“My generation learned early to cope as young people,” said Helen Halfhill, class of 1930. Halfhill began at Judge when it included an elementary school. The west side of the school was reserved for the high school students, and that was the only wing that they were allowed to enter from. She remembers the beautiful Judge chapel. Where the gym stands today there were once springs of water and a large hill covered in flowers that she used to pick.

Judge didn’t have uniforms, but the students were expected to dress modestly. There were consequences for immodest fashions. The girls always wore skirts or dresses, never slacks. She said that they did have a graduation dance, but did not have a Homecoming or Winter’s dance. Judge did have Prom, but during Helen’s years there the school could not raise enough money to put on the dance. She groaned as she remembered the beautiful chiffon dress that she had bought for the occasion.

Back in the early Thirties and late Twenties teens hung out at each other’s houses or played card games. “Even after all of those games,” she laughed, “I still didn’t know how to play poker.”

Halfhill played basketball on the Judge girls’ team. She vividly remembers standing on the courts and as a point guard wearing the school colors – green and gold. She graduated at age 16, explaining that she had skipped eighth grade because she had had a grade average above 95. They didn’t have any graduation caps or gowns but they still wore formal attire. They received their diplomas and graduated at the Ladies Liturgy Hall. She smiled as she thought about her beautiful graduation dress.

Halfhill either walked to school or on special occasions rode the streetcar for 3¢. She also remembers ballroom dancing and going to the cinema matinees for only 15¢.

One of her most precious memories was when Sister James asked her to go and give a speech on why Judge needed a lunchroom. Her speech must have been persuasive because just a couple of years after she graduated, a new building with a lunchroom was built. That lunchroom was where the weight room is now in the basement of the dance studio.

Judge remained very small in the early years, there were maybe 12 to 15 students in the old and faded school photo that she showed. She regretted skipping a grade because she wasn’t as prepared for high school and probably would have performed better if she had stayed back. Her advice to students today is, “Get the best education because no one can take that away from you.”