Teacher has all the questions
This kindergarten educator won in the first round of the ‘Jeopardy!’ Teachers Tournament: Who is Gail Ansheles?
SANTA FE — The Final Jeopardy challenge sought the year that the Department of Energy was created, the Indy 500 had its first female driver and a U.S. president was sworn in under a nickname. It’s a good thing Gail Ansheles remembers when she first voted.
“The first time I voted in a presidential election was for Jimmy Carter,” Ansheles said Monday. “I didn’t know the other two things at all, but that one part of it gave me the answer.”
Ansheles, a kindergarten teacher at El Dorado Community School, wrote down “What is 1977?” which earned her an extra $2,000 and a win Monday night in the first round of the “Jeopardy!” Teachers Tournament.
About 30 people — friends and school personnel — came out to the Santa Fe Sage Inn to watch the show, which was filmed in March, and cheered throughout its presentation.
Ansheles finished the tournament with a total of $15,800, but she said that for this tournament she didn’t get to keep the winning amount.
Ansheles said she received $5,000 for being in the first round and $10,000 for being a semifinalist in the next show. And she received a $2,500 grant from Farmers Insurance, which she said she’s
going to use to create a “maker’s space” in her classroom so her students can make things with Legos, blocks or robotics.
Ansheles competed against teachers from Vermont and California. She was in negative territory — minus $200 — soon into the game and was in last place at the first commercial break.
But she didn’t answer a question incorrectly after that and climbed up to $13,800 before Final Jeopardy. She has already filmed the semifinal episode that will be broadcast next week.
The appearance was a long time coming for Ansheles.
She said she took the show’s online test 10 or 12 times before she was selected for an in-person interview in New York about five years ago, but she didn’t hear anything back.
She took the test again last year and was asked to go to Las Vegas, Nev., for another interview, which also included another 50-question test and a practice “Jeopardy!” game.
She then was asked in December if she wanted to be in the Teachers Tournament.
Ansheles flew out to California during Santa Fe Public Schools’ spring break to shoot the episode.
“It is a lot different than watching it on your TV,” she said. “Even if I knew something was right, I couldn’t always ring in, so there’s a lot of timing to it. And then just being on the set with all the lights and Alex Trebek — it was very nice. They made us feel like celebrities.”
Ansheles said she didn’t expect to win, but when she did, she had to keep tight-lipped about it and didn’t even tell the people she is closest to.
“I had to keep it quiet all this time,” she said. “I didn’t tell anybody, not even my husband or my mom.”
Competing on the show was a great experience, Ansheles said, and all the other teachers were fun to be around. She said they all supported each other and wanted each other to succeed, just like the way they encourage their students every day.
“Being on that Teacher Tournament was so fun,” Ansheles said. “We were all so encouraging to each other. We all wanted everybody to win.”