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The Catholic New World
Traditions shifting, but top students stand out

By Hilary Anderson
contributor

Tradition has been slowly stepping aside at many high school graduation ceremonies this year. The use of valedictorian and salutatorian speakers, once an integral part of the commencement exercises, is being replaced by other ways of acknowledging students’ achievements.

Regina Dominican High School in Wilmette is among several Catholic schools turning the tide. The school dropped the traditional speakers from the graduation ceremony four or five years ago, according to Adrian Dominican Sister Adrienne Piennitte, principal.

“We don’t have class ranks any more,” she said. “It’s too much pressure on the students. We still have our A and B honor rolls, but a student might be ranked first at one college while another may classify her number 20. If a college requires it, we will put a ranking on the student’s record. We prefer the college look at a student’s overall achievements, not just the individual’s academic rating.”

Regina replaced the traditional concept with one in which a senior applies for the honor of being the graduation speaker. Interested students present their proposed speech to the school’s forensic coach, administrative staff and teachers. The group selects three to five finalists. Students then vote for the peer whom they would like to give the “farewell” speech at their graduation.

“We still have a keynote speaker and honor an alum with the Regina Coeli medal,” Piennitte said, but “we also acknowledge our top scholars at graduation.”

Guerin Prep in River Grove also has moved away from using valedictorians and salutatorians at its graduation ceremony.

The school—completing its first co-ed year after opening its doors to students from the now-shuttered Holy Cross High School—allows any Guerin Prep senior with a 2.5 or above grade-point average to audition in front of 10 faculty members for the role of commencement speaker.

“This gives more of our students an opportunity to deliver that final, special message,” said Sister of Providence Dawn Tomaszewski.

“Our faculty encouraged students to try out. We’ve previously found some students who gained the distinction of valedictorian were reluctant to address a large group of people and therefore not the best speakers,” she said.

Three girls and three boys were chosen from those who auditioned. Seniors Laura Bollin and Kevin Lyon won the honor of being this year’s Guerin Prep’s commencement speakers.

“The two had the best themes and made the most inspiring presentations,” said Tomaszewski. “Laura used symbolism and words that best captured the things she and her peers learned here. Her phrases were poetic. Kevin was inspirational with his reflections. He was reminiscent yet celebratory.”

Resurrection High School is blazing a similar path. Its Class of 2005 will be the first group of the school’s students to go without ranking—from freshman to senior year.

“We don’t have a published rank and have been weaning out that old concept,” said JoMarie Yonkus, principal.

“All of our girls work hard here. We encourage our students to not compare themselves to anyone else. They are individuals and compete with themselves. It happens that one year a student might be number one in her class but the next might find herself number five. It’s not fair to rank students when so many variables are involved.”

Resurrection still calculates students’ grade point averages and has high and regular honor rolls.

“Parents are agreeable to this new concept, which we like to call, ‘Best in the Class,’” added Yonkus.

“Colleges are doing fine with this idea. They now have to look at other things like ACT scores, clubs, activities and community service in determining acceptance of an individual, which they should. We remind everyone this is not a foot race. It’s our students working to their potential.”

St. Ignatius College Prep no longer uses the term, “valedictorian.” The senior with the top grade-point average now is referred to as “Senior Scholar.”

St. Rita High School is among those that dropped the inclusion of a valedictorian and salutatorian at their commencement exercises only to return to the idea years later.

“We went through a period of about 10 years when we didn’t recognize a valedictorian at graduation,” said Sally Deenihan, St. Rita’s vice president for academic affairs.

“We invited an adult to be a speaker, someone who had impacted the senior class. Now we’re back to the valedictorian and salutatorian concept. Each gives a speech at graduation based upon their common experiences and bonds. We feel it’s important to honor academics. We’ve recognized athletics. All of society honors the best. There’s the Emmys, Academy Awards, Super Bowl. Why not recognize academic achievements? It’s the right thing to do!”

St. Benedict High School also dropped the use of a valedictorian and salutatorian at graduation but returned to it last year, said Coley Daigler, director of admissions and marketing. The school also will include a keynote speaker at this year’s commencement.

Seton Academy in South Holland looked at the issue about three years ago.

“We talked about changing the concept of a valedictorian and salutatorian to something else but never did anything about it,” said Mary Iannucilli, principal.

“Our parents seem to like the tradition and it’s nice to recognize a student’s achievements over four years’ time. Every one of our students has been accepted at a college. They also appear to be happy with the system as it is.”

Loyola Academy in Wilmette continues to recognize a valedictorian and salutatorian at commencement exercise but eliminated class rankings about five years ago.

Mt. Assisi Academy (Lemont) also continues the tradition of using a valedictorian and salutatorian at graduation. To qualify a student must have been a full-time student at Mt. Assisi for at least two full years.

“Some transfer students might have a different grading system than do we,” said Franciscan Sister of Christ the King Sister Mary Frances Werner, principal.

The thought of changing the concept of valedictorian and salutatorian or eliminating the honors lingers in the minds of school administrators, students and parents.

“We will continue the tradition of having a valedictorian and salutatorian at our graduations for the time being,” Werner added.

“It gives the girls an opportunity to share their thoughts and inspirations at graduation, although there is some talk as to whether this tradition should continue. We question whether there is a better way to acknowledge all the fine accomplishments of our students.”

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