Jason Vander-Hoek

**Jason Vander-Hoek** was a contestant on Season 2.

## Background

*Retrieved from CBC.ca*

Jason's story is one of dedication and perseverance — just what he'll need to get through to the CSP finale! After years of driving a mixer truck, Jason decided to pursue his passion for teaching by attending university, but found himself homeless for a time after having to make the tough decision between paying tuition or room and board. He pulled through and is now a full-time high school teacher who's known as "the singing chemist" for his penchant for writing songs about science for his students (drawing on his background as an accomplished musician who can play nine different instruments!). Jason's time at university was clearly well spent, as he has a bachelor of arts degree with a double minor in chemistry and music, as well as a bachelor of education. Jason also enjoys staying active, playing hockey and softball and also holding a black belt in tae kwon do (we sense a rivalry developing with Anish already!).

After years of driving a concrete mixer truck, Jason enrolled in University in order to pursue his passion for teaching. While at school he struggled to make ends meet and was homeless for a time after making the difficult decision between paying tuition or room and board.

Now a full-time High School teacher, Jason calls himself “the singing chemist”. He is an accomplished musician who plays nine instruments. He loves to write songs about science for his students.

Jason has Bachelor of Arts degree from Trinity Western with a double minor in Chemistry and Music, as well as a Bachelor of Education from Simon Fraser University. Jason is also very active; he has a black belt in tae kwon do and plays hockey and softball.

Despite the tough times nothing was going to stop Jason from following his dreams. Jason comes to the Canada’s Smartest Person stage to prove that you don’t have to be defined by your life circumstances.

## Episode 207

Before Jason was summoned to the stage, a clip of him and the other three contestants, Anish Ahuja, Julie Francis, and Alex Pascuzzi, introducing themselves was shown. In this clip, apart from introducing himself, Jason stated that, on the show, he would represent all of the underdogs who had to fight for people to see their capabilities. In the first challenge, Letter Chaos, Jason got 1 point. As a result, Jason finished in last place and was awarded 1 overall point.

In the second challenge, Blow Back, Jason was the only contestant not eliminated from the challenge. As a result, Jason finished in 1st place and was awarded 5 overall points.

In the third challenge, Portfolio Pro, Alex and Jason both got 4 correct answers, but the latter answered faster on average than the former did. As a result, Jason finished in 1st place and was awarded 5 overall points. In the fourth challenge, Stack of Shapes, Jason got 3 correct answers. As a result, Jason finished in 2nd place and was awarded 3 overall points.

In the fifth challenge, Karaoke Nightmare, Jason was the last contestant to sing a song and had to improvise a **pop** song. The lyrics were, "Everyone loves me how could you not? I am on fire I'm burnin' hot. My moves are crazy around the clock, Up down all around I never stop. You can't resist me I've got it all, Don't like your chances cuz they are small. When you look at me you start to drool, You think you'll win this? You're gonna get schooled. Never never never no, Never never never no. Never never never no, This thing is mine mine all mine." Guest judge Jully Black commented that Jason had an awesome voice. Jully ranked Jason in 1st place for his overall performance and Jason was awarded 10 overall points as a result. After the first five challenges, Jason had received a total of 24 overall points. As a result, he finished in 1st place and was congratulated by Jessi, along with Alex, for qualifying for the Gauntlet.

In the sixth and final challenge, the Gauntlet, Jason initially gained a slight lead over Alex as the former completed the linguistic section. However, after unscrambling her final word right after Jason did, Alex was able to catch up to and surpass Jason at the visual section. By the time they reached the physical section, Alex and Jason were neck and neck. Jason's superior speed and flawless performance at the physical section allowed him to maintain a solid lead over Alex when proceeding to the logical section, which he completed with ease. Ultimately, Alex stopped at the physical section as Jason hit the buzzer, which signalled his victory and his spot in the season finale. After the challenge ended and Jason was declared the final finalist of the season, Jason and the other three contestants celebrated onstage with Jessi.

### Summary of Results

 1

  WON  This contestant won the final challenge and advanced to the finale.
  LOST  This contestant lost the final challenge and was eliminated from the competition.
  ELIMINATED  This contestant was already eliminated from the competition.
     This contestant qualified for the final challenge due to a sufficient total score.
     This contestant was eliminated from the competition due to an insufficient total score.
     Denotes a challenge that is based on linguistic intelligence.
     Denotes a challenge that is based on physical intelligence.
     Denotes a challenge that is based on musical intelligence.
     Denotes a challenge that is based on visual intelligence.
     Denotes a challenge that is based on social intelligence.
     Denotes a challenge that is based on logical intelligence.
### Notes

1. ↑ Despite sharing a total score of 4, Jason answered faster on average than Alex did in the challenge. Therefore, Jason and Alex placed 1st and 2nd, respectively, for this challenge.

