My kids’ school did away with ranking except for Val and Sal. They do report deciles. In reality the difference between #1 and #20 was often down to the hundredths in decimals. Plus kids were omitting art and music in favor of another AP class etc.
I cannot imagine doing what this parent did.
https://grownandflown.com/dad-rents-billboard-congratulate-valedictorian-son/
Blech.
Different people deal with life events differently.
When my D graduated with honor, I asked her if and how she’d like to celebrate. She said, “Yes. A few photos with you and Mom, and a dinner for three at … (a nice restaurant, cost: $250).” She didn’t even attend UCB commencement ceremony, but went to the EECS party afterward to say good bye to her cohorts. The graduation gift was a Compton folding bike. My wife and I called our extended family to inform that our D had graduated, but didn’t invite anyone to the event.
A friend’s D graduated from HS this year. Celebration included a big party (I think there were about 70 people attending) at a local restaurant. The graduation gift from the parents was a new BMW.
If I were the kid, I would be SOOOOO embarrassed.
If being val is the highlight of your life, I feel sorry for you. (And full disclosure, I was one) Makes me think of Springsteen’s Glory Days.
A billboard? Why not just do a humblebrag on FB like a respectable parent 
From the article:
“It would seem Allmon rented the billboard because his son Josh’s high school, East Wake High School, adopted a policy where administrators no longer named a class valedictorian, choosing instead to switch to a Latin honors system. For those not in the know, the Latin system designates students as summa cum laude or magna cum laude, depending on their overall performances. Students at East Wake High School will no longer be individually ranked.”
The kid allowed this? This is pretty gross.
As far as I know, colleges pretty much do the “latin honors” thing rather than val.
I don’t agree with the billboard (if I were the kid I’d rather have the $1800), but I don’t agree with the author of the article either. She seemed to think the world needed to be leveled for all, that no trophies for anyone is the way to go.
Perhaps buying half a page in the graduation program would have worked? “#1 in our hearts and #1 in the class. Way to go Josh!”
Hopefully, the student consented to the billboard. If so, let them do what they want. I won’t but so what if others do that. Went to In and Out when our kid got into Stanford. We had to start saving money so we can do full pay. lol I found out my kid wasn’t top 3% when at graduation, my kid wasn’t wearing that yellow string thing on his cap. I was wondering what that yellow string thing was and asked my kid “why he doesn’t have the yellow string”, and he said “Dad, that’s only for kids who graduated top 3%.”
When my son was a sophomore and top five in academic standing at his high school, I specifically told him NOT to go for the valedictorian honor. I knew that being a valedictorian didn’t mean much when it came to admissions to top colleges, so it hardly made any sense to pile on additional and unnecessary stress by getting into that race. Instead, I encouraged him to focus more on his EC, which he did. He graduated 6th in his class and surprised everyone who graduated above him in academic standings, especially their parents, when he was admitted to much higher ranked colleges than their’s, including the val’s and the sal’s.
It’s still hard for me (and painful) to watch so many students and their parents placing so much significance to that valedictorian honor even to the point of being obsessed with the pursuit. An $1,800 billboard? Wonder what college he was admitted to?
Obviously one proud dad. I think the billboard is so over the top it is simply hilarious.
@TiggerDad article I saw said NC State with full tuition
The title of this post should read, Billboard for Dad of Valedictorian. I don’t know a single high school student that wouldn’t be embarrassed by this public display.
@TiggerDad, my son’s outcome (ranking and admissions) was very similar to your son’s, although his high school calculated val differently than some high schools. The val determination was based on unweighted GPA only and there were multiple vals who had a 4.0 UW GPA.
In contrast, class rank was based on weighted GPA - the top 10 percent were recognized as a group. At least one val was not in the top 10 percent because that person did not take many weighted (AP/Honors/DE) classes.
He shared his Dad’s posts and the local TV station’s coverage on his own facebook page, so he doesn’t seem to be embarrassed. His dad teaches Automotive Tech at the high school.
I have no idea what my kids’ class rank was, except within a broad range. Top 10%, 20% They took their schoolwork seriously and got good grades – enough to get them into excellent colleges. Their test scores probably better predict how they’ve done in later life than their GPA. But it was their general achievements and extra-curricular interests – not their GPA’s – that best predict how and what they’ve done in their careers.
@Sue22 does his FB say where he’s going? Curious!
ETA - googled and found article on the Today show’s site. He’s going to NC State. It also had a screengrab of one of the son/valedictorian’s tweets with a list of his accomplishments:
5.31 GPA
All-Conference in 2 sports
Beta Club President
NHS President
FCA Leader
Had job senior year
450 community service hours
NC State Chancellors Leadership Scholar
College tuition paid for
First in my class
Valedictorian
Apparently that apple didn’t fall far from the tree…
The dad could have had plenty of reasons for putting up the billboard. Academic success deserves acknowledgement and if their school would not, then I don’t care that he took it in to his own hands. Whatever. Congrats to the kid for doing so well.