We’ve all seen the show Jeopardy on television and we all pretend to know the answers to the ridiculously hard questions. But someone here in Westchase wasn’t pretending, and it got him right in front of Alex Trebek.

Thomas Pusateri, a 28-year-old geography teacher at Davidsen Middle School, had a dream to one day be on Jeopardy. When the opportunity finally presented itself, he was more than ready.

Pusateri grew up loving trivia. In high school, he was on the Academic Team, which was similar to Jeopardy, but the students played on teams. He calls himself a “trivia nerd” but was also involved in sports as a teenager, which no doubt helped with sports trivia later on in college. When he was a teenager, Pusateri’s family (mom, dad and five children) would often drive from Ocala to Ohio to visit family. On these trips, Pusateri’s father would quiz him, asking him who was singing the song on the radio and what year the song was made. His father probably didn’t realize this was preparation for his oldest son to become a contestant on one of the longest running game shows.

Pusateri received a degree in geography and history from Florida State University. While he was reluctant to admit it, some of his frat brothers and he would watch Jeopardy and compete against each other back then. He met his wife in college and moved to Clearwater with her to be close to her family. Pusateri has taught sixth, seventh and eighth grade geography and history at Davidsen Middle School. Maddy Hull, one of Pusateri’s students, is anxious to know the outcome of her teacher’s appearance on the show, but will have to wait. “He can’t tell us if he won or not. We have to wait to watch the show,” she explained.

“I record Jeopardy on my DVR every day and watch it every day. They advertised a contestant search in our area, so I went,” said Pusateri. The first test was held in January at the Seminole Hard Rock Casino in Tampa. The test was ten questions, all fill-in-the-blank, and ranged across all different subjects. Pusateri was one of 150 out of 1,100 people who passed this test and was sent the next day to take the second test.

Pusateri went on to pass the second test, consisting of 50 fill-in-the-blank questions. Each question appeared on a screen for just eight seconds before the next question was on the screen. After passing this test, potential contestants were interviewed and played a mock game of Jeopardy. Then it was time to go home and wait to be called.

He was told it could be 18 months before the phone rang, if at all. But Pusateri was in Los Angeles by March 25. He flew out to L.A. with his wife, mom, dad, and one of his two sisters to record the show at the Sony Pictures Studio. Jeopardy made him sign a non-disclosure agreement, so he’s not allowed to say if he won.

“Ever since I was a little kid I wanted to be on Jeopardy. I feel like I’ve reached a lifelong goal. It was a fantastic experience!” said Pusateri. “Although now my friends refuse to play trivia games with me!”

The show airs July 10, so make sure to tune in to see who wins and to cheer on our local Westchase celebrity!