By Ed Simmons, Jr.
cpreporter@lcs.net
After two years enriching students' minds in his 9th and 10th grade Social Studies classes, Caroline High School teacher and cross-country coach Phil Bucska, 25, came in for some personal enrichment of his own this February - winning $33,401 on the TV show "Jeopardy!"
After the show was broadcast in early April, several calculating Caroline High School students advised their now-famous teacher that the time had come to take early retirement. "A lot of them asked why I don't quit my job, but I don't think they have a very good concept how much things cost," he mused after school last Thursday in his cubbyhole office on the second floor, a "Detroit Tigers" pennant conspicuous on the wall. "Other kids would come up to me in the hall and say 'Can I have a thousand dollars?'"
Then there were others who teased him about questions he missed, including one about the first saint from Hawaii. No, it wasn't Obama.
Bucska attributes his quiz show success to his knack for soaking up historical and other types of trivia, something he's been good at since he was a kid when he first realized he'd like to go on "Jeopardy!" "I was really good at remembering things. I guess that's why I liked the show so much," he said.
Later his facile memory led to his feeling right at home studying history at Michigan State, where he found European and 20th century history the most interesting. His plans this summer are to marry his long-time college girlfriend, Heather, and the prize money may go towards a new house in the Richmond area, he said.
These days, his mind still delights in trivia. Everyday he conjures up a mental list of 20 or 30 topics he'll eventually sit down Google. They can be anything from episodes in Bulgarian history to songs to movies to recipes to the band Pavement. "I can also do it on-the-go," he said wryly, "because I have a Blackberry."