News writer; Opinion columnist
No one gets into teaching thinking it will make them a millionaire. It’s a demanding, rewarding, and usually underpaid position, and if you’re lucky, you might get an apple as a reward from your students.
However, teachers enjoy the lottery as much as anyone else, and sometimes they get their own golden diploma, allowing them to live a life they’ve never dreamed of, or at least catch up on their bills.
These are true stories of teachers and educators who won big lottery jackpots.
The Three Amigos
Late-night phone calls usually signal something’s gone wrong, but for one Mega Millions winner, it was probably the best night of her life.
The woman, who chose to remain unidentified, was asleep at home when she received a life-changing phone call from two friends with whom she played the lottery.
The trio was composed of employees of the Maryland Public Education system, and they called themselves the Three Amigos. She recalled:
That evening, I forgot about the drawing and went to sleep. It was around 11:30 p.m., and my phone just kept ringing and ringing. I finally decided to answer it, thinking something was wrong.
Once she picked up, the two other winners were on the phone and said, “Get dressed. We’re coming over right now.”
Her friends popped up on her doorstep just before midnight, but before she could get upset at them for waking her up, they showed her the Mega Millions ticket they purchased for the March 30, 2012 drawing.
They matched every number, including the Mega Ball, meaning they won a share of the $656 million jackpot. That night's drawing had three winning tickets, so the Amigos split a prize of just over $218 million.
While they all chose to remain anonymous, the Maryland Lottery identified them as a woman in her 20s, a man in his 40s, and another woman in her 50s.
Even though it was late when they realized they won, the group didn’t waste any time taking care of their ten-figure ticket. One of the women recalled:
We made copies of the ticket, and we each signed the copies. At 1 a.m., I took the ticket and drove to my mother’s house to put it in her safe. I didn’t even take time to pack any clothes — I just drove.
Maryland Lottery Director Stephen Martino stated:
We are thrilled that three such deserving Marylanders have won this money. It’s gratifying to know that these individuals, who have given so much to the public through the years, have had this wonderful luck. It couldn’t have happened to nicer people.
They all said that they plan to continue working for now, but they already have plans for the money. The man said he’ll use his share to pay for his children’s college tuition and pay