Bensalem High School students and teachers compete on new Fox 29 game show ‘The ClassHRoom’
By Samantha Bambino
The Times
Earlier this season, a handful of Bensalem High School students and teachers, along with the beloved Benny the Owl mascot, became small-time celebrities throughout the Greater Philadelphia region when they competed on the all-new Fox 29 game show The ClassHRoom.
Hosted by Richard Curtis, the show, which was filmed in front of a studio audience on Saturday, Sept. 15 and aired on Tuesday, Oct. 23 at noon, pitted three students against three teachers. Their knowledge was tested in various categories, and the team with the most points won $500 for their school.
The student team consisted of seniors Meg Klaiss, Jarred O’Connell and Angelia Micalizzi, who hoped to put the money toward their prom and class trip to Disney World. The team of teachers, which included Carrie Mielke Cramer, Lisa Tokmajian and Phil Kestenbaum, planned to use the $500 for their students’ AP exams.
The ClassHRoom kicked off with a “Pop Quiz.” One minute and 30 seconds were put on the clock, and Curtis asked 10 questions worth 10 points each. If someone got an answer wrong, a member from the other team could buzz in and steal.
Kestenbaum immediately got the teachers on the board by answering “what is the square root of 144” correctly. Both teams struggled to remember that pop singer Pink’s real name is Alecia Beth Moore, with O’Connell guessing Beyonce, but the teachers made a comeback. Tokmajian knew the powerhouse of the cell is called the “mitochondria,” and Kestenbaum earned another 10 points after stating the distance from the center of a circle to the perimeter is the “radius.”
At the end of the first round, the teachers were leading 30–0. Curtis then took a moment to introduce the contestants to the audience. O’Connell is a wide receiver on the school’s football team, Klaiss doubles as a baseball player and choir member, and Micalizzi serves as vice president of her senior class. As for the teachers, Kestenbaum specializes in writing and acting, Cramer in math, and Tokmajian in science.
During the second round, which Curtis called “Detention,” teams worked together to answer questions in different categories. For each, they could choose to either play or pass. If the team played and answered correctly, they had the pleasure of sending a member of the opposing team to “detention.” If they passed, the other team had to answer and the same rules applied. The first to eliminate each member of the other team would win 40 points.
The students instantly passed the category of “art history” to the teachers, who answered “which artist drew the Vitruvian man” correctly with “Leonardo Da Vinci.” Klaiss was sent to “detention,” where she was forced to sit at a desk located across the stage. The teachers dominated their category of “world history,” sending Micalizzi to join Klaiss. On the student side, it was down to O’Connell, who decided to play the category of “chemistry.” Sadly for his team, the question “what is a vertical row on the periodic table” stumped him, and the teachers pulled ahead 70–0.
Still, according to Curtis, there was still time for anyone to win. Next up on The ClassHRoom was the “Spell Check” round, during which contestants had 10 seconds to spell their given words. If they did so correctly, they stayed in the game. If they got it wrong, they were eliminated. The team with the most players remaining after two minutes would receive 40 points.
Both the students and teachers thrived at the beginning of this round, spelling words like “inept,” “applause,” “mortgage” and “antique” with ease. O’Connell was the first to falter on “tapestry,” and Klaiss and Micalizzi were right behind, stumbling on “embarrass” and “martyr” respectively. The teachers were now ahead 110–0.
Good Day Philadelphia personality Mike Jerrick was a special guest during the “Field Trip” round, which featured questions regarding the Liberty Bell. None of the contestants knew that the original name of the historic landmark was the “State House Bell,” or that the verse inscribed upon it — “proclaim liberty throughout all the land unto all the inhabitants thereof” — is a quote from the Bible. But Kestenbaum, who buzzed in before Jerrick had a chance to finish asking the question, knew that in 1996, Taco Bill claimed it, bought the Liberty Bell as an April Fools joke. Thanks to him, the teachers were ahead 120–0.
The “Final Exam” centered around Philadelphia staple Will Smith. During a commercial break, teams had 60 seconds to answer three questions — who is Smith married to, what Smith film has the tagline “protecting the earth from the scum of the universe,” and where in Philadelphia was Smith born and raised. Each correct answer was worth 100 points, opening the door for the students to take the lead.
Curtis asked the teens what it would mean for them to outsmart their teachers.
“Oh, it would be great,” Klaiss said.
“It would be amazing,” Micalizzi echoed.
Though the students knew the name of Smith’s wife (Jada Pinkett Smith), they responded to the film question with Independence Day rather than the correct answer of Men in Black, which the teachers wrote down.
The ClassHRoom concluded with Benny the Owl presenting Kestenbaum, Tokmajian and Cramer with a well-deserved check for $500. ••
Samantha Bambino can be reached at sbambino@newspapermediagroup.com
