Richards teacher to compete on Wheel of Fortune on Thursday

Sara Carlson, an English teacher at Richards High School in Oak Lawn, will compete on Wheel of Fortune on Thursday, September 18 at 6:30 p.m. on ABC7 Chicago.

Carlson completed an involved application process before receiving an invitation to compete.

“I submitted a Wheel of Fortune online contestant application in 2012, and I heard from them in April 2013. They notified me that they were going to be auditioning in Chicago at the Palmer House, and that I had to submit an online audition video to then be asked to audition in person,” said Carlson, who lives in Orland Park.

Carlson passed that hurdle. When she arrived at the Palmer House, she found 50 other hopefuls.

“They sent us all into a room where we proceeded to play Wheel for an hour. They had a fake Wheel in the front of the room, and called our names at random to call letters and then solve a puzzle,” Carlson said.

Producers screened the applicants for their energy and ability to solve the word puzzles.

“I passed the first cut, and then we had to do a written test. The test required us to solve 12 ‘hangman’ puzzles with just a couple of letters in each one. After that, they eliminated even more people. There were only 20 people left after that cut,” said Carlson.

Then they played another round of Wheel of Fortune.

“I was able to solve another puzzle. Because of my enthusiasm and puzzle solves they contacted me two weeks later to (extend the invitation to compete on the show). What’s even cooler is that they have over 10,000 people audition every year and only 300 are chosen per season,” she said.

Carlson traveled to Sony Studios in Los Angeles last May to compete.

“I was surprised to see how small the actual studio is. The wheel is small too, but surprisingly heavy. They let us practice spinning the wheel and calling letters before they started practicing. It was cool to see how they film the shows and to see some life-changing events,” she said.

Like all contestants, Carlson signed a confidentiality agreement and cannot divulge the results of her show.

“I will say it was pretty awesome to tell Pat Sajak himself that ‘I want to buy a vowel.’ My attitude about my experience was, even if I end up in last place, at least my flight and hotel will be paid for with the consolation prize. All in all it was a blast! Surreal, yes? But FUN!”