This Year's Blair Hornstine?

The Baltimore Sun published this article in today's edition, about a valedictorian battle at a tiny high school on Maryland's Eastern Shore. The article was vague enough to initially leave me undecided about the validity of Jenny Evans' lawsuit (exactly how were the grades "corrected?"), but there were some other interesting gems buried in the article that left me with even more questions.

Jenny acknowledges that she has already been accepted by her two first-choice schools - the Naval Academy Prepatory School and Salisbury [State] University. Not that Naval Academy - check out the link, but the key text is highlighted below:

"The mission of NAPS is to prepare selected candidates for admission who are judged to need additional academic preparation so that they will be able to perform successfully as midshipmen at the U.S. Naval Academy, the Merchant Marine Academy, or as cadets at the U.S. Coast Guard Academy. The 10 month course of instruction at NAPS, lasting from August through May, emphasizes preparation in English Composition, Mathematics, Chemistry, Physics and Information Technology."

If Jenny Evans was the most intelligent or second most intelligent person in her entire high school, why does she need "additional academic preparation" for 10 months before moving on to college? And as everyone from Maryland knows, Salisbury is the Frostburg of the East - pretty much any in-state resident gets in. Unfortunately, the article didn't state where the named valedictorian, Sara Grosky, is attending college.

Later in the article, Jenny admits the lawsuit is more about "hometown pride" and her "personal feelings." More so than actual facts? That, it doesn't say. While it's always tough to finish in second place after trying very hard to reach a goal for such a long time, I feel that this knee-jerk lawsuit is the reaction of a sore loser and that this will be the only thing she remembers from her senior year of high school, instead fond memories and a job very-well done. And keep in mind, this is coming from someone who, in my competitive high school sports days, used to own a T-shirt that read "Second Place is First Loser."