Apex kid shines during "Jeopardy!" Kid Week

12-year-old Andrew Grace from Apex will be in the spotlight this week, during a special Kids Week edition of "Jeopardy!"

The rising 7th grader at St. Mary Magdalene School said he first got interested in being on "Jeopardy!" when he saw the television commercials last year for Kids Week auditions. After getting permission from his parents, Andrew took a 15-minute timed test online and did well enough to earn an invitation to try out with producers in person.

Andrew and his family, parents Mike and Nancy Grace and sister Abigail, went to Atlanta in November for the tryouts, where he took another timed test, participated in a mock "Jeopardy!" game and went through an interview designed to show a bit of his personality.

His mother Nancy said they found out in February that Andrew was one of 15 kids selected to appear on the show. The whole family flew to Los Angeles in March for taping.

"It was a great experience," Andrew said. "In Atlanta, there wasn't even a thought in my mind that I'd make it through. I just thought I'd try, and I got lucky."

The Los Angeles trip coincided with his sister's 9th birthday, which the family celebrated on a Universal Studios tour. They even got to participate in one of the tour shows put on for sightseers.

Andrew, a fan of "Jeopardy!" who says record earner Ken Jennings is his favorite person on the show, proclaimed the entire experience "really fun."

The Kids Week games are going on all week this week. The winner of each game receives a minimum guarantee of $15,000. Contestants who place second receive $2,000 and third place contestants receive $1,000. 

Of course, Andrew, pictured here with host Alex Trebek, wasn't allowed to tell us how he did, so we'll all have to tune in Wednesday to find out.

"Jeopardy!" airs locally on WTVD at 7 p.m.

Photo courtesy of Jeopardy Productions