Past Valedictorian Comments

Two years ago, Central Valley School District decided that 28 valedictorians were too much of a good thing.

New rules came into effect, tightening the valedictorian requirements.

This year’s crop of vals at Central Valley and University high schools will be required to take at least two advanced placement classes, as well as meeting tougher math, language, science and other standards.

If the district adopts an 11-point grading scale, that would tighten standards even more.

Here’s what some recent valendictorians from CV and U-Hi have to say about the situation:

Tom Carney, CV class of ‘93

School officials “need to decide if being a valedictorian is strictly an academic honor. If it is, they should throw out PE class grades. If it is not, they should also require some sort of diversification - sports, drama, debate.

“Grade inflation is going on across the nation, and CV is no different.”

Carney graduated from Washington State University in mechanical engineering with a 3.8 GPA.

Alex Gibson, U-Hi class of ‘95

“Throughout high school I took as many honors classes as I could and think they were definitely beneficial. I only took AP calculus because I wasn’t interested in other AP classes and didn’t want to overload my schedule.

“I applied for several scholarships and received a few of them. My 4.0 was not essential to getting them, but I think it helped. Most of them would have accepted anyone with a 3.4 or better.”

Gibson is a computer science major with a 4.0 GPA at the University of Idaho.

Ty Dempsey, CV class of ‘97

“The higher level classes at CV helped me the most. They touched on a lot of the subject matter in first year science classes here at the University of Southern California.

“My 4.0 grade point definitely helped in finding scholarships. I know that I would not have received at least two of my scholarships if I had had a 3.8, for instance.

“I think that the current grading system is better than going to a college (A-minus, B-plus) system. This would create too much pressure, and grades would siginificantly drop. I know I got a lot of A-minuses.”

Dempsey is a sophomore studying civil engineering at University of Southern California. His GPA is 3.4.

Sarah Ford Demers, CV class of ‘94

“Part of preparing for college is being able to handle a lot of involvements. At college there are so many extracurricular activities. I had a lot of activities in high school and I think that would be a good indicator. If you can handle it in high school, you can handle it in college.”

Sarah Ford married Sean Demers, valedictorian from CV class of ‘93. Both graduated summa cum laude from Brigham Young University. Sarah had a 3.97 GPA and a teaching certificate. Sean earned a 3.98 GPA in zoology.

Brandon Enevold, U-Hi class of ‘95

“I think having more valedictorians is a good thing. Those kids still worked hard to get a 4.0. I don’t think they should be penalized for not taking AP classes.

“Hunting, fishing, backpacking - to me those were more important than taking AP classes. I kind of see high school as a time to be a kid. You’re young and free. You should be able to do those things.”

Enevold has earned a 3.95 GPA as a senior studying electrical engineering at University of Idaho.