I was smart and lucky enough to be my high school valedictorian!
I was my school's valedictorian, as well.  The term is Anglicised from the Latin term for saying farewell.
Interesting!  What exactly does "angelicised" mean?  Have schools always had valedictorians?
Anglicisation
Anglicisation (or anglicization, see English spelling differences), occasionally anglification, anglifying, Englishing, refers to modifications made to foreign words, names and phrases to make them easier to spell, pronounce, or understand in English. It commonly refers to the respelling of foreign words, often to a more drastic degree than romanisation. One example is the word "dandelion", modified from the French "dent-de-lion" (“lion’s tooth”, because of the sharply indented leaves).
Valedictorian
Valedictorian is an academic title of success used in the United States, Canada, Philippines, and Armenia (and elsewhere in limited number of schools) for the student who delivers the closing or farewell statement at a graduation ceremony (called a valediction). The chosen valedictorian is traditionally the student with the highest ranking (highest Grade Point Average, or GPA) among their graduating class. The term is an Anglicised derivation of the Latin "vale dicere" ("to say farewell"), historically rooted in the