May 13--Spoiler alerts ahead
Joliet teacher Kaberi Chakrabarty may need a calculator to figure out how many math blocks she can buy for $50,000.
Chakrabarty, who works at Sator Sanchez Elementary School, took home second prize in the final round of the "Jeopardy" teachers tournament, which aired Friday. She said in a statement that she was happy to reach the finals.
"I was just so excited to be there, I almost didn't care which place I took. I found that I got a little more comfortable as I went along. I had hoped to make it that far, but I had told myself that I was going to be happy with the results no matter what," she said.
New Jersey English teacher Jason Sterlacci won the competition, the $100,000 prize and a spot in the quiz show's Tournament of Champions. The winner was decided after scores from Thursday's and Friday's episodes were added together.
Chakrabarty entered Friday's episode in third place behind Sterlacci and Des Moines English teacher Jill Gilbert, respectively. Gilbert won $25,000 for placing third in the overall tournament.
Fifteen teachers began the two-week tournament, which started airing last week. Chakrabarty advanced as a wildcard contestant after placing second on the May 6 episode.
Each competitor is set to receive $2,500 for classroom projects. Chakrabarty, who attended Willowbrook High School in Villa Park and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, said she plans to use the grant to buy science experiment kits, musical instruments and math blocks to help her students learn English.
"Jeopardy" airs 3:30 p.m. weekdays on WLS-Ch. 7.
