Dr. William Campbell walked away with $63,000 on "Wheel of Fortune," and Olson Middle School turned the moment into a schoolwide watch party after the episode aired nationwide on Monday.
The principal of the north Minneapolis school said the appearance meant more than the money because it put Olson Middle School in front of a national audience. Campbell said eight to 10 million people heard the school's name on television, and he wanted students to see what happens when someone takes a chance and steps outside a familiar routine.
That chance started on New Year's Day, when Campbell recorded an audition tape in his living room. He was later invited to California to tape the show, turning a home-made tryout into a network appearance that put his school, and his name, in front of millions.
Campbell said the moment carried personal weight as well. His mother died last fall, and he said she was a lifelong fan of "Wheel of Fortune." He said she would have been proud and that she loved the show, adding that she would have been excited to see her boy on TV.
He also used the watch party to press the lesson he said he wanted students to remember: risk-taking. Campbell said being on "Wheel of Fortune" is a risk and auditioning is a risk, and he told students that in life you have to take chances because you miss every shot you do not take. At the same time, he said much of the prize money will go toward retirement, a practical use for a win that he said still mattered less than the experience itself.
For Olson Middle School, the prize was not only the cash. It was a rare burst of positive attention for a school whose principal heard its name carried across a national broadcast, and Campbell said he wants that message about taking chances to last longer than the episode itself.
