To listen to the Show Me Today interview with Emily Fiasco, click below (9:18).

A Missouri teacher says competing on the tv gameshow Jeopardy was everything she thought it would be. Emily Fiasco, a middle school band teacher at Mehlville School District in St. Louis County, appeared on the show for four days – winning about $88,000.

Emily Fiasco of St. Louis

She’s been working to get on Jeopardy for quite some time.

“I’ve been actively auditioning for the last, I think, 14 years, which sounds kind of crazy. I’ve done a number of auditions and everything throughout then, so to finally get the call was just really, really incredible,” she said.

Fiasco’s first audition was while she was a college sophomore in 2008.

“I made it to the in-person audition rounds five times before I eventually got the call,” she said. “And so, it’s a really small percentage of people that make it on.”

Fiasco talks about her strategy for calming her nerves while on national television.

“The good thing is everybody there, all the crew and everything, were super nice and super friendly. So that kind of helped,” she said. “I am a little bit used to being in front of large groups just as far as being in front of students all the time and then doing our introductions and everything in concert. So that helped – just kind of tried to take some of the deep breathing and calming techniques that I’ve used as a performer and put those to work on stage.”

The episodes she appeared on were taped in May and she’s had to keep the details under wraps since then.

“It was really tricky,” she said.

Fiasco, of St. Louis, has been a teacher for eight years.

As far as what she plans to do with her extra cash, Fiasco is still figuring that out.

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