Every year, Lansingburgh High School's 12th-grade Journalism Classes host the Lansingburgh High School Smartest Educator Competition. Now in its 4th year, the 2025 Competition kicks off this month. For the first time, this year there will be a beat reporter covering it - aka: coverage provided by LHS Journalism Student, Joel Foster! Check back from March through early June to see Joel's latest coverage of the 2025 LHS Smartest Educator Competition!
What is the LHS Smartest Educator Competition?
The concept is simple: it's an annual competition to see who is in fact Lansingburgh High School's Smartest Educator. Faculty/Staff Members go one-on-one answering general knowledge trivia-style questions. The competition starts with 64 Educators with the winner of each round advancing until only two remain in the final showdown to crown the Smartest Educator.
Brackets & Video Montages
- Round 1 Bracket (64 educators) -- Sudden Death
- Round 2 Bracket (32 educators) -- Sudden Death
- Round 3 Bracket (16 educators) -- Best of Out 3 Questions
- Round 4 Bracket: Quarter Final Round (8 educators) -- Best Out of 3 Questions
- Round 5 Bracket: Semi-Final Round (4 educators) -- Best Out of 5 Questions
- Round 6/Finale Bracket: Championship Round(2 Educators) -- Best Out of 7 Questions
Coverage by LHS Student Joel Foster
June 5, 2025
Meet the Finalists: Mr. Hepp vs. Mr. Emanuel
Today, in this long-lasting heated struggle of brain vs brain, your beat writer Joel Foster, accompanied by Haily Nicholas, will be interviewing our finalists. The two who have mentally persevered the pressure of overcoming each educator. Tackling their own weaknesses and learning to adapt. Thank you for your time, and I hope you enjoy their wise words of wisdom.
Starting with educator Mr. Hepp, also known as “The Hitman.”
Haily- How have you been enjoying the Smartest Educator competition?
Mr. Hepp- It’s been fun. It’s been fun to compete, questions are different every time and yeah, I’ll be looking towards the final.
Haily- Is there a topic you find to struggle with when it comes to trivia?
Mr.Hepp- I’ll be honest, I feel like most of them I don’t know. I mean, I have been doing well enough in the competition to get to this point, but I wouldn’t say that I’m necessarily as super strong in certain areas. Huba’s music questions have been tough for sure.
Haily- Was there a competitor you were worried to face?
Mr.Hepp- Ms. Baldassari, I mean, back-to-back champion, right, you know what I mean. You know, any question any day, I guess, a combination of skill and luck.
Haily- And my last question for you is, how will you celebrate your victory if you win?
Mr. Hepp- That’s a good question… I’ll celebrate it with Mr. Dorn in my class.
Joel- Going through this competition, has it been, besides fun, like any areas you felt you were going to lose besides Ms Baldassari?
Mr. Hepp- Yeah, I mean, you're going into a competition against 63 other teachers in the building, you know, I don’t think going into it, you're necessarily going to make it to the finals. You know Mr. Ravalli, Mr. Wilson and other social studies teachers. Again, back in those days, I was just fortunate to know the answer to those questions.
Joel- Do you have any quotes you’d like to say?
Mr. Hepp- Yeah, I think that what I have to say this year amongst all the different matches is, “Nobody’s favored to win. It depends on how fast you hit the buzzer… Anyone can win.”
Mr. Hepp, we thank you for participating in this interview, and I hope to see how you overcome your last challenger.
Moving on to our second finalist: Anthony “The Conqueror" Emanuel. Let’s hear what can be said about his time in this tournament.
Haily- How have you been enjoying Smartest Educator?
Mr. Emanuel – It’s been a lot of fun. It has been nice to participate. It has been great to see the students working, you guys have been doing a great job. It’s been fun to watch the competitors compete against each other, it’s always been fun. Especially more fun when I’m winning. Ms. Talma, you got me in last year's first round. That was not fun.
Haily- Is there a topic that you find to struggle with when it comes to trivia?
Mr. Emanuel- I’m really glad they’re not asking math questions, math was never my strong suit. I’ve always been an English/social studies kinda guy, so I’m thankful there aren't a lot of math questions.
Hailey- Was there a competitor you were worried to face?
Mr. Emanuel- All of them! Because everybody, you know, has a breadth of knowledge, I find that trivia isn’t really about how smart you are. It’s about how quickly you can get to your own little bit of specialized knowledge and hopefully, the questions asked of you are stuff you know. Everybody was a threat.
