Letter to the Editor

Gosnell graduates were extraordinary group

Wednesday, June 4, 2014

EDITOR'S NOTE: This column is in response to Andy Weld's May 21 column. You can read that column here.

To the editor:

I would like to shed a positive light on the seven valedictorians honored recently at Gosnell High School. In a time when so many families seem to be leaving our area, I think encouraging our youth for their achievement would be a wise investment. After all, don't we all want these bright minds to rush off to college, only to return in a few years to serve us well and make us proud?

Among the seven, three had ACT scores above 30. This is a rarity for all the schools in our county. Since the ACT is a national college admittance exam designed to reflect what a student has learned in high school, and it is standardized to national norms, it showcases achievement and rules out grade inflation.

Two of the Gosnell valedictorians received the Governor's Scholarship. (One received the Distinguished Scholarship.) These are the highest scholarships awarded by the Arkansas Department of Education and occur pretty scarcely within our county. Among GHS valedictorians, two were offered full rides to Arkansas State University. They received the highest award ASU gives. Only one other student in our county received this scholarship. One of our top students also received over $72,000 to attend Lyon College, which is a one of the highest scholarships this private school offers.

I am sure all valedictorians in our local schools are bright, driven individuals who have worked hard to attain the elite status set forth by the various school boards. And even though seven might seem like a lot of top students, in reality, many schools across America honor students with all As by giving them the title valedictorian. (A school in Alabama honored 34 valedictorians last year!)

In a small school, the top students usually take the same advanced placement classes. When students take an AP class weighted with 5 points, the GPAs will increase above a 4. The student who took the fewest credit hours will wind up with the higher GPA, and thus the higher rank. Gosnell has had a policy in place since the mid '90s that names all students with a 4.0 or higher as a valedictorian. There have been years with one or two valedictorians, and then years with a few more. This year's class is exceptional, but as I mentioned above, the students themselves are exceptional individuals.

Being valedictorian is a great honor that takes years of effort. And every once in a while, a class comes along with multiple students who work hard for that AND deserve it.

Kelley Lammers
Dell