Edsel Ford High School

Administrative Guidelines of Dearborn Public Schools 5431 – SELECTION OF VALEDICTORIAN AND SALUTATORIAN

Administrative Guidelines of Dearborn Public Schools are as follows:

5431 – SELECTION OF VALEDICTORIAN AND SALUTATORIAN

The selection of valedictorian and salutatorian will be the responsibility of each individual high school.

The valedictorian designation shall be the student who has the highest cumulative grade point average in grades 9 – 12.

The salutatorian shall be the student with the next highest cumulative grade point average.

Any disciplinary issue dealing with academic honesty will disqualify a student. (Including but not limited to cheating and/or plagiarism.)

No one may be valedictorian or salutatorian if they receive any major discipline in junior or senior year that results in two or more days of Out of School Suspension.

To qualify a student must have earned their final eleven (11) credits in the Dearborn Public Schools at time of graduation and a minimum of one (1) year at the high school from which s/he is graduating. All grades earned in all subjects, both required and elective, shall count in determining the final average.

In the instance of a tie, students will be awarded a designation as co-valedictorian or co-salutatorian.

Some form of recognition should be granted to both individuals during the Honors Night and the graduation ceremony beyond the designation in the printed program. Such recognition may take the form of being a student speaker, sitting on the dias, leading the pledge to the flag, standing and being introduced by the principal during their remarks to the audience, noting the student’s achievements during their high school career, etc.

It is the policy of the Dearborn Schools to encourage the involvement of as many students as possible in both the Honors Night and graduation ceremony. Therefore, selection of student speakers should not be confined only to those students with academic honors. Some high schools have class officers speak, others hold a competition for student speakers from the senior class. Methods of selection of students to represent the student body on the program is the prerogative of each high school.

The valedictorian and salutatorian give a 2-3 minute speech at Honors Night but do NOT automatically speak at graduation. There must be a contest to determine this.

The Class President speaks at graduation for 2-3 minutes.

An “at large” graduating senior is also selected to speak at graduation. This student does not have to be from the top 5 students.  Each school has a similar selection process including an audition and faculty panel.

 

EDSEL FORD HIGH SCHOOL’S PROCESS FOR SELECTION OF “AT LARGE” SPEAKER AT GRADUATION

It is open to all senior

Interested seniors submit a speech (5 minutes or less)

A panel of five teachers read the speeches and rate them. (the names

are removed so that there will be no bias)

After the panel selects the top three, they are presented to administration for approval of the appropriateness of content.

Mr. Casebolt then meets with the finalist and informs him/her that he/she will speak at graduation.