On a cold February night, high school students around the valley were faced with anticipation, rumors had been circling that in the morning, school will be canceled due to a massive snow storm. This is everybody’s dream during a school week, a day off with minimal homework and time to do whatever you want.

Then on Feb. 22, Judge students received the good news – school would be canceled due to weather conditions.

“It looks like the snowfall has been consistent with the original reports,” Principal Patrick Lambert wrote in an email that night. “It appears that the storm will likely drop 8-14 inches in the valley before 10 a.m.  With that information, we have decided to call a snow day.   We hope that by calling it the night before, we can avoid anyone missing the message.  Stay safe and warm tomorrow.

According to the U.S. Weather Service the 16.9 inches of accumulation in Salt Lake City made it the second biggest February storm in our state’s recorded history, and the ninth biggest winter storm ever.

“It was 10:00 at night when I was watching the news to see if the storm was going to be all it lived up to,” junior Evan Chisholm said. “Disappointed while looking outside I thought it was too good to be true, no way was there was going to be a snow day in the morning. I set my alarm bright and early for 6 a.m. as I nodded off in anticipation waiting to see if fate would change in the morning.

“My alarm went off and I opened my eyes,” Chisholm continued. “I crawled out of bed and walked upstairs to the kitchen to pour myself a bowl of cereal. This was when I checked my phone. I thought to myself, ‘first to check my text messages to see if anybody was rejoicing at the news of a snow day.’ And then both to my surprise and delight people were sharing messages from friends celebrating the snow day.

“I let my dad know, and he returned to sleep filled with joy. I as well returned to my bed and warm blankets as I happily dozed off filled with snow day delight.”

This news made just about every student in the Salt Lake Valley ecstatic, allowing for people to do whatever they pleased. Some chose to sled, some chose to ski, and others chose to simply relax in the comfort of their own home. Students at Judge did not allow the snow to keep them in their homes.

Junior George Frech left the night before the day off and went up to Solitude Ski Resort. Sophomores Jack Freeman, Conrad Beck, and some of their friends hiked up Jacks Peak to go sledding and skiing. Freshman Will Holbrook built a ramp in his alley to do ski tricks.

It was a great day off full of sleeping, skiing, and sledding.