Class rank is when the percentages earned for each class are combined to get a cumulative GPA (Grade Point Average). From there, students’ cumulative GPA’s are organized from highest to lowest. Class rank is not just a senior thing; class rank starts when students enter high school. 

“If you were to receive a zero as your grade that would lower you in the class rank, but say if you were to get an A then that grade would be the highest grade you would receive in a class,” Guidance Counselor Ann Ragus said.

In order to stay in the top of class rank someone would have to take honors classes. Some students such as senior Mateja Clark chose to take honor and CAPP classes, which greatly impacted her chance of becoming valedictorian 

“Taking multiple honors classes each semester as well as maintaining A’s in every class is the most important factor towards being top of class rank, as GPA is a major influence for it,” Clark said.

Even though being at the top of the class can be challenging there are plenty of ways that class rank can help someone now.

“Class rank itself will have little to no impact on me in the future. There is a scholarship that is possible to get because of class rank and it is a nice thing to write on applications, but besides that it won’t have much impact on my life after high school. What will have an impact on me is the classes I took and the knowledge I was able to obtain while taking classes at BHS,” salutatorian Cecilia Bruce-Demuri said.

 Burce-Demuri and Clark have very different opinions about being at the top of their class like Clark feels it’s unreal that she’s at the top and then Bruce-Demuri feels excited.

“I am excited to be at the top of my class, but I also think it is important to acknowledge that there are many other students who have also put a lot of time and effort into their studies. I am not a huge supporter of the class rank system in general because I don’t love the idea of students competing for rankings. I think it can take away from the roots of learning and getting educated to obtain more knowledge, not just for competition,” Bruce-Demuri said.

While Clark feels that it is unreal to be valedictorian, Bruce-Demuri has mixed feelings on being one of the top students in her class.

“If I decide to go to school at Madison, I will be receiving the Wisconsin valedictorian scholarship, which is $2,250 per year. If I go out of state, which I currently plan to do, the scholarship goes to Cecilia. Otherwise, valedictorian will help me to earn other academic-based scholarships from third parties,” Clark said.