In 10th grade, Justin Vingle, a senior at John F. Kennedy High School in Warren, read "Julius Caesar" ­ the Cliff's Notes version.

While the rest of Vingle's sophomore class was struggling through the real version, Vingle was taking the shortcut and earning a "B."

That sounds like a good reason to stick with Cliff's version, right? Not really according to Trumbull County high school students polled on the issue.

It seems like students are pretty equally split over the usage of Cliff’s Notes in the classroom. Over 100 were polled by the Tribune Chronicle Journalism Explorers Post and 48 percent said that they don’t use Cliff’s Notes.

As Liz Williams, 17, of Howland High School said, "The Cliff’s Notes help me out a lot, because I can get the gist of the whole book without having to read the whole thing. Also, they are a lot easier to study from for a test because you can just turn to the section and the important stuff is right there."

While about half of the students in the poll use Cliff’s Notes as an aid or a substitute for the book, the rest of the students disagreed.

"Using Cliff’s Notes is wrong; people should actually read the story. Cliff’s Notes are just a fraction of the real thing," said Noah Bixler, a 9th-grader at Niles McKinley High School.

The Explorers Post also polled more than 30 teachers and found more of a split. Eighty percent of the teachers agreed with the use of Cliff’s Notes as long as they are used as an aid to the book, not as a substitute.

"Cliff’s Notes could be an aid in learning, and to help the students organize their reading. Cliff’s Notes can never actually take the place of reading the book, because reading it is an adventure, Cliff’s Notes are just an outline," said Diana Maselli, an English teacher at McKinley.

Twenty percent of the teachers surveyed strongly disagreed with the use of Cliff’s Notes. Catherine Howard, an English teacher at Lakeview High School, said, "No, I don’t (approve of using Cliff’s Notes). I believe that we have no need to have anyone tell us what we think. If you read Cliff’s Notes, you are letting somebody lead you instead of using your own mind."

Among students, the use of Cliff’s Notes as a substitute for the book seems to be on the decline. Out of the 52 percent of the students that said they used Cliff’s Notes, only three percent said that they used Cliff’s Notes as a substitute for the book. The rest of the students said that they used Cliff’s Notes as an aid to better understand the books.

Jessica Cere, a 9th-grader at McKinley, said, "Cliff’s Notes were a good invention. They help you understand more of what you’re reading. They tell you more than just what the story says, it goes more in depth."

Some students have never even heard of Cliff’s Notes. As Seham Ahmed, a 10th-grader at Brookfield High School said, "No (I don’t use Cliff’s Notes), because I’ve never heard of them."

Just who is Cliff anyway? Most people do not know that behind this study guide is a real person.

Cliff Hillegass, founder of Cliff’s Notes, was born in a small, rural, Nebraska town named Rising City. Hillegass graduated from the University of Nebraska in the 1930s, and began to work in a bookstore.

One contract with the bookstore would launch Hillegass’s career. In a conversation with Jack Cole, the owner of Cole’s Notes (a study guide produced only in Canada), it was suggested that American students would welcome a study guide of their own.

Hillegass soon launched Cliff’s Notes in August 1958 with a line of 16 Shakespeare titles. With that, Hillegass built the company that produces the most widely used study guides in the world, according to Cliffsnotes.com.

In 1998, Hillegass sold Cliff’s Notes to Hungry Minds, publisher of the best-selling "For Dummies" books. Hungry Minds has taken Cliff’s Notes to the next level with downloadable and online Cliff’s Notes, according to Cliffsnotes.com.

Today, for as little as $5, students can "buy" clarification and understanding of a book. From "Antony and Cleopatra" to "Wuthering Heights," there is hardly a book used in today’s classrooms that is without a Cliff’s Notes.