Kentucky educators played same Powerball numbers until $1M win
KENTUCKY LOTTERY VIA AP / JAN. 30
A math textbook that was used to hide a winning Powerball ticket in Kentucky is pictured in Louisville, Kentucky. A group of teachers, administrators and retirees from Rector A. Jones Middle School won a $1 million Powerball prize after playing the lottery together for years. After they won, they stashed the winning ticket in a math textbook for safekeeping.
KENTUCKY LOTTERY VIA AP / JAN. 30
A group of educators from a middle school in northern Kentucky who bought a $1 million Powerball ticket are pictured in Louisville, Kentucky. The group of teachers, administrators and retirees from Rector A. Jones Middle School have been playing the same Powerball numbers for years. After they won, they stashed the winning ticket in a math textbook for safekeeping.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. >> A group of employees and teachers from a Kentucky middle school who bought a $1 million Powerball winning ticket tucked it in a math text book for safekeeping before claiming the prize this week.
The group of 30 educators, some retired, met at Rector A. Jones Middle School in northern Kentucky near Cincinnati and have been playing the Powerball together for eight years. They call themselves the “Jones 30,” and the members include counselors, administrators, teachers and some retirees from the school, according to a media release from the state lottery.
They’ve been playing the same Powerball numbers since 2019, when they drew them randomly from a hat.
On Saturday, those numbers, 7-38-65-66-68, finally hit. Their ticket matched all five white numbered balls in the drawing, but missed the Powerball, giving them a $1 million prize.
After school ended on Tuesday, the group carpooled to Louisville, about a 90-minute drive, with the winning ticket safely stashed away in a math textbook, page 200.
Arriving at lottery headquarters in Louisville, officials greeted them each with their individual winnings — $24,000 each after taxes.
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Kentucky Lottery President Mary Harville handed them the winning checks.
“Kentucky Lottery games create fun for our players, and these winning educators were having the time of their lives,” Harville said in the release.
The group members said they plan to continue playing the lottery. Some plan to invest the money while others will use it for travel or home repairs, the lottery said.
