At least you know it's not a lack of intelligence. Smart girl.

I would talk to her school about it (after discussing the situation with her) and say if she IS valedictorian can they just pick the next best person to do the speech and actually get called the valedictorian? After that maybe get her to practice small scale public speaking or attend workshops it's a skill she'll need a lot more in college.

My son was the valedictorian of his tiny 8th grade class of 12 from a small Catholic school. He didn't want to give a speech either. So, he wrote it and had one of his best friends (a kid whose grades were never great) read it, going with the theme that they were like a family and wanted to include everyone in the ceremony. The principal approved and we all thought it was a great compromise.

Dumbass

Anxiety much, poor girl

Luckily I'm stupid enough not to worry about that :)

Pretty sure you can decline to become valedictorian without having to wreck your grades.

At least you're still a proud father.

The school should be able to respect her decision enough to not have to make a speech. Just because you get good grades does not mean you have to talk to the whole school.

Who doesn't hate 500 pairs of eyes staring at you while you read from a paper. A speech you wrote 2 weeks prior and can't even remember it. xD