For the first time in recent history, three valedictorians have been named to represent their class at graduation.  Julian Bonorris, Chloe Pfeiffer, and Liza Rodler all completed seven semesters of high school with a cumulative academic weighted GPA of 4.51.

The competition was closer this year than it has been in some time. Redwood hasn’t selected multiple valedictorians since 2010 when Sam Toizer and Tally Buckstaff shared the award.

To select valedictorians, the administration chooses the student, or students, with the highest total academic weighted GPA after the first seven semesters.

“This year three students were tied, and they’ll all be given the opportunity to speak at graduation,” Sondheim said.

Including their final semester, the three recipients took over 80 semesters of AP and Honors courses combined.  None of them received below an A- in any class.

All three said that they never took classes with the sole purpose of elevating their GPAs.

Both Pfeiffer and Rodler are currently editors for the Bark, and all three valedictorians are varsity athletes. Bonorris played four years of varsity soccer, while Pfeiffer played varsity water polo for three years and Rodler participated in four years of varsity diving.

Bonorris attributed his success to hard work and support from his teachers, while both Rodler and Pfeiffer felt that support came from their peers.

“Having friends that also wanted to take hard classes and challenge themselves made it easier for me, because that way I could struggle through challenges with friends,” Rodler said.

The three valedictorians will give a joint speech at next year’s graduation ceremony.

“We all took similar classes and moved through high school together, so it’s nice to get recognized together too,” Pfeiffer said.  “We’re all looking forward to representing our class.”

In the fall, Rodler will be attending Yale University, Pfeiffer will be attending the University of Chicago, and Bonorris will be attending Dartmouth College.