Kentucky Teachers Win Lottery With Ticket Hidden In Math Book

A group of current and former middle school educators are celebrating a big win - and their longstanding friendship - after hitting it big in the Kentucky lottery.

The "Jones 30" after Rector A. Jones Middle School in Florence matched the five white balls but not the Powerball to win the game's second place prize of $1 million, according to a release from the Kentucky Lottery.

The group's organizer is a retired math teacher and she said keeping it in a textbook made sense.

"No one looks in a math book," she said. "I knew it would be safe there."

The organizer said she checked the ticket - in an envelope on page 200 - a thousand times.

The "Jones 30" have been playing the lottery together for more than eight years. The group - that includes counselors, administrators, special education teachers, even the school nurse - all have at one time worked at Rector A. Jones Middle School.

Even as members retired or moved schools, the lottery continued to bring them together.

In 2019, they chose a set of permanent Powerball numbers by having a math teacher and assistant principal pull numbers out of a hat.

Mary Harville, Kentucky Lottery President and CEO was in attendance when the group came to claim their prize and she greeted the group with ceremonial checks.

After taxes, each of the "Jones 30" received $24,000 and their plans for the money vary from house renovations to travel.

Perhaps more winning is in their future also since the group says the plan to continue to play the Kentucky Lottery as another fun way to stay in touch.

"It’s just cool to win as a group and share this experience,” one winner said.