Welcome to Abbot Elementary Trivia Quiz

Answer: second

Star and creator Quinta Brunson based "Abbot Elementary" in part on her mother's decades teaching the West Philadelphia grade school Quinta attended as a child. She named the fictional school, Willard Abbot Elementary, after her favorite teacher, Mrs. Abbot, and West Philadelphia's Willard (Will) Smith. Brunson won an Emmy Award for writing the pilot episode, making her the first African American woman to win that category solo (Lena Waithe previously won in that category for an episode of "Master of None" co-written with Aziz Ansari).

Jeannine is idealistic but still quite inexperienced.

Answer: Kindergarten

Veteran actress Sheryl Lee Ralph won her first Emmy Award as the strict but loving Mrs. Howard, who was inspired by Quinta Brunson's mother. Ralph was nominated for a Tony Award in 1981 for originating the role of Deena Jones in "Dreamgirls" and played the titular character's stepmother in the 90s sitcom "Moesha." Ralph has an additional connection to Philadelphia.

In 2005, she married Vincent Hughes, a Pennsylvania State Senator representing parts of Philadelphia and bordering Montgomery County.

Answer: Second grade

In the episode "Art Teacher," Jeanine and Melissa do a joint project on "Peter Rabbit" and we see Melissa's sentimental side when she shows some of the rabbits students have drawn for her over the years. It's a contrast to her the character's image as a tough girl with implied criminal connections.

Melissa is played by Lisa Ann Walter who played housekeeper/nanny Chessy in the 1998 remake of "The Parent Trap."

Answer: Social Studies

We mainly see Jacob in the faculty room rather than in his classroom, probably because his room isn't near those of the other teachers. He's an earnest character who's very aware that he's one of a handful of white teachers in a school with a 100% minority student body. His earnestness leads his students to call him "Mr. C" for corny, but they like him and enjoy his classes.

Jacob is played by Chris Perfetti, whose credits include the HBO series "Looking" and the play "King James" which debuted at Steppenwolf Theater in 2002.

Answer: Caring for her confused and agitated grandmother

Ava had recently come back from one of her frequent vacations, so the staff assumed she was leaving for a frivolous reason. She was actually in the parking lot calming down her grandmother who'd become agitated in the care of another relative. Ava's recent vacation had actually been spent caring for her grandmother while the family looked for a memory care placement. In other episodes we see that Ava has a rapport with her students and manages to obtain enough resources from the overwhelmed and underfunded system to keep Abbott functioning.

Ava is played by Janelle James, who started her career as a stand up comic.

Answer: Landscaping

Greg's grandfather started the family landscaping business and his father took it over after retiring from the military. Greg spent weekends and summers working for the business but *hates* anything to do with gardening. That doesn't prevent him from fixing the mistakes made by Barbara and Jacob when they plant a garden on Abbott's grounds.

Greg is played by Tyler James Williams, who played young Chris Rock in "Everybody Hates Chris."

Answer: Montreal 1976

William Stanford Davis plays Mr. Johnson who keeps the building operating and claims to have had several prior careers. He did not, however, win the bronze medal in the hammer throw in the 1976 Olympics - that was Anatolij Bondaracuk of the USSR. Innsbruck and Lake Placid were Winter Olympics, and the US team boycotted the 1980 Moscow Olympics.

Davis's prior credits include "Snowpiercer" and "Lincoln Heights."

Answer: Rapping

Tariq performs anti-drug raps, so a grade school is a good audience. Over the course of the first season, Janine realizes she's matured and Tariq hasn't, and they break up in the season finale set during a field trip to the Philadelphia Zoo.

Tariq is payed by rapper and comedian Zach Fox.

Answer: Collecting sneakers

Jacob and Zach met at a sneaker release - Zach was in line to buy the sneakers and Jacob was protesting conditions at the manufacturing facility. Zach is played by Larry Owens who won for a Drama Desk Award for his performance in "A Strange Loop."

Answer: Leslie Odom, Jr.

Leslie Odom, Jr. plays Draemond Whiting, who was in one of Barbara Howard's first classes. Whiting's company produced an ad which portrayed Abbott as a failing school with uncaring teachers as part of his campaign to convert it to a charter school. Odom was born in Queens, NY, raised in Philadelphia, and won a Lead Actor in a Musical Tony Award for his performance as Aaron Burr in "Hamilton." Lin-Manuel Miranda wrote "Hamilton" and was nominated for a Tony in the title role. Daveed Diggs won the Tony for Supporting Actor in a Musical for the dual role of Thomas Jefferson and Marquis de Lafayette and Christopher Jackson was nominated in the same category for his performance as George Washington.