Hailey- My last question: how will you celebrate your victory if you win?
Mr. Emanuel- I’m just thankful for really everyone who supported me. I have been in this building since 2017, shout out to Mr. Huba. I’ll just celebrate it by just being happy and thankful that I get to work in such a great building, where we do fun stuff like this.
Joel- Leading up, how do you feel about this competition? Did you think you’d even get this far?
Mr. Emanuel- I’m a confident person, I've always had faith in myself in anything I do, because what’s the point of doing it? Yeah, I know there are other people in this building who have a lot of information, like I said, I was always competitive and a little nervous wanting to win.
Joel- Were there any questions that made you feel like you were about to lose?
Mr. Emanuel- Mr. Otter had me kind of nervous because when I went up two to zero on him and he came back with two, I thought he was going to get that next one to break the tie. But it worked out for me.
Joel- Do you think you can win this last one, this last match?
Mr. Emanuel- Absolutely 100 percent, like I said, I take confidence in everything that I do, not arrogance, but confidence.
Joel- Do you have a quote that you’d like to say?
Mr. Emanuel- “Fortune favors the bold.”
Until next time…Beat Writer Joel Foster, out
Sincerely,
Joel Foster
LHS Smartest Educator Beat Writer
May 16, 2025
The Educated Eight Recap
Before I update you on the results and all the good gossip, I wish to show my appreciation to all the educators who took the time out of their day to compete in this tournament. With that being said, time to discuss the four educators left standing.
From the “A.P.Bio” Division- Mr. Hepp has obtained the title of “ The Hitman” for the way he coldly eliminated Ms. B, the two-time champion. Well done, Mr. Hepp, for coming this far. We’ll see how he does against his next opponent: Mr. Wilson.
Speaking of Mr. Wilson, he comes out of the “Glee” Division- and has come to be known as “The Dominator.” He’s already dismantled Mrs. Penman and Ms. Rice, just to name a few. Mr. Wilson, congrats to you, but you haven’t won quite yet.
From the “Welcome Back Kotter” Division- we have Mr. Otter, aka: the “The Resilient.” This man has moved swiftly through the tournament, showing his resilience. Mr. Otter, let’s see how resilient you are in next week's Formidable Four matchup.
Our final teacher, still standing, still ready to go, roaring out of the “Boston Public” Division…Anthony ‘the Anthony’ Emanuel. He’s brought the heat, round after round, and from that has gained the title “The Conqueror.” Mr. Emanuel, kudos to you, but can you conquer your final two opponents?
The Formidable Four Slate….
Mr. Hepp against Mr. Wilson
Mr. Otter against Mr. Emanuel
Sincerely,
Joel Foster
LHS Smartest Educator Beat Writer
May 1, 2025
An Open Letter To Ms. Baldassari
Dear Ms. Baldassari, we appreciate your immeasurable intellect and test-taking skill. You’ve truly brightened this competition. Staying on top for two years in a row, an unbeaten record only you have held. That accomplishment is why you’re called “Ms. Queen B”. Solemnly, you’ve gained the title as well as our respect. Owning this tournament for two-plus years. Allowing no one else to even come close.
When you made your first win in 2023, no one expected you to excel and do it again. I especially didn’t and I was there. Watching in the auditorium’s middle row. In 2024, you cleaned the plate… Wiped the stage against Mr. Dorn in an easy 4-0. Leaving him speechless, proving yourself worthy as the Undisputed Champion of LHS’s Smartest Educator.
I guess you’ve learned from your first-ever loss in the inaugural Smartest Educator Finals on June 2, 2022. Then, 1,058 days, on April 25, 2025, your second-ever loss came against Mr. Tim Hepp. The result shocked the room. I know you're out of the competition now. But IT ISN’T OVER. Now you embark on the Great Comeback. Here’s to next year!!!
Sincerely,
Joel Foster
LHS Smartest Educator Beat Writer
April 10, 2025
Welcome back! I am your LHS Smartest Educator Competition Beat Writer Joel Foster. I have your Round 2 Updates ready to roll! So sit back, relax, and grab some snacks, because we’re oh-so close to crowning a Smartest Educator Champion.
We are down to the Scholarly Sixteen. Here’s who’s left: Ms. Baldassari, Mr. Timothy Hepp, Mrs. Drinkwine, and Mr. Ravalli for the “A.P Bio” Division. Mr. Griswold, Mr. Sudduth, Mr. Wilson, and Ms. Rice for the “Glee” Division. Mr. Otter, Mr. Pasos, Mrs. Behrens, and Mr. Shuttleworth for the “Welcome back, Kotter” Division. And finally, Mr. Loudis, Mr. Jasuta, Mr. Pelletier, and Mr. Emanuel out of the “Boston Public” Division. 4 Divisions BUT ONLY ONE EDUCATOR will carry home the coveted KAREN PORPEGLIA CHAMPIONSHIP TROPHY.
Personally speaking, I knew this competition would fly by, but it’s mostly thanks to the hard-working Journalism 12 students who set up the cameras, edit the videos for sound and quality, update the brackets and schedules, all so we can witness our educators' amazing, ingenious brains in action.
But….don’t get too excited just yet, the battle for the Championship has just begun. And we still have plenty of twists and turns ahead, plus a few surprises up our sleeve. Where are they, you ask? When will they happen, you ask? Guess you’ll just have to stay tuned and see!
Okay, that’s it for this week's update. I hope you enjoy your Spring Break, and as always: It’s A Great Day To Be A Knight!!
Joel Foster
LHS Smartest Educator Beat Writer
March 28, 2025
We are Down to the Teacherly Thirty-Two!!!
Congratulations to all the educators who have moved on to the 2nd round, The Teacherly Thirty-Two!! Think you know what’s going to happen next? You have no idea! We have plenty of twists and turns ahead. Incidentally, we have covered one of the biggest feats ever attempted in the Smartest Educator Comp. I’m talking about the oh-so mysterious HG, slipping in to take on Mrs. Penman, and in doing so breaking the rules of the game. Wait…. What!!! It was a student!! But not just any student. This was LHS’ Class of 2025 Honor Graduate, Annabell Goyette. And it was interesting, to say the least. Guess you’ll have to watch the First Round Video Montage to see how it all went down! LHS Beat writer - Joel Foster, LHS’ Smartest Educator Beat Writer….and I’m Out, Until Next Week!!
Joel Foster
LHS Smartest Educator Beat Writer
March 13, 2025
Hello Readers, welcome to the first week of the Smartest Educator Competition. Today we have 3 rounds with 4 teachers and only one will pass the test. The Pre-Tourney Play-In Round results are cited below…
Pre-Tourney Play-In Round Result
- Mrs. Kavanagh Over Mrs. Dion
- Mr. Loudis Over Mrs. Demarco
- Mr. Loudis Over Mrs. Kavanagh
Moving on: Coach Loudis! Congratulations, Coach! He has qualified for the Big Bracket of 64!
Who Will Be The Smartest?
I, Joel Foster, predict Ms. Baldassari will take the golden crown for a third straight year. In last year's competition, she persevered against a brutal slate of educators, then trampled Mr. Dorn (4-0) in the Championship Round. I guess that’s why they call her “Queen B.” But hey…it’s a new year and you never know. We have a few surprises in store for her and everyone else involved in the Smartest Educator Competition! So please stay tuned to this space for weekly updates and stories. And always remember, “It’s a great day to be a Knight!”
Until next time: Peace out!!
Joel Foster
LHS Smartest Educator Beat Writer
March 6, 2025
There can only be one.
Welcome… I hope you’ve been staying keenly aware of your surroundings, listening and staying on your toes, preparing for this year's upcoming competition. If you haven't PAY ATTENTION!!! Because this year is going to be HOT. Those thinking caps better be on for this lovely month of March. And I think you just might know what I’m talking about. YESSS! It’s about that time. The time to figure out this year's smartest educator! You’ve all done your best in the previous years. You’ve all run after the title before, but it was just faster. So are you ready to do it again? We await your intent to win! Grab those books, take some notes and get ready for some good ol' fashioned TRIVIA. The question really is, will you fail under the pressure? We’ve gone through and watched your previous mistakes. Hilarious, you losers. Pressing the button too early anticipating to win, with no precise answer in mind. You're so funny. This year we’re serious though, you better not do it again. We’re watching…
My name is Joel Foster, and I will be keeping you updated each week from March until early June. The way the smartest educator competition works is over the course of 8 weeks, 64 educators at Lansingburgh High School will face off in 1-on-1 heats. Ultimately getting cut down to the championship round of 2. The winner of the final round will be named the smartest educator and claim the SUPREME prize of THE KAREN PORPEGLIA CHAMPIONSHIP TROPHY.
Joel Foster
LHS Smartest Educator Beat Writer