How many times have you watched a game show and thought, “I could do that?”
A teacher in Montgomery County, Maryland, thought so and recently backed it up by winning $15,529 on “Jeopardy!”
“I will be a ‘Jeopardy!’ champion for the rest of my life,” Joe Evans said.
That’s what the seventh grade global humanities teacher at Takoma Park Middle School thought after hearing the show’s host Ken Jennings announce that he had correctly answered his final Jeopardy question.
“I kind of whispered to myself, ‘Is this really happening?'” Evans said. “I felt my mother-in law with me.”
Evans used his late mother-in-law’s birth month and day, May 29, in his Final Jeopardy wagering.
“I think Justine would have really liked seeing me on Jeopardy,” Evans said.
The Final Jeopardy category was literary characters, and Ebenezer Scrooge was the answer that earned him the win.
It was not all smooth sailing for Evans at the Sony Picture Studios in Los Angeles. He competed during the first week of October and the show aired earlier this month.
“I was not great at the signal button,” Evans admitted.
Hanging tough is what Evans said was his key to victory. When his competitors answered incorrectly, Evans would swoop in and give the correct answer.
While Evans’ husband Justin was able to make it to the filming, his parents were not, due to scheduling issues.
“My dad was like, ‘Could you call and see if you could reschedule?’” Evans said with a laugh.
Evans’ parents are part of his “Jeopardy!” journey. He said he remembers when he was around 7 or 8 years old in Philadelphia, they washed dishes and cleaned the kitchen together at 7 p.m., during “Wheel of Fortune.”
“So we could make sure everything was finished up by ‘Jeopardy!’ time,” Evans said.
In a family with doctors and professors, Evans joked that his appearance on “Jeopardy!” has helped his cousin ranking.
The win also notched Evans some “cool points” at Takoma Park Middle School.
Not only were the staff and administration supportive and happy for him, but he also got approval from some that can be hard to please.
“The eighth graders come down for lunch, and they’re like, ‘Hey, Mr. Evans, you’re going to be on ‘Jeopardy!,’” Evans said.
Almost like history is repeating itself, Evans said he was “blown away” by the pictures that friends from college would send of them watching him on “Jeopardy!” with their children.
“I get choked up when it comes to talking about kids learning,” Evans said. “Somebody was like, ‘Yeah, my kid was so into it.’”
While Evans’ winning streak would only last one episode, he will always be a “Jeopardy!” champion.
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