's the top student in her class numerically. The problem rests with another number entirely. Anjali rocketed through high school in only three years. But a school district policy states: "The...

FRESNO, Calif. — The valedictorian at Fresno's Bullard High School won't be attending college in the United States this fall because he's scheduled to be deported. Arthur Mkoyan's 4.0 grade-point average qualified him to enter one of the state's top universities. But the 17-year-old and his mother have been ordered back to Armenia after their last appeal for asylum failed.

Fresno, CA (AP) -- The valedictorian at Fresno's Bullard High School won't be attending college in the United States this fall because he's scheduled to be deported. Seventeen-year-old Arthur Mkoyan's 4.0 grade-point average qualified him to enter one of the state's top universities. But he and his mother have been ordered back to Armenia after their last appeal for asylum failed. The family fled from what used to be part of the Soviet Union and has been seeking asylum since 1992. A spokeswoman for Immigration and Customs Enforcement says they were given an extension until June 20

Grapevine High School senior Anjali Datta holds the highest grade-point average of the 471 students graduating from Grapevine High School this year. In fact, Grapevine-Colleyville ISD officials believe her GPA of 5.898 may be the highest in the high school's history. It's still not enough to make her the valedictorian, which brings a one-year college scholarship from the state. Her closest competitor's GPA is 5.64. No one disputes that she's the top student in her class numerically. The problem rests with another number entirely. Anjali rocketed through high school in only three years. But a school district policy states: "The...

So according to the wisdom of the public education establishment, a high-school valedictorian should lose her diploma for – not cheating, not plagiarism, but 30 seconds of telling her classmates about her faith in Jesus. The U.S. Constitution compels them, you see. It's clearly there under the Separation Clause that everyone in education knows about. Funny thing about that, though... But first, here's what happened. There were 15 valedictorians in the graduating class of 2006 at Lewis-Palmer High School in Monument, Colorado, and Erica Corder was one of them. With so many top students and so little time, the school...

Valedictorian Threatened with Loss of Diploma over Religious Graduation Message Sues School DENVER, CO, August 27, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Today, Liberty Counsel filed suit against Lewis Palmer School District on behalf of Erica Corder, a high school valedictorian who was forced to publicly apologize for sharing her Christian faith at graduation. Erica was one of fifteen valedictorians from the Lewis-Palmer High School class of 2006. For the past year, she has been the subject of criticism because the school continues to portray her as a student who engaged in improper conduct because she mentioned Jesus Christ during her speech. Before...

A high school student whose commencement speech was cut off when she spoke about her Christian faith will have her case heard in a federal court. A federal judge in Nevada ruled Monday that a debate over freedom of religious expression in public school commencement ceremonies will go to court. The charges stem from a June 15 incident at Foothill High School in Henderson, Nevada, when school administrators cut off valedictorian Brittany McComb's commencement speech after she strayed from a pre-approved script. Earlier, they had removed from her speech references to the Bible and her faith. McComb described God's love...

The valedictorian of a Blue Ribbon-awarded high school in New Jersey has left teachers and administrators with a sour taste in their mouths after using his June 20 valedictory speech to describe his education as "hollow" and one filled with "countless hours wasted in those halls." "I felt like the most important questions were not asked." said Kareem Elnahal, the top rated student at Mainland Regional High School in Linwood, N.J. "Things like ethics, things that defined who we are, were ignored so in that way I thought it was hollow." he told Cybercast News Service Wednesday. Mainland High School...

LAS VEGAS, June 22, 2006 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The name of Christ is so offensive to modern secular ears that Clark County School District officials, who knew it was coming, cut off the microphone during a valedictorian address before they or anyone else could hear it.   Brittany McComb is a Christian and a top student graduating from Foothill High. She knew that her valedictorian address would probably be cut short, but was determined to go ahead and mention the one name that is for her above every other name.   "I went through four years of school at Foothill and they taught me...

District pulls plug on speech Foothill valedictorian criticizes decision to censor her proclamation of faith By ANTONIO PLANAS REVIEW-JOURNAL She knew her speech as valedictorian of Foothill High School would be cut short, but Brittany McComb was determined to tell her fellow graduates what was on her mind and in her heart. But before she could get to the word in her speech that meant the most to her -- Christ -- her microphone went dead. The decision to cut short McComb's commencement speech Thursday at The Orleans drew jeers from the nearly 400 graduates and their families that went...

At Beaverton's Westview High School, it'll take a bus to transport all 75 valedictorians to the Class of 2006 graduation ceremony. At Southridge High, the lone valedictorian could get there on a motorcycle. And it's not because Westview has more top-achieving seniors. For the first time, the Beaverton School District is using a new grading system for seniors that gives extra grade points for taking challenging courses. But the district allowed each high school to figure how to apply the new grade system to choosing valedictorians. The result? Wildly different numbers of valedictorians at each school. ------- said Jared Cordon,...

Back in the day, class valedictorian was the standout scholar of the senior class, the acknowledged brain. This year's 406-member graduating class at Garfield High School features 44 valedictorians. Forty-four students with perfect 4.0 grade-point averages who, over seven semesters of mostly honors and Advanced Placement classes, have never earned less than an A. Even for a school with a reputation as an academic powerhouse, it's a record number: Last year Garfield had 30 valedictorians; the year before, 27. Skeptics say that so many students with perfect 4.0 GPAs is evidence of grade inflation; admirers say it's the product of...

Back in the day, class valedictorian was the standout scholar of the senior class, the acknowledged brain.This year's 406-member graduating class at Garfield High School features 44 valedictorians. Forty-four students with perfect 4.0 grade-point averages who, over seven semesters of mostly honors and Advanced Placement classes, have never earned less than an A.Even for a school with a reputation as an academic powerhouse, it's a record number: Last year Garfield had 30 valedictorians; the year before, 27.Skeptics say that so many students with perfect 4.0 GPAs is evidence of grade inflation; admirers say it's the product of smart, hard-working students...

High School Seniors Taking Desperate Measures to Graduate at the Top of the Class June 3, 2005 — As most high school seniors prepare to graduate this month, the competition to finish at the head of the class is growing quite fierce in many communities. Some students and parents are resorting to extraordinary measures. High school senior Julia Keblinska thought she had a lock on valedictorian at her school outside Albany, N.Y., but then learned that a student who took no advanced classes beat her grade point average. During her entire high school career, the lowest grade Julia Keblinska got...

Eagleville High School Valedictorian Abe Stoklasa said all he wanted to do was give a memorable speech, but what he thought was funny, school leaders considered offensive. In his speech, Stoklasa planned to say, “You have given us the minimum required attention and education to master any station at any McDonald’s anywhere. For that we thank you. Of course, I’m only kidding. Eagleville is a fine institute of higher learning, with superb faculty and staff.” He said all of the jokes were simply segues to build up the school with compliments. But those in attendance at Eagleville’s graduation ceremony never...