- Our next guess has starred in over 3,000 films,
and 400 TV shows-- [phone ringing]
Hello.
- Hi, is this Ellen? - It is.
Yeah, who's this? - My name is Jason Byrne.
I'm the principal at John Witherspoon Middle School
in Princeton, New Jersey.
- Oh, my God. Oh, my God. - Okay, yeah.
I'm doing a show right now, Jason.
What can I help you with?
- Well, we've been doing new teacher training
at my school today and one of my teachers was missing.
I think she might be in your audience.
audience: Oh!
- Really? We have a teacher who's playing hooky?
What's her name, Jason?
- Her name is Veronica Valentin.
[cheers and applause] - Veronica Valentin?
Oh, I see her right now. [cheers and applause]
Thanks for calling, Jason. [cheers and applause]
[cheers and applause]
All right, you get over here right now, Veronica!
What do you teach?
- I teach Spanish. - Mm-hmm. Oh!
- Yeah, to seventh graders.
- Uh huh. - Awesome kids.
I'm the luckiest teacher ever,
so other teachers, like, whatever.
[laughs] [cheers and applause]
[cheers and applause]
- So what grade is it? Seventh grade.
- Seventh grade. - And you're married.
- I am. - And what does your husband do?
- He's a--he's a graduate student.
He's studying history. - Uh huh.
- He's going to be a professor, so we're both educators.
- That's fantastic. So he's in graduate school,
and you've been teaching there for how long?
- For a month. - A month?
[audience laughter]
- And I played hooky! [laughs]
- Not looking good for you right now.
[audience laughter]
How do you get by with just working there for a month,
and he's in graduate school?
- I mean--well, we're struggling a little bit,
but I think everyone has hard times, rough patches,
and you just have to keep going.
Keep swimming. - Yes, you just keep swimming.
- And you know-- and we love what we do.
I love teaching. I love what I do,
although I did play hooky.
- Yeah.
Obviously, you love me more than teaching, but--
[audience laughter] - [laughs]
[audience laughter]
- Oh, my God, I'm sitting here. Oh, my God.
Okay, whoo. - All right.
So it's actually a good thing that you're here,
because we know that you're struggling a little bit,
so we want to help you out, but first you have to earn it.
- Okay. - Because I'm going to quiz you.
I'm going to give you some questions,
and if you answer correctly, I'm going to help you out, okay?
- Okay. - All right.
- Okay. - Okay, but you're not
gonna sit here and answer questions.
- Oh. - Did I mention
how you're gonna answer questions?
- No. - You're gonna answer questions
on our "Know or Go" machine.
[cheers and applause] [dramatic music]
- I can do this.
- These are easy questions. Let's start with the first one.
What is your school's mascot?
[audience laughter] - A tiger!
A tiger, a tiger. - It is a tiger, you're right.
- Whoo! Yes. - All right.
[cheers and applause]
What is the name of the man who makes the sandwiches
in your school's cafeteria?
- Joe.
[stammering]
No, no, don't drop, don't, don't.
Um...
Marcus, no. Adam.
Jose, uh... [audience laughter]
Mario, Daniel--
- You don't know the guy's name
who makes the sandwiches in the cafeteria?
- I don't, but please don't! Please, please.
- All right, you know what?
- Can I have a pass? - This is the only pass.
His name is Carlos,
and you apologize to Carlos when you see him.
- I'm so sorry, Carlos!
I'll give you a hug when I see you on--
tomorrow, hopefully, I'll be back.
- All right. [audience laughter]
[audience laughter]
This year at your opening-- at the opening
middle school faculty meeting,
your administration stressed three core values
for all of the staff to focus on.
What are they?
- Three core values.
Um, oh, my God. This is so--okay.
Um, innovation. - Yep.
- Um, partnerships. - Yep.
- And empathy?
- Ah, that's close. Caring.
- Caring, yeah. - Same thing, yes.
- Oh, my God. [laughs]
[cheers and applause]
Oh, my God, oh, my God, oh, my God.
- Put these states in order from east to west.
Tennessee, Arkansas, West Virginia.
- From east to west. Uh...
Oh, my God.
West Virginia... - Yep.
- Tennessee and Arkansas. - That's right.
- Oh, my God. - That's right.
[cheers and applause]
You're a teacher at John Witherspoon Middle School.
Who was John Witherspoon?
- He signed the Const--he signed the Declaration of Independence,
'cause I Googled that.
- That's right, that's right. [cheers and applause]
[cheers and applause]
- Oh, my God, Oh, my God. - All right.
You teach Spanish, right? - I do.
- Okay, here's a math question.
[audience laughter]
What's the square root of 121?
- 13, 14, 15, 16, 17,
[counting upwards very quickly]
Don't, no, no! Aah!
[screams]
- Ready? - No.
- See you in a minute. - Please don't, please--
[screams]
[cheers and applause]
- It's 11. You started too high, it's 11.
I think you started at 12.
All right, you know--
we know that the reason that you're here,
we know about you and your husband.
You're going through a hard time.
You're a wonderful woman. - Thank you.
- And Shutterfly loves helping teachers who make a difference.
They want to help you with this check for $20,000.
[cheers and applause]
- Thank you, thank you!
Oh, my God! Oh, my God! Oh, my God!
- I know! [cheers and applause]
[cheers and applause]