valedictorian

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College Valedictorian Hasn't Spoken Since She Was a Baby

Graduate with nonspeaking autism delivers inspiring address at Rollins College

(Newser) - "God gave you a voice. Use it," valedictorian Elizabeth Bonker told classmates at her Florida college in a commencement address Sunday. "And no, the irony of a nonspeaking autistic encouraging you to use your voice is not lost on me. Because if you can see the worth...

38 Years After Graduation, Black Woman Is Valedictorian

She was snubbed by Illinois high school in 1984

(Newser) - In 1984, Tracey Meares had the highest grade-point average in her class and was on course to become the first Black valedictorian at her Illinois high school. Instead, Springfield High School ditched the titles of "valedictorian" for the top student and "salutatorian" for the second-place student and introduced...

Valedictorian's Mic Cut During Speech About LGBTQ Identity

Student rallies and recites speech from memory

(Newser) - Graduating from high school isn’t always easy. Graduating as your class’s valedictorian? Harder. Slogging it out with great grades during a global pandemic? Challenging isn’t a big enough word. Bryce Dershem did it, though. But while he was giving his valedictorian address at Eastern Regional High School...

Princeton Gets First Black Valedictorian in 274-Year History

Canadian student Nicholas Johnson will speak at virtual ceremony

(Newser) - A historic first at Princeton: The Ivy League university has named the first black valedictorian in its 274-year history. Nicholas Johnson, a Canadian student who majored in operations research and financial engineering, will speak at a virtual commencement ceremony on May 31, which will be followed by an in-person event...

Student Working Drive-Thru Shift Gets Best Customer Ever

Kaitlyn Watson informed by school administrator she's her class valedictorian

(Newser) - Kaitlyn Watson has been out of school for nearly two weeks due to the closures spurred by the coronavirus. But the Michigan high school senior has still been working her shifts at the Culver's fast-food drive-thru, and recently she waited on her best customer ever. That customer, per CBS...

Valedictorian's Speech Started With Thanks, Ended With Barbs

Nataly Buhr 'thanked' office staff for 'negligence'

(Newser) - A California high school valedictorian threw a curveball in her commencement speech last week, and school officials aren't thrilled. Nataly Buhr's address last Thursday to the crowd at San Diego's San Ysidro High School started off typical, with Nataly thanking teachers and her parents, per Fox News...

Audio Was Cut, Valedictorian Says, at Mention of 'Tamir Rice'

Unfinished speech also mentioned victims of mass shootings

(Newser) - "To the kids that were murdered in senseless mass shootings; to Trayvon Martin, Tamir Rice, and all the other children who became victims of injustice," a high school valedictorian in Dallas began saying Saturday. Then her microphone was cut, NBC reports. Rooha Haghar tweeted an account and a...

BYU Valedictorian Comes Out During Speech

'I'm proud to be a gay son of God,' he says

(Newser) - There were cheers and whoops from the crowd at Brigham Young University's commencement ceremony Friday as political science valedictorian Matt Easton came out as gay during his speech. After congratulating his classmates at the Mormon university, Easton said: "I stand before my family, friends, and graduating class today...

$82K Raised for Gay Teen's Tuition After Parents Spurn Him

Seth Owen, co-valedictorian of his senior class, got in to Georgetown, couldn't afford to go

(Newser) - Seth Owen was over the moon when he received what appeared to be the path to his "life goal" of going to college: an acceptance letter from Georgetown University. But the Florida 18-year-old, who was the co-valedictorian of his senior class, had his hopes dashed when he later received...

School to First Black Valedictorian: No Speech for You

So Jaisaan Lovett's speech was posted on YouTube

(Newser) - Jaisaan Lovett, it seems, is not a young man to be denied. The first black valedictorian at his New York state high school, Lovett gave his graduation speech last month on YouTube after the school principal apparently refused to let him speak at graduation, the Democrat & Chronicle reports. "...

