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Darby Whitehill is incredibly outspoken, and loves what he does, in this picture he is teaching his Algebra 3 class in the morning. "It's great to see how you can impact students," he explained.

“There’s definitely too much stress on grades in my opinion,” junior Corri Gardner said. “Instead of learning to enhance lives, we’re rushing to get everything done. On the other hand, knowledge can be gained at your own pace. Grades don’t prove knowledge, and school definitely doesn’t teach you everything.”

“I think that grades measure our ability to adhere to the school system, not necessarily our intelligence,” sophomore Cat Clements added. “I’m not saying that they’re worthless, but they rely heavily on our ability to memorize information.”

While that may be true, the SAHS faculty and staff does a lot to make sure their students get a quality education. However, but there are different opinions as to whether it make sure that they get a quality amount of knowledge while getting high test scores.

Clements weighed in on the subject. “When teachers implement open-ended discussions into their lesson plans, I think that helps students view the information from a personal level,” she said,”It helps them solidify all of the new things that they’ve been exposed to.”

Stillwater schools reach for the stars when it comes to academics, that might come with a price. Although grades are an important factor, teachers and students have different views on whether Stillwater puts too much emphasis on them.

“I believe that our school does a lot to make sure that students gain a quality education while gaining knowledge,” Spanish 3 and 4 teacher Becky Skogen said. “Teachers are very willing to help the students struggling, and we try our best to allow the students to select the level of difficulty. I think that it allows the student to learn at their own pace,” Skogen explained. “Unfortunately there are students who aren’t always intrinsically motivated to participate in learning for learning’s sake,” she said.

Clements added to the situation, explaining that “I definitely think that we put too much emphasis on grades,” Clements stated that, “It’s not uncommon for my friends to call n late at night crying, due to their stress and fear of getting a bad grade.”

Whether anyone agrees with the statement that people put too much emphasis on grades and not enough on knowledge, there are many major reasons for both sides of the argument and many different opinions as to what it now important.

Skogen later said that “My high school GPA has mattered so little in my life, but the things I learned in my high school and college experiences have made me who I am and have given me the ability to do so many amazing things.”