Breaking: Nguyen wins first ‘Jeopardy!’ game, offers campus shout-out
May 12, 2022
A Palo Alto High School math teacher is $7,199 richer today after winning his first ‘Jeopardy!’ game and adding a surprise shout-out to his school in the final moments of the show.
In the ‘Final Jeopardy!’ round, teacher Daniel Nguyen wagered $5,801 on his answer— which he knew could not possibly be right— of the popular Paly chant “What is Sko Vikes?” in response to the prompt of “An Italian word for ‘Mercy,’ but also the name of a movie character who kills Stracci and Carlo.”
Nguyen competed against returning champion and children’s book editor Mallory Kass and wine import manager Micaela Tuttle, where of 20 questions he answered, he answered 17 correctly. Nguyen was up a total of $13,000— including $3,000 from a daily double— before the painful ‘Final Jeopardy!’ round.
Nguyen will host a ‘Jeopardy!’ watch party Thursday during lunch in the Paly Media Arts Center. All faculty and students are welcome to watch.
![In the fourth period AP Calculus BC class at Palo Alto High School, senior Crystal Li places her phone in the “phone jail.” Starting July 2026, this may become a normal procedure across schools in California thanks to Governor Gavin Newsom signing the Phone-Free School Act into law last week. According to Li, there are often unnecessary complications that come with enforcing phone restrictions. "It becomes a hassle putting it [a phone] in [the phone jail] before class, and taking it out after class," Li said. "There have been multiple times where kids from other periods interrupt the teacher to come back in and pick up a phone they left."](https://palyvoice.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/IMG_7386-3-300x225.jpg)