Valedictorian: My Mic Was Cut Due to 'Fear of the Truth'

17-year-old Lulabel Seitz was silenced when she started talking about sexual assault

(Newser) - As valedictorian of California's Petaluma High School, Lulabel Seitz took to the podium at the June 2 graduation to give the commencement speech. But a few minutes in, after speaking on typical topics like good times and facing adversity, the 17-year-old broached a not-so-typical subject: sexual assault. "The...

Valedictorian Pulls a Fast One With 'Trump' Quote

Ben Bowling revealed he was really quoting Barack Obama

(Newser) - Perspective is everything in persuasive speaking, which Ben Bowling found out in a flash while giving a speech as valedictorian at his Kentucky high school graduation. Per the Louisville Courier-Journal , the 18-year-old senior at Bell County High School wanted to impart a nugget of wisdom to the crowd Saturday, and...

School District May Stop Honoring Its Valedictorians

Indiana officials worry honoring No. 1 student is fostering 'unhealthy competition'

(Newser) - While colleges debate the use of trigger warnings and safe spaces, administrators in Indiana's Greater Clark School District are worrying about one word in particular they say may cause students angst, SheKnows reports, via MSN . That word is "valedictorian," a title the district is mulling dumping in...

Valedictorian's Tweet Causes an Uproar

Texas student encounters anger online over her 'undocumented' boast

(Newser) - A high school senior in Austin, Texas, had good reason to do a little playful boasting: "Valedictorian, 4.5GPA, full tuition paid for at UT, 13 cords/medals, nice legs," tweeted Mayte Lara Ibarra on Friday, the day she graduated from Crockett High School. But it was one final...

Harvard-Bound Valedictorian: I Was Banned From Graduation

Devan Solanki says guidance counselor thought he threatened her

(Newser) - Devan Solanki planned to give the valedictorian address to his graduating class at New Jersey's Lodi High School before entering the halls of Harvard this fall. But the top student with a 4.3 GPA isn't allowed to speak, reports NJ.com . In fact, he can't attend...

Graduation Morphs Into a Taylor Swift Flash Mob

NH valedictorian Colin Yost leads surprise senior jam to 'Shake It Off'

(Newser) - Parents who thought they were going to have to sit through a boring graduation in a stuffy gym got anything but at Portsmouth High School on Friday. Colin Yost, the valedictorian for the New Hampshire school's senior class, decided he wanted to shake things up—and off—during his...

Chicago Valedictorian Gets Into 26 Colleges

Arianna Alexander settles on the University of Pennsylvania

(Newser) - For many high school students, deciding on a college comes down to one or two schools. For Arianna Alexander of Chicago, it came down to more than two dozen—including most of the Ivy League. Chicago's WLS-TV reports that after being accepted to 26 schools (including six Ivies), the...

School Blocks Speech From Gay Valedictorian

And the principal then outed the teen to his parents

(Newser) - The parents of a Colorado charter school valedictorian who was prevented from giving a graduation speech in which he planned to come out as gay say they won't pursue the issue further. The Daily Camera in Boulder reports 18-year-old Evan Young did not participate in a news conference yesterday...

Grandma, 71, Graduates— as Valedictorian

Jerry Duncan, 71, proves age is just a number

(Newser) - "Just because you got a little age on you, don't let it stop you." Those words come from Jerry Duncan, a 71-year-old grandma and now the valedictorian of the 2014 certified nursing assistant program graduating class at Texas' Kilgore College-Longview. Duncan, who worked as an unlicensed nursing...

Valedictorian Denied Diploma for Saying 'Hell' in Speech

Kaitlin Nootbaar was inspired by ... 'Twilight'

(Newser) - Kaitlin Nootbaar graduated as valedictorian with a 4.0 GPA and is headed to college on a full scholarship … yet her Oklahoma school won't release her diploma because she used the word "hell" in her graduation speech. Dad David Nootbaar says Kaitlin was inspired by a Twilight...

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