Alia Snyder
“Drum roll please… It seems we have a tie.”
This is what echoes through the minds of the two valedictorians for the 2014 graduating class of Germantown. Four decimal points, all the way to the ten thousandths place, and somehow the two numbers are still exactly the same.
Never in the history of Germantown has this happened. One reason could fall on the fact that the valedictorian and salutatorian were chosen using a different method this year. But then again, the two winners would probably still be tied.
Both girls, Mei Ray and Christine Lee, are a part of the International Baccalaureate program, a two-year international educational program comprised of a very rigorous lesson plan to develop the students in an effective manner to help further world development. But the IB program isn’t the only challenge these girls have faced.
Ray has been on the softball team since her freshman year along with being a part of numerous on campus clubs, such as G3 and Key Club, and honor societies such as Beta Club and National Honor Society.
Lee has also participated in her share of extra activities. Her junior year she became the president of Key Club, a club that centers around doing different community service projects to better the community. She is also a member of Bridge Builders Chang and International Club. Alongside Ray, Lee is a member of Beta Club and National Honor society as well.
Normally, being tied for first doesn’t sit well with people, but the girls seem to be fairly optimistic about the situation.
“To me, the GPA doesn’t really mean anything. All of us were so close, so it’s nice being recognized for having a good GPA. But it mostly matters to that I tried my hardest during high school,” Lee said.
Ray is just as happy about the great achievement.
“I feel like I really accomplished something by being number one. I’ve wanted to be number one since my eighth grade graduation where I was salutatorian, so now it’s like ‘yay I finally did it.’ And I think it’s really cool that both the valedictorians and the salutatorian are girls. It gives us a feeling of strong girl power,” Ray said.
With there being a tie for the valedictorian position, many questioned if the school would still recognize a salutatorian at all. Katherine Kamin just barely made it a three-way tie by being only 0.0056 behind both Lee and Ray.
“It’s an honor to be considered at the top, and for all my hard work to pay off and actually get recognition for it. It was extremely hard especially since I took all the hardest classes that I could,” said Kamin.
Just like the others, Kamin is also a part of the IB program. She played basketball and soccer throughout high school and participated in many clubs including Beta Club and National Honor society.
“Drum roll please… It seems we have a tie.”
This is what echoes through the minds of the two valedictorians for the 2014 graduating class of Germantown. Four decimal points, all the way to the ten thousandths place, and somehow the two numbers are still exactly the same.
Never in the history of Germantown has this happened. One reason could fall on the fact that the valedictorian and salutatorian were chosen using a different method this year. But then again, the two winners would probably still be tied.
Both girls, Mei Ray and Christine Lee, are a part of the International Baccalaureate program, a two-year international educational program comprised of a very rigorous lesson plan to develop the students in an effective manner to help further world development. But the IB program isn’t the only challenge these girls have faced.
Ray has been on the softball team since her freshman year along with being a part of numerous on campus clubs, such as G3 and Key Club, and honor societies such as Beta Club and National Honor Society.
Lee has also participated in her share of extra activities. Her junior year she became the president of Key Club, a club that centers around doing different community service projects to better the community. She is also a member of Bridge Builders Chang and International Club. Alongside Ray, Lee is a member of Beta Club and National Honor society as well.
Normally, being tied for first doesn’t sit well with people, but the girls seem to be fairly optimistic about the situation.
“To me, the GPA doesn’t really mean anything. All of us were so close, so it’s nice being recognized for having a good GPA. But it mostly matters to that I tried my hardest during high school,” Lee said.
Ray is just as happy about the great achievement.
“I feel like I really accomplished something by being number one. I’ve wanted to be number one since my eighth grade graduation where I was salutatorian, so now it’s like ‘yay I finally did it.’ And I think it’s really cool that both the valedictorians and the salutatorian are girls. It gives us a feeling of strong girl power,” Ray said.
With there being a tie for the valedictorian position, many questioned if the school would still recognize a salutatorian at all. Katherine Kamin just barely made it a three-way tie by being only 0.0056 behind both Lee and Ray.
“It’s an honor to be considered at the top, and for all my hard work to pay off and actually get recognition for it. It was extremely hard especially since I took all the hardest classes that I could,” said Kamin.
Just like the others, Kamin is also a part of the IB program. She played basketball and soccer throughout high school and participated in many clubs including Beta Club and National Honor society.