Granite State Challenge - New Hampshire Public Television

The Hosts

GSC Host - Jim Jeannotte - New Hampshire Public Television Jim Jeannotte has been the host of the Granite State Challenge since 1984, testing the quick recall of high school students from across the state. His easy manner and quick wit have eased the jitters of many a contestant, and earned him the respect and affection of a generation of high school teams.

Jim is a veteran 40-year New Hampshire broadcaster, working at WKXL in Concord for over three decades. He can still be heard producing features for New Hampshire Public Radio, and calling football and basketball games on the UNH Sports Network. He has been voted New Hampshire Sportscaster of the Year 21 times.

Lori D Warriner Jim Jeannotte is joined by co-host Lori Warriner, a popular local radio personality. She interviews the teams, and gives viewers insight into how the students prepare and strategize for the matches. Lori has lived on the Seacoast since graduating from UNH. She has worked in radio for most of her career . Lori also worked at NHPTV in the Auction Department and has guest co-hosted Granite State Challenge several times. Lori regrets she was never a GSC contestant, but being co-host is some consolation to her!

The Judges

Mary Reilly Potter

Mary Potter Reilly In one way or another, Mary Reilly Potter has been involved with Granite State Challenge for almost the entire run of the show. In addition to serving as judge she has also coached three teams from Portsmouth High School, one of which won the SuperChallenge against Dover High during the 1991-1992 season. That same team, comprised of six boys, went on to compete in the Panasonic Academic Challenge at the Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando, Florida.

A graduate of Regis College in Weston, MA. with a BA in English, Mary has also earned an MSEd from the University of New England. Early in her career Mary taught at Natick High School in Massachussetts. Starting in 1980 she spent 26 years at Portsmouth High School as an English teacher and department chair, and has recently retired from the profession.

Mary recalls her many years of association with Granite State Challenge with fondness marveling especially at the varied knowledge of all the talented high school students.

Ann Boulanger

Ann Boulanger Ann has been affiliated with Granite State Challenge since 1989 when she began writing questions for the program. After the show began purchasing questions from a quiz bowl service she continued working behind the scenes editing, proofreading, and making corrections as needed. More recently she has been called to serve in a more visible role ... as judge!

A 1966 graduate of Dover High School, Ann went on to study at the University of New Hampshire where, in 1970, she earned a BA in History with a minor in Education. While pursuing her Master's Degree she worked a short while at Dimond library on the campus of UNH. In 1972, Ann finally donned her teacher's cap taking a position in the Social Studies department at Portsmouth High School. Following the closure of Pease Air Force Base in 1991 the impact on the Portsmouth School System was so great that Ann was transferred to Portsmouth Middle School where she would teach seventh grade for the next five years. In 1996 Ann returned to teaching at the high school and spent ten years there before retiring from the profession in 2006.

Perhaps one of Ann's favorite Granite State Challenge memories was when one of the team members from Portsmouth High School complained to her about the difficulty of one of the questions on the program only to find out that it was Ann who had written it!

Ann's hobbies include cooking (especially desserts!), gardening, reading and traveling. She hopes to one day travel to Antarctica!