A tie for first is still first place

Rejecting the competitive expression, "anything you can do, I can do better," and espousing the "two are better than one" adage are Cape Central High School co-valedictorians Tessa Valleroy and Alex Gentle. The two battled it out for solo valedictorian honors, but in the end, neither superseded the other. So, for the first time in 13 years, two students in the district share the title.

The honor is unusual in and of itself, but what makes this even more special is that these two students are friends. As the Southeast Missourian reported recently, Valleroy said, "We're both really good friends, and I consider him an equal in all regards." She went on to say, "It was really cool that we could tie and share the valedictorian title. It was a win-win situation, more or less."

Gentle praised the school for its handling of the process, admitting that school officials turned what "could've been upsetting or disappointing" into something that "ended up working out really well." That process came down to numbers -- as these things always do; the person with the best GPA overall wins the honor. Gentle and Valleroy's numbers, however, were so close that it came down to calculus. Ultimately, Gentle and Valleroy were named co-valedictorians.

Last week, the nation saw two middle school students share the coveted Scripps National Spelling Bee title after three grueling days of competition in Washington, D.C. Likewise, in Cape Girardeau, a three-part test that also took three days to complete gave us two winners -- high school students who worked hard throughout their academic careers to become co-champions. Congratulations, Tessa and Alex.

We love to highlight these examples of success. They teach us about hard work, perseverance and reward. And in this case, especially, they teach us about something our instructors have tried to impress upon us since kindergarten: sharing.

Beginning Thursday, and every Thursday throughout the summer, the Southeast Missourian will publish profiles of valedictorians in our area. You do not want to miss these Q&As that honor these young people who will, no doubt, go on to do great things and represent our communities well.

Congratulations to all the area's valedictorians.