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Sixth-grade William Paca Middle School social studies teacher Vanessa Verni is back on the game-show circuit.
After winning $58,000 in cash and prizes on “Wheel of Fortune” in 2017, she will appear on Fox’s season three premiere of the music game show “Beat Shazam” with college buddy Nicole Costanza on Monday at 8 p.m.
In “Beat Shazam,” hosted by Jamie Foxx, teams of two race to identify songs by sound in hopes of battling Shazam for a $1 million prize.
Verni, 26, of Medford, who grew up in Brookhaven Hamlet and moved out with help from her show winnings, met Costanza, a teacher at Walt Whitman High School, at St. Joseph’s College.
When Verni learned that the show was looking for contestants, she put out a call on social media to see if anyone was interested. Costanza, who went on several road trips with Verni – including treks from Utah to Minnesota and Texas to Louisiana, with the goal of visiting national parks and listening to a lot of music together along the way – answered.
A day after the duo applied, “Beat Shazam” responded.
“They called me, and they wanted to do a Skype interview,” Verni said. “They called really fast. I thought it was a joke.”
Verni said she thinks the shows liked that she and Costanza have a lot of energy. Also, the first show is teacher themed. It was taped in January.
Verni said that she prepared by listening to her radio in the car, going from station to station, and by practicing with Costanza on the “Song Pop” phone app.
Verni shared with friends on social media earlier in the week that she would be on the show, but didn’t tell her students until yesterday.
“Right now it’s crunch time with finals, so I waited until the end of the period yesterday and I played the commercial.”
While a few students heard through the grapevine that she would be appearing on the show, “I played it like 10 times before they knew it was me.”
Verni can’t say how she did on the shows, but promises, “It’s just a very exciting episode.”
