USC Native Appears on Jeopardy

An Upper St. Clair native is scheduled to appear on "Jeopardy!" Thursday night.

Kara Spak will make her second return to the popular game show as a "Tournament of Champions" contestant.

Spak first appeared on "Jeopardy!" last year when she won five games and earned $85,401. She used the prize money to buy kitchen appliances and two pairs of yoga pants.

In August, the show's producers invited Spak back to the show. The taping was held in September.

"I knew there would be crazy strong players so I didn't have any huge expectations," Spak said.

Spak couldn't reveal the show's results, but she did note that players don't have to win the game to advance. She said there will be four wild card spots.

Spak is a 1992 graduate of and 1996 graduate of the University of Notre Dame. After college, she spent a year with the Jesuit Volunteers Corps in San Jose, California. She then earned her master's degree from Columbia University and currently holds a job as a general assignment report for the Chicago Sun-Times.

When asked if her education in Upper St. Clair prepared her for "Jeopardy!" she gave an enthusiastic "yes!"

Spak attended for grade school and said all of the religious classes greatly helped her with the game show's questions about bibles and saints.

She added that Sister Alexis' "panel game," a trivia game played with the students, gave Spak her first taste of how much she loved trivia.

An Upper St. Clair High School education also gave Spak an edge on the game show.

"All the subjects are so strong there," Spak said. "The teachers and the students, by large, are very bright."

However, the advantages she gained from high school did not all come from the classroom.

"Being a Pantherette taught me not to fear public embarrassment," Spak said.

Spak's mother now lives in Mt. Lebanon. Spak drives back to Pittsburgh to visit about four to five times a year.

She thanks everyone in Upper St. Clair for the support she has received for being on the game show. Spak said that even her mom has received congratulations while shopping at .

Watch Spak compete on "Jeopardy!" on Thursday at 7 p.m. The grand prize champion will win $250,000. The second place winner will earn a minimum of $100,000 and third place $50,000. Semifinalists receive $10,000 and contestants eliminated in the first round receive $5,000.