J.V. Clark School has $10,000 in the bank because Amy Noseworthy loves her job. The Mayo teacher was one of five staff members from the community school to appear on Family Feud Canada on Sept. 20.
The final question that clinched the cash prize asked Noseworthy to rate her job on a scale of one to 10. She answered 10, earning enough points to secure a victory for her team.
“That sentiment was really felt in the community,” teacher Brett Stauffer told the News on Sept. 21. Stauffer was on the team with Noseworthy, vice-principal Tara McCauley, teacher Caroline Hasse and educational assistant Stikia Reid.
Stauffer said when Noseworthy answered, there was a moment of panic for the team, because the response didn’t seem strategic (players win points by trying to guess popular responses to survey questions). He said Noseworthy even leaned over to the show’s host, Gerry Dee, saying “no one loves their job that much!”
In the end, it paid off.
“It was a cool way to bring home the win,” said Stauffer, the day after roughly 120 people gathered in the community centre in Mayo to stream the episode.
He said it’s been hard to keep the win a secret since the Toronto taping in mid-August. Some team members didn’t even tell their partners. Others dodged fellow community members’ attempts to catch them off-guard in grocery store aisles and get them to spill.
Because no one cracked, the community screening was really special, Stauffer said.
“It was an electric evening,” he said. There was popcorn and refreshments and attendees watched a couple Family Feud episodes before the Mayo episode aired at 7 p.m. He said he’s been receiving texts and emails ever since about what a nail-biter the show was.
Stauffer said he received the cheque a few weeks ago and signed it over to school administration on Sept. 21.
He’s not yet sure where the money will go. The team members are going to have a meeting about it, but they want the school’s entire staff to be involved in the choice.
“We don’t want the money to go towards the day-to-day costs of school,” he said. “We want at least some of it to go to a legacy thing at the school. Maybe a mural? That will be on the docket for a future meeting.”
In the meantime, the school is still celebrating the win.
Stauffer said the community has had some rough times recently. It was good to come together to use the community centre for a positive celebration. He feels the same about the class time on Sept. 21 when he allowed his class to watch the episode.
“This doesn’t happen every day,” he said. “It’s a good excuse to use class time to celebrate.”
You can stream the episode online at CBC Gem.
Contact Amy Kenny at amy.kenny@yukon-news.com