Valedictorian, Salutatorian, and MVP’s
Academics
This past week, I read that the Parkland School District decided to no longer award the distinction of class valedictorian or salutatorian. The rule was instituted in 2009 for the class of 2013. They are not the only local schools to do this. Moravian Academy and Emmaus High School also do not list the top two students. Instead, they would list all of the students who had achieved honors as a whole. This is easy to do, since the honorees are based on grade point averages, and perhaps, other criteria. It is not subjective. I am sure a computer just simply spits out the names. In other words, the schools (computers) choose their All-Stars, but not their MVP’s.
Athletics
This academic direction is an interesting path for those of us who are, often, a part of choosing athletic all-star teams and most valuable players. And our choices are much more difficult – we do not have grade point averages or computers to make the decisions for us. We have statistics, but we all know they can lie. I have usually been able to take a list of athletes and choose an all-star team from that list. Sure, if you need to select 10, the difference between #9, #10, and #11 (who would be left out) is not always extremely clear. Then, to select an MVP from the 10 may be even more difficult, more subjective, and simply unfair. A local paper is currently attempting to select an Athlete of the Year (one male and one female) and offered up their first two nominees this week – a football player and wrestler (male); a field hockey and softball player (female). The paper will offer 5 choices for each gender and voters will choose the winners. This would seem to diametrically oppose the academic philosophy of the schools mentioned above.
The Question
So the question I pose to you – who is right? Should we honor the absolute best in academics and in athletics or is it good enough for each school just to name their All-Stars and eliminate their MVP’s? Should we get away from Top Ten lists (unless you’re a David Letterman fan) and let high schools, colleges, and employers decide, based on their criteria, who they want?
Let me know your thoughts before the fall – I have an All-Star football ballot to fill out and the last line asks me to list my choice for an MVP!
