Bridgeport High School Inducts Barbara Judy into the Class of 2017 Hall of Fame
By Connect-Bridgeport Staff on September 02, 2017 via Connect-Bridgeport.com
Editor’s Note:The following is a biography of one of the four individuals chosen to the Bridgeport High School Alumni and Friends Foundation Hall of Fame. They will be honored at a banquet on Sept., 30 at the Bridgeport Conference Center. Tickets are available and can be purchased by calling Darletta Stout at 304-203-8300 or Cookie Compton at 304-842-6365.
Barbara Judy is the daughter of the late Glenn and Margaret Mercer. The Mercer’s spent their adult years in St. Marys, West Virginia
where Glenn worked at the American Cyanamid Company and Margaret worked as a science teacher. Barbara spent her youth in St. Marys and graduated from St. Marys High School. She then attended West Virginia University and obtained a bachelor’s degree in secondary education and a masters in counseling and rehabilitation.
Barb moved to Bridgeport after completion of graduate work and started working at Central Junior High in 1975. In 1977, she transferred to working split time between RW High School and Bridgeport High. She then continued full time at RW High School until the spring of 1989 -- at which time she transferred to Bridgeport High. She served as counselor for the high school until her retirement in 2006.
While at the high school, Barb perceived a need for more academic competitions against other schools in the state to stimulate the desire to learn. The high school already had a team called JETS (primarily and math/science team) which was coached by Virginia Graham.
Barb assisted Ms. Graham for a couple of years before taking the program over in 1992. At that time, Barb got wind of another academic contest called Academic Quiz Bowl and accordingly started a team in the school year 1992-93. Barb Judy continued to coach and mentor the quiz bowl teams of Bridgeport High School until 2015. Several times over that 20+ year span, BHS took first place in either AA or AAA division and competed in the national competitions.
In 1995-96, the team competing in the Science Bowl and took first in states twice. This success enabled the team to go to Washington, DC to compete in the Department of Energy National Science Bowl. In 2010-11, the National History Bowl and Bee was started, and Barb took a team to the state level each year while she was working – including taking teams to the national competition in 3 of those years.
In addition to her academic coaching, Barb also played in the Shinnston Community Band from 1998 until she moved in 2016 and in the flute choir, Flutissimo, from 2000 until 2016. Barb was a member of the Bridgeport Presbyterian Church where she frequently taught Sunday School classes, sang in the choir, and served on the Mission Committee as well as the Presbyterian Women’s group.
Barb has two grown children. Jennie is married to Nathan Dutton and is a school librarian in Portsmouth, Ohio. Tom is married to Jennifer (Davis), and they have three children: Ryan, Kaylah and Brayden. Tom works for Embraer in Nashville, Tennessee as an airline mechanic. They live in Murfreesboro.
In 2016, Barb moved to Tennessee be near Tom and his family. In Murfreesboro, she is a member of the First Presbyterian Church Choir and the Presbyterian Women. She is also a member of the Tennessee Valley Winds (a community band) and the Middle Tennessee State University community flute choir.
