On Monday morning, Gloria was about to close her locker. Hearing the intercom chime, she stopped and listened. Gloria heard the list of names.
Unsurprisingly, it was time for the list. It was right on schedule. During the second semester, the list of students' names is always announced for the valedictorian and salutatorian.
Unfortunately, Gloria's knees weakened and her stomach did a backflip. She was absolutely stunned when her name was not on the valedictorian and salutatorian list for her high school graduation class. She wondered! What happened?
Being on the honor roll every semester since the sixth grade, Gloria wanted to be the valedictorian of her class. She planned on being the valedictorian. If not valedictorian, she would have been happy with salutatorian. But, neither! It was not acceptable!
As a matter of fact, a scholarship for college depended on the high school award. Without the scholarship, Gloria's family did not have the resources for her college tuition along with the other expenses.
After her classes, with the weight of her backpack, Gloria slumped over and slowly walked towards the guidance counselor's office. Stopping to see her counselor, Gloria discovered that Mrs. Chase was out on maternity leave.
Since the counselor wasn't available, Gloria calmly decided to check her records at home, calculating her grade point average. Because she was enrolled in advanced courses, she knew that she was on course and eligible for the graduation awards.
That night, Gloria eagerly retrieved, searched, and calculated the grade point. According to her records, the grade point average totaled 99.7%.
With close to 100% grade point, Gloria nervously wondered who should she reach out to and discuss the matter with? Because Mrs. Smith was her favorite English teacher, she decided that she should make an appointment during her office hours to determine how she should proceed.
First thing Tuesday morning, Gloria scheduled an appointment for Thursday afternoon with Mrs. Smith.
Having her documentation in a manilla folder, Gloria was confidently prepared for her meeting with Mrs. Smith. After classes on Thursday afternoon, feeling that she could confide in Mrs. Smith, Gloria explained that her guidance counselor, Mrs. Chase, was out on maternity leave. With that out of the way, Gloria proceeded to inform Mrs. Smith that she should have been on the list for valedictorian and salutatorian. Opening her folder and showing Mrs. Smith her documents and calculations, Gloria patiently waited for Mrs. Smith's reaction.
At first, Mrs. Smith was confused. Mrs. Smith referred to her copy of the school handbook. If Gloria's calculations were correct, she should be the class valedictorian. Since Mrs. Smith had access to student grades and the information concerning the grade point averages for the list of valedictorian and salutatorian students. Gloria had a .8% above the valedictorian. However, the school's records showed Gloria to be 1.2% below the valedictorian's grade point average.
On closer examination, Mrs. Smith found a grade of 89% when Gloria's documentation showed her grade to be 98% in her advanced Literature class. In addition, the 100% in an advanced math class had been recently changed to 98%.
Knowing that Mr. Miller was in his office, Mrs. Smith made a quick call and questioned him, asking and confirming the grade along with why, and when he change the grade?
Naturally, Mr. Miller was blindsided to receive Mrs. Smith's call. Checking his records, he confirmed that Gloria in fact did receive a 100% and he had not changed the grade.
Regrettably, Ms. Fisher, who taught advanced Literature, was out sick. Gloria would have to wait until Ms. Fisher returned to school. Mrs. Smith sent an email to Ms. Fisher requesting to meet with her upon her return to school.
At home and in bed, Ms. Fisher received and read her incoming emails. Acknowledging Mrs. Smith's email, she curiously inquired, "What seems to be the problem and could it wait until Monday morning?"
Instantly, she received Mrs. Smith's response. "It's regarding the list for valedictorian and salutatorian. There are questions regarding a student's grade and confirmation of any changes.
During Monday's meeting with Ms. Fisher, Mrs. Smith was able to confirm that the grade should have been a 98, not an 89 and that she hadn't made any changes.
Ultimately, the teachers went to the Principles office. The Principle, Mr. Clark, was at first dismissive. Mr. Clark sneered, "Parents always complain and think their son or daughter should be the valedictorian or salutatorian."
In unison, the teachers declared, "It's not a parent. It's a student. The student has documentation and her calculations are correct. Her grades were changed and not by her teachers."
Naturally, this grabbed Mr. Clark's attention. Mr. Clark asked his secretary, "Where is our IT person James?"
Then, Mr. Clark's secretary paged James. Immediately, James rushed to the Principles office. Mr. Clark asked James to audit the computer records. Later that afternoon, James confirmed that the records had been hacked. The grades were hacked in Cory's favor. Cory's grades were elevated so that he would be the valedictorian.
Appropriately, Mrs. Smith was the first to congratulate Gloria on being the class valedictorian.
***
Epilogue: The school board investigation found that Cory's parents hired a hacker to change the grades so that their son would be the school's valedictorian.
Thank you for reading. This was written for VWP Challenge#2 a list.
About the Creator
Babs Iverson
Barbara J Iversen, also known as Babs Iverson, lives in Texas and loves her grandkids to the moon and back. After writing one story, she found that writing has many benefits especially during a pandemic and a Texas-size Arctic Blast.
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Comments (3)
Fantastic story!
Really enjoyed this!
Oooh! Who was Cory? I want to know more!!