by Sarah Cigas

Even though the Valedictorian Libby Stoops works and studies hard, she is still just a teenager.

“It’s kind of funny,” Stoops’ father said. “Her usual routine will be to come home from school and sleep for two hours on the couch before dinner.”

Libby Stoops was declared Valedictorian by the administration in early January as the senior with the highest GPA, which she said was 99.77. According to a friend and a teacher of Stoops, her personality is focused yet funny, and she is a hard worker.

“It wasn’t a goal at first,” Stoops said. “I did whatever I could to get the best grades I felt that I needed but as time went on I just kept trying to do better and better each year. It never really looked like a huge goal, I just thought it would be nice if I somehow got it.”

One of Stoops’ qualities that has helped her, according to both her father and her math teacher, Jo Weller, is that she knows how to balance her school life with her social life.

“She is very serious and focused,” Weller said. “When she’s working she is completely focused and completely working but then she also knows how to balance that and turn that off and relax and be social and have a good time.”

Her father also described her as being a perfectionist. He said that it is both an asset and a detriment for her, though she has learned to cope with it as she has grown.

“She has kind of learned that you do lose in sports,” Stoops’ father said. “She always used to hate losing when she was younger and couldn’t stand to lose but she accepted it and then she realized that there are things you can learn from losing and there are things you can learn from not always being the best at something.”

According to Stoops, she does other things besides school work. She is a teenager participating in activities such as sleeping, playing sports, watching TV and hanging out with friends.

“She really has a great sense of humor, she’s witty, and she has got interests in other areas,” Weller said. “She’s this Myth Busters kind of fan and I could see her as a Myth Buster. I could see her doing these crazy experiments and testing out all these theories.”

As confirmed by Stoops and the school roster, she is the second daughter of her father Steve Stoops and her mother Liz Stoops.

“She’s smarter than either her mother or myself,” Stoops’ father said. “I don’t know where she got this genetic material. She’s done far better than either her mother or I could have done but we’re proud of her. We’re proud of what she’s done and want good things for her.”