About Granite State Challenge

The Host

Jon Cannon started on his path to game show host as a high school student. As a junior, he played for the Belmont High GRANITE STATE CHALLENGE team.  He recalls seeing Jim Jeannotte, the longtime and much loved host of GRANITE STATE CHALLENGE, and thinking to himself “that’s what I want to do.”  

After high school Cannon attended UNH. While he was there, he was a work-study student at New Hampshire Public Television and had the opportunity to see how everything operated from behind-the-scenes  - working as a camera operator and floor director for GRANITE STATE CHALLENGE.

After graduation, Cannon taught social studies for three years. Then the call came!  Jon was selected join the Jeopardy! Clue Crew, a team of roving correspondents who travelled the world producing video clues for Jeopardy!

Four years, a dozen countries and half the states later Cannon returned to his roots in New Hampshire, and became a social studies teacher at Bedford High.  But he just couldn’t let go of his game show past, so in 2010 he formed the Bedford High GRANITE STATE CHALLENGE team and became the team’s coach .  Jon is currently teaching social studies at Bow High.

Cannon is now the third host of GRANITE STATE CHALLENGE since its premiere in 1984. He follows in the footsteps of Tom Bergeron, who was the host for the first year of the show, and Jim Jeannotte who hosted the show from 1985 until his retirement in 2018. Big shoes to fill, but Cannon is more than up to the challenge.

The Production

SUSAN ADAMS, PRODUCER
Susan is a former classroom teacher, news producer and instructional technology specialist. She is the manager of educational services at New Hampshire PBS, and oversees educational outreach activities around the state for students, educators and parents. She also manages the NHPTV Kids Writers Contest, Student Mock Election, and online educational resources.

As producer, Susan writes ALL the questions for Granite State Challenge. On any given day she can go from researching Etruscan art for a GSC question, to making googley-eyed puppets for a children’s craft activity. She says this is good, because she never really decided what she wanted to be when she grew up. We say you definitely want this woman on your Trivial Pursuit team.

The Judge

ANN BOULANGER has been affiliated with Granite State Challenge since 1989 when she wrote questions for the program. A 1966 graduate of Dover High School, Ann taught social studies at Portsmouth High School and Portsmouth Middle School and retired in 2006. Her hobbies include cooking (especially desserts!), gardening, reading and traveling. She hopes one day to travel to Antarctica!