## Episode 208

Before Jason was summoned to the stage, a clip of him and the other six finalists, Tim Blais, Anthony Craparotta, Marco Iannuzzi, Alex Manea, Dan Tweyman, and Katy Warren, introducing themselves was shown. In this clip, Jason exclaimed, "Bring on the finals!" A narration also recapped in this clip that Jason started strong, then never looked back. Jessi greeted the contestants and made them take notice of an empty eighth podium to the left of Jason's. She then announced that it is a wildcard spot that would be taken by the contestant who had earned the highest total overall score without winning their preliminary episode's Gauntlet. This additional finalist was revealed to be Heather Whittaker, who joined the other finalists on stage. In the first challenge, the Speed Round, Jason received a percentage score of 33% during the **Double Take** mini-challenge and received an unknown overall percentage score, however, it was between 65% and 79%. As a result, he finished somewhere between 3rd and 6th place along with Anthony, Dan, and Heather and the four had to compete in the second challenge in which two of them would be eliminated from the competition.

In the second challenge, Ultimate Face-Off, Jason competed against Heather. Jason won the **Music Match** mini-challenge, won the **Unscrambled** mini-challenge, and won the **Ping Tac Toe** mini-challenge, defeating Heather 3-0. As a result, Jason tied with Anthony for 1st place and both were congratulated by Jessi for advancing to the third challenge.

In the third challenge, Syllable Switch, Jason got 4 correct answers. As a result, Jason finished in 2nd place and was awarded 3 overall points.

In the fourth challenge, Orders Up, Jason was the third contestant to present his surf and turf dish based upon the theme of **romance** and it consisted of asparagus and noodles positioned under the lobster and steak, respectively, a lemon slice, and some rose petals. Guest judge Mark McEwan commented that the dish was clean and attractive, but that it seemed somewhat conventional. Mark ranked Jason in 2nd place for his dish and Jason was awarded 3 overall points as a result.

In the fifth challenge, Sliding Scale, Jason locked in the correct sequence of notes in 39 seconds. As a result, Jason finished in 2nd place and was awarded 3 overall points.

Jessi commented that, since there were only three challenges left before the Super Gauntlet, the contestants would need to shift things into high gear and that maybe Jason, who works as a teacher and truck driver, could explain this metaphor to them. Following this, a clip of Jason was shown in which he stated that he did not come to *Canada's Smartest Person* to stay for a minute but that he came to go all the way. The clip also showed footage of Jason driving his work truck, walking in the woods that he lived in when he was homeless, and teaching a classroom and he also shared some aspects of his daily routine from when he was a homeless student. In the sixth challenge, Moving Sum, Jason got 6 correct answers. As a result, Jason finished in 1st place and was awarded 4 overall points.

In the seventh challenge, Screen Test, Jason was the third contestant to pitch his film and he had to pitch a horror film with a soccer mom protagonist and with a revelation that the protagonist is a killer at the end of it. He said, "My movie for you is called *Carpool*. It's the tale of an everyday mother who's got responsibilities. She's a very relatable character. She's got three kids, all triplets in fact, that are all playing on the same soccer team and she's in charge of the carpool. So, she's got her minivan ready to go, but, unfortunately, this day is not like any other day. This is a zombie apocalypse. She manages to get to the soccer game, unaware of the happenings going on in the city, but the kids are kicking soccer balls and legs are flying off all over the place and she realizes something's not right. So, she grabs the kids, puts them in the van, she tries to get them home cause, number one, her responsibility is the carpool and the kids' safety. However, she was bit and when she's locked them all down in the van, she turns around and eats them all." Guest judge Cameron Bailey asked Jason how he should expect to feel after having watched the film considering that the soccer mom eats her own kids, to which Jason responded that this is supposed to be a tragic tale, especially considering that the mom's actions as a zombie juxtaposes her determination to keep the kids safe as demonstrated throughout the film. Cameron ranked Jason in 1st place for his pitch and Jason was awarded 4 overall points as a result.

In the eighth challenge, Ball Handler, Jason finished catching his red balls 41 seconds into the challenge and finished sinking his white balls 2 minutes and 42 seconds into the challenge. As a result, Jason finished in 3rd place and was awarded 2 overall points. After the previous six challenges, Jason had received a total of 19 overall points. As a result, he finished in 1st place and was congratulated by Jessi, along with Katy, for qualifying for the Super Gauntlet.

In the ninth and final challenge, the Super Gauntlet, Jason and Katy were neck and neck throughout the first four sections as when one would complete a section, the other would follow suit and catch up moments later. It all came down to their showdown at the visual section where Katy assembled her cube as Jason was about halfway through assembling his. Ultimately, Jason stopped at the visual section as Katy hit the buzzer, which signalled her victory. After the challenge ended and Katy was crowned Canada's Smartest Person, Jason and the other finalists, except for Marco, celebrated onstage with Katy's mother and Jessi.

## Trivia

* Jason's profile incorrectly states that his age at the time of filming was 28.

## References

1. ↑ https://www.cbc.ca/smartestperson/blog/episode-7-recap-dan-otoole-jully-black
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 http://web.archive.org/web/20160707211741/http://www.cbc.ca/smartestperson/participants/jason
3. ↑ https://www.cbc.ca/smartestperson/blog/meet-episode-7-competitors