Creek Speak | Page 42

For most students, good grades are a genuine reflection of learning, and that is all you should strive for. It is essential to keep good grades. But many students are so concerned with good grades, they let grades define who they are. Because grades basically determine our college future, we aim for a high percentage. With that said, there is a social-emotional connection to our grades. Many can relate, but we make assumptions about our intelligence based on grades. So the higher the grade, the smarter we are, right? Wrong. Students are more concerned about earning a higher grade than about learning the material and remembering it. The reason I say schools need to update their curricula is because we have the privilege of internet access. School is essential as a basic foundation for success, but it needs to modernize. Schools should adapt to delivering and testing curricula on-line, especially for students at a younger age. Many of my teachers care so much about their students and want us to benefit, which we do. I think our secondary education system needs to address the fact that students can swiftly and easily get answers online, instead of spending time finding them in a book, a process which leads to greater retention of the material. Teachers need to reorient lessons from learning ​facts to retaining techniques and making ​judgments: methods of critical thinking. Tomorrow’s jobs will be filled by people who know how to find information, evaluate it, and package it in useful and innovative ways. Schools should teach students these methods. Finally, our education system is blind, beyond a wr itten, sit-down test, to the great wealth intelligence of a student. If a student is struggling with a unit or topic, why must we take a test about it? Failure is not due to the fact that we don’t study hard enough or don’t pay enough attention in class. Making us take a test we’re not ready for, and failing it, doesn’t teach a lot. In reality, we will just experience stress, and then forget the information the moment that test is over. Lastly, if education is the key to success, why is education after high school so expensive? Be Part of the Solution, Before It’s Too Late by Olivia Fertig It is legitimate to express concern about the state of the world only if you first take part in trying to save it. As our earth is slowly crumbling away beneath the strain of climate change, deforestation, and over-population, the majority of humans are not taking action to protect it. Some say climate change is a hoax. This is entirely ludicrous, as there is clear scientific evidence saying that the earth’s climate is in fact changing for the worse. Before we know it, our world will