Homeschool Mom Nearly Upsets Jeopardy Champion

Anne Campbell, a homeschool mom from Frederick, Maryland, nearly upset one of Jeopardy’s most decorated champions on a recent airing of the popular game show.

On the episode that aired on September 29, Campbell finished in second place to Seth Wilson, who was in the midst of a 12-game run as champion, the fifth highest number of consecutive wins in the show’s history. She finished the day with $12,499, compared to $18,100 for Wilson. Both of them correctly answered the Final Jeopardy question correctly about Daedalus, an inventor and artist in Greek mythology.

The 45-year-old Campbell, who has a degree in zoology from the University of Wisconsin, credited homeschooling her three sons as one reason for her success.

“We love home schooling – the whole philosophy of learning as a way of life,” Campbell said in an interview with The Frederick News-Post before the show aired on television. “You know how much stuff you forget and didn’t learn the first time around? I’ve had the opportunity to really learn that stuff now, so I think that really helped me do well.”

Campbell listed her best categories as science, literature, and medicine; however, she was nervous about the possibility of other genres.

“I was like, if I get a baseball category, I’m dead,” she said, “and I’m terrible with the order of U.S. presidents and British monarchs.”

Overall, Campbell tried to keep everything in perspective, while acknowledging that it was a special and memorable experience.

“The taping was like 20 minutes of life,” said Campbell. “So it was very exciting. We all wanted to win, obviously, and there was anticipation and excitement, but it wasn’t a negative environment at all. We were all really supportive of each other.”