Every year, Jesuit High School Sacramento announces their Valedictorian and Salutatorian for the graduating class. This year James Randall ’24 was named Valedictorian and Delvin Ntale, ’24 the Salutatorian.As Salutatorian, Delvin will start the graduation in prayer, after which James will give his valedictorian address, a speech about the Senior class and their four years together at Jesuit.   

With only two seniors receiving these accolades, becoming the valedictorian or the salutatorian is no easy task.

“At many schools, Valedictorian is just given to the student with the highest [grade point average] (GPA) or even a handful of students with the top GPAs, and salutatorian is either number two or another student from the top academically; but at Jesuit, we take into account peer nominations, nominations from general faculty, and the votes of the senior graduation awards committee,” said Assistant Principal for Academics Mr. O’Connor. “Typically, we give a lot of weight to the student nominations, since these two students are selected to speak on the students’ behalf.” 

When he was announced as salutatorian, Delvin was filled with shock. 

“Receiving the salutatorian award was a surreal moment for me,” Delvin said. “I genuinely could not believe that I’d received it even after Dr. Wood and Mr. O’Connor sat me down and told me that I had. It honestly took a few days for it all to set in. Now that it has set in, I can tell you that I’m beyond grateful to be recognized with this award.”

James was delighted to learn that he had received the commendation, and just like Delvin, the realization didn’t hit right away.

“My reaction was quite delayed,” James said. “I was obviously chuffed in the moment when Dr. Wood called me into his office, but it didn’t really set in for me until a couple of hours later. I woke up the next day and thought ‘Good God, I’m the valedictorian!’ and that really was a rewarding feeling.”

Delvin believes that you shouldn’t focus on becoming the salutatorian or valedictorian. Rather, you should focus on bettering yourself and your community. 

“I’d encourage the Juniors who want to be salutatorian next year to not focus so much on wanting to get the award and doing everything you can to get it,” Delvin said. “Instead, I’d encourage them to focus on cultivating a connection with their brothers. Consider leading a Kairos Retreat–Consider taking Liturgy Workshop so that you can contribute to each mass on campus.”

With graduation right around the corner, these young men have left a lasting impact on our community, and we all look forward to seeing where they will take their talents in the future.