Matthew's Big News!

Jeopardy and Mill Springs interview... oh, my!!! This is so exciting!!! About a month ago, we registered Matthew for the "Jeopardy! Kids" online test (the first step in the process of becoming a contestant on the show). The test was last week - the day before Halloween. He took the test, and from what we could tell, he did great. All we knew, though, was that we would be contacted if Matthew was chosen to go on. Here's the email we got last week.... Congratulations! Your child has been selected for an appointment in our upcoming Jeopardy! contestant search for children (ages 10-12) in the Cincinnati area, exclusively for those who successfully passed the online test. This is the next step in becoming a Jeopardy! contestant. We have reserved the following appointment for them: When: Saturday, December 8th Time: 11:30 am Where: Cincinnati, OH You must RSVP within two business days of receipt of this email to secure their place in the audition. When you RSVP via phone at 310-244-4849 between 9am-5pm PST, provide the following: 1) Location, date and time of your invitation listed above 2) Your name 3) Your child’s name 4) Their date of birth 5) Your city & state Due to overwhelming demand we can only hold their spot for two business days. If you respond after that period of time, and if we still have space, we will be happy to provide them with an appointment. Their appointment is non-transferable, and only those who receive this invitation directly from Jeopardy! may RSVP to book an appointment. Each RSVP will be matched against an invite list and forwarded invitations will not be honored. Once you RSVP, we will email you a letter of confirmation within TEN business days that will give you the exact location and other information regarding trying out. You will NOT receive a confirmation phone call. If you don’t receive the confirmation e-mail within TEN days, please call again. Should you have a major conflict with the time and date provided, please reply to this e-mail explaining the nature of the situation. If your child is physically challenged in any way, please contact Corina Nusu at 310-244-5581 prior to the audition to discuss any accommodations you may require. We hope to hear from you soon! Best Regards, The Jeopardy! Contestant Department Then today we got this email: Subject: Jeopardy! Audition Confirmation PLEASE BRING THIS LETTER WITH YOU: KIDS INTERVIEWS Congratulations! We are happy to confirm your appointment to participate in the full audition for our Jeopardy! Shows featuring 10, 11, & 12 years old. The audition will consist of playing a “mock version” of Jeopardy! to assess your game-playing skills, a short personality interview, and being re-tested with a new 30-question test. If you pass the test you will be put in our files to be considered for our Kids shows. However, even though you pass the test, we cannot guarantee that you will be invited to do the show. There is no charge for taking the test, but you will be responsible for all expenses such as parking and travel to and from the testing center. If you are invited to participate in our kid’s shows, we will cover travel and hotel expenses to the taping. Your appointment is in: CINCINNATI – OH HYATT REGENCY CINCINNATI 151 WEST FIFTH STREET CINCINNATI, OH 45202 (513)579-1234 SATURDAY – DECEMBER 8th - 11:30 AM The complete process will take approximately 2 – 2 1/2 hours. This is the complete interview, no other interview will be necessary. Come dressed casually, but nice. Detailed directions and arrival instructions for the test site are given bellow. We require that all children be accompanied by a parent or legal guardian. We will have a holding room for the parent. We cannot accommodate more than 1 parent for each child. Please do not bring additional adults or children, other than the person taking the test as we do not have a place for them to wait. TESTING STARTS AT THE APPOINTMENT TIME, AND NO ONE CAN BE ADMITTED IF THEY ARE LATE. In order to be eligible for the show your child must be born between 02/05/00 - 02/04/03. -Jeopardy! Contestant Department Wow, wow, wow!! Matthew is so excited - we ALL are! The other big news of the week is Matthew's interview at Mill Springs! It went really well, and now we're just waiting to hear! We should know Friday afternoon sometime if he has been accepted or not. At his interview, first he met (sans ME) with the headmaster (Mr. Moore) and the principal (Kay Morrison). Then Kay took him around to visit some classes, and I met with Mr. Moore. I was so wishing Jeff was there (and he was too of course, but he had a work commitment that couldn't be changed), but it went really well. It seemed like he really gained an appreciation for the intelligent and NEAT kid Matthew is (no bias here). :-) When we left, Matthew had the assignment of emailing the principal to let her know whether or not he wanted to come Mill Springs after all, and why (standard part of their application process). They also said as we were leaving, "It's a shame you have to leave and can't just start tomorrow!" to which I smiled.... Here is Matthew's email to Kay as well as her response: Dear Ms. Morrison, Thank you for taking the time to interview me with Mr. Moore. I believe that I am now ready to attend classes at this academy, and would really want to do so. First, I really like Mill Springs because I feel like it is more academic, which is why I believe I should go there. Moreover, I want to go there since I will try to make new friends, and participate in extracurricular activities such as drama and sports. FInally, I would like to go as I feel like God is telling me to go here. In brief, it is an excellent school, and I feel like I should attend. Yours truly, Matthew Plunk Thank you for your note, Matthew. I also believe that Mill Springs Academy would be an excellent fit for you. You are an interesting young man and I enjoyed meeting you and hearing about all your interests. Best Regards, Kay Morrison