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Jade Greene-Grant, a teacher in the Bronx who calls Yonkers home, won $84,000 in prizes and came within letters of a million dollar cash-in after solving three puzzles and making it to the final bonus round.
Greene-Grant made her debut this week as “Wheel of Fortune” celebrated “Teacher’s Week.” She entered with her friend and co-worker through a video submission and was ultimately allowed to audition in Manhattan after her friend brought her along.
“I watched Wheel with my mother and grandmother and always knew I wanted to be a contestant,” she wrote in a blog post on Wheel of Fortune’s website. “As part of our video, we made large banners for our classrooms and included our students chanting ‘pick our teachers!’”
After meeting Vanna White - in “casual clothes, no make-up and hair in a ponytail - and Pat Sajak in the contestant’s room, Greene-Grant made her way to the big stage in California, where she found her experience far different from her experiences in front of the television.
“Everyone who watches the show at home and plays along is a perfect contestant in their mind. I’d find myself yelling ‘what are you doing,’ to the contestants on TV when they miss something that seems so obvious,” she added. “But the minute you get to the stage, the rolls are reversed and you’re that person.
“Being on the show was very nerve-racking at first; but they let you play practice rounds beforehand, which helps eliminate some of the nerves.”
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