Big Sandy ISD configures grade point averages for its seniors after the fifth six-weeks so the outgoing students can be aware of where they will graduate. It is done carefully, with the number figured four spots after the decimal, or ten thousandths, for those who remember junior high math. After many calculations this year, there was an unusual result at the top of the class.
Jaycie Blankenbaker and Brianna Battise have been best friends since elementary school. They have participated in many of the same activities. Blankenbaker is now the class president, while Battise is vice president. They both take part in Health Occupation Students of America. Battise is a former basketball player, while Blankenbaker was a standout on the softball team. Both are in National Honor Society. They will even attend college together after walking across the stage in Dallardsville.
Big Sandy Principal Jacob Rae said he has never heard of a tie for valedictorian, but the two friends have managed just that.
"They literally have a 4.0000," Rae said, emphasizing each zero. "It is just crazy because I have never seen it at a dead tie. We literally hand-figured those things 18 times. We kept coming out with the same number.
“I have talked to multiple principals around the county and around the region, and they've never had it. We had to contact TEA (Texas Education Agency) to make sure we could give two certificates.”
The principal said the response from TEA was that if the numbers are exact, schools can allow for a tie between two students, but under no circumstances should more than two awards be issued.
“They've been competitive the whole time since probably sixth grade, from what I've heard,” Rae said of the two.
“We both worked so hard all four years and it is great that we both get to,” Blankenbaker said of sharing the title with Battise. “One of us doesn't have to be sad and we are both happy, so it is good. We were not expecting to both get valedictorian. I have always wanted to be valedictorian; we have tried.”
The class president said they have been in competition with each other for better grades. She also had a good idea of where she wanted to attend school after Big Sandy.
“I have wanted to go to Texas A&M since I was little. My family liked A&M. I went to the campus and I liked it, so I knew I wanted to go there.”
Blankenbaker has plans to study biology once in College Station, and dreams of becoming an orthodontist.
“It was definitely really shocking,” Battise said. “I didn't expect it, because Coach Rae took forever and he was keeping secrets. I kind of just accepted that I have been second, so it was probably still the same, and he was just being mean. When he told us, my reaction – I was really excited. I feel like we've always been close, but I never really felt like it was a competition, because it was always her and I. She was always ahead of me, and I was just a little bit back.”
Rae remembers the moment a little different.
“They both hugged each other and started crying for a hot minute.”
Rae admitted that he also may have shed a tear and had to walk away.
“That whole week, I was in a bad mood,” the principal said. “That makes you remember why you do it, to see kids genuinely being happy for each other.”
Battise may have briefly considered the school in Austin before deciding on Texas A&M. It should come as no surprise that she will also study biology with the intention of becoming an orthodontist.
“I decided on Texas A&M; my journey was a little bit different. I wanted a smaller city, maybe not something as small as Livingston, but smaller than Austin. There's more people I know in College Station, and of course, I would have Jaycie there.”
