SMART MOVE
Valedictorian from Germantown High headed to “Jeopardy!,” then Harvard.
Apurva Kanneganti, one of the top students in Germantown High School’s history, headed to Washington Sunday to compete for the $100,000 top prize in the “Jeopardy!” Teen Tournament.
When the two-week tournament airs Sept. 12-23, Kanneganti, one of 15 students from across the nation invited to the competition, will likely be introduced to “Jeopardy!” viewers as the one student in her class to earn perfect scores on the SAT and ACT and be accepted to Harvard University at 16.
“Since I was a freshman I have been investigating it (the game show). I wanted to see if there was a way to get on the Teen Tournament,” said Kanneganti, who is also class valedictorian and president of five student clubs. She turns 17 in July. She passed the “Jeopardy!” online test the first time when she was 13.
“I was invited for an in-person interview, but I was really nervous and scared and didn’t show off my skills as well as I should have,” she said Friday of her first attempt.
About 3,000 students took the online test this year, a series of 50 questions on a variety of “Jeopardy!” topics. Participants have 15 seconds to answer each. “Jeopardy!” interviewed several hundred of the top scorers in several cities in the audition that determines the final cut.
“I went to Raleigh,” Kanneganti said. “They called us up in groups of three to do mock ‘Jeopardy!’ and talk to us individually.”
Besides being a standout student, Kanneganti says she got the most help from participating in Knowledge Bowl.
“I’m in charge of history and lit and that’s what a lot of the categories cover. I also read a lot in my spare time, which helped me gain the
knowledge I needed to do well.”
Kanneganti moved to the United States from India when she was a small child so her mother, Dr. Thirumala-Devi Kanneganti, an immunology researcher at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, could pursue her work. Her father, Sanjeev Kanneganti, works for the hospital’s human resources department.
“The U.S. is at the forefront for science, and has been, like forever. She wanted to move to the U.S. for a better opportunity in science. The rest of us just kind of came along,” said Apurva Kanneganti, an only child.
“Jeopardy!” is paying airfare and hotel expenses for her and one parent to attend the taping in the Daughters of the American Revolution Constitution Hall. The quarterfinals are Tuesday. The semi-finals and finals will be taped Wednesday.
“Apurva is an incredible young woman and is probably the best student we have ever had at Germantown High School,” said principal Barbara Harmon. “Not only is she brilliant, but she is also very personable, cares about others and has a good heart.
“It is great to actually know someone who is on ‘Jeopardy!’”
Kanneganti will miss the school awards ceremony in which she was to be introduced as the valedictorian.
“I have someone standing in for me,” the teenager said.
“It will be OK; they will get to be me for a day.”