Last spring, as graduation neared, we had the saga of New Jersey litigant, plagiarist, and professional whiner Blair Hornstine to keep us amused. This year, another top student in New Jersey makes the news, by not repeating Blair's mistakes:
On paper, Joshua Bocher, 18, son of Gordon and Betsy Bocher, is the top student in Vineland High School Class of 2004. But he was home instructed for a portion of his high school career due to a medical reason. He was not mandated to take gym.
A hairbreadth behind him in the grade point average race, Christina Crum, a traditional student, did fulfill the gym requirement. That cut into the time that she could devote to the advanced and weighted courses that may have nudged her grade point average even higher.
As the academic competition headed down to the wire, there was public speculation about what would happen next. Blair Hornstine's legal battle last year was still fresh in everyone's mind. Home-instructed Hornstine successfully sued to be Moorestown High School's lone valedictorian, kicking off a backlash that caused her to skip graduation.
The valedictorian scenario was put to candidates at last month's school board candidates' forum. People brought the issue to the podium at recent school board meetings. But Bocher met with Principal Charles Ottinger, who said he would stand by the student no matter what he opted to do.
So Bocher took matters into his own hands, offering a solution that allows everyone to shine.
He will share valedictorian honors with Crum, 18, daughter of Mercedes and Fredrick Crum Jr. That means room at the podium for the third-highest ranking student, Lee Levkowitz, who said she was grateful for Bocher's goodwill gesture.