I’Ll Buy An A For Academics

If Jennifer Johnson has her way, the Wheel of Fortune will peddle its vowels at Lake City High next spring.

“I tell you, I’m praying about this one,” she says with such intensity that she presses her fingers together until they turn white.

If anyone can woo the game show to Coeur d’Alene, it’s this mother of two. Not only is Jennifer’s cause righteous, her energy is endless.

She stumps for academic excellence and she’s willing to exhaust herself for it.

“I’m hoping persistence will wear them (Wheel of Fortune) down,” she says.

Jennifer took on Lake City’s Renaissance program three years ago when her oldest son was a freshman. Jostens, the company that sells class rings, began giving incentives for academic achievement in high schools a decade ago.

The program has spread to about 6,000 schools. Success depends on the energy parents and teachers pour into it. Lake City’s is a winner.

“When I first got to Lake City, the last thing anyone wanted was to be known as smart,” Jennifer says.

With money she raised in the community, she bought T-shirts for kids with at least a 3.5 (out of 4) grade point average. One girl wrote in the school newspaper that the shirts were the official badge of nerdiness.

Jennifer didn’t flinch. She started special Renaissance days at school. Kids who wore their shirts won free lunches or gifts from the school store. It helped, but not much.

Every year, she added more - lunches at Beverly’s by limousine, a varsity letter for a 3.75 grade point average, special parking spots.

A car raffle was a big hit. Students received a ticket for a chance on a used Honda Civic for each A they’d earned in an academic class. Jennifer drew the winner’s name in front of the entire student body to motivate students with no As.

Car dealerships and repair businesses donated labor, parts, even extras when Jennifer told the owners the car rewarded academic achievement.

In 1996, she started the spring game show at which every Renaissance student won a gift or money. She pinned $2,000 in small packets to the host’s jacket and kids won the chance to pluck him.

Everything was donated or bought with money raised in the community.

This year, Jennifer wants a new thrill. Renaissance T-shirts are a valuable item on campus now, but only something exciting will keep them that way. So she wrote to Wheel of Fortune.

“I invited them to join us in promoting a return to academics,” she says. “I said it would be off-the-charts incredible if we could do a show right at school.”

She wants Pat Sajak and Vanna White to tape a week of shows in Lake City’s gym with Renaissance students as players. If Wheel of Fortune promotes academic excellence, students nationwide will listen, she says.

“It’s a pretty aggressive dream,” she admits.

Maybe so, but it’s worth pursuing.

“I certainly wouldn’t say we wouldn’t tape there at some point,” says Lisa Dee, Wheel of Fortune’s promotions director. “I don’t want to put out false hope. It’s a huge endeavor to take the show on the road, but nothing’s impossible.”

Jennifer wants everyone to write letters inviting the game show to Lake City High next spring, and Dee says she welcomes such a campaign. Jennifer will collect letters at the school office and send them every week. She’s hoping for a flood.

“I think if we said we’re going to end Renaissance now, there’d be a war,” she says. “We’re seeing a different attitude and we want to keep it that way.”

Soup’s on

Try dinner in St. Pius X Catholic Church’s soup kitchen in Coeur d’Alene at 6 p.m. Saturday to raise money for the kitchen’s Christmas party for needy kids. For $5 per person or $20 per family, you’ll get soups, salads and bread.

St. Pius is at 625 E. Haycraft.

What’s the best soup kitchen experience you’ve had? Ladle up a story for Cynthia Taggart, “Close to Home,” 608 Northwest Blvd., Suite 200, Coeur d’Alene 83814; FAX to 765-7149; call 765-7128; or e-mail to cynthiat@spokesman.com.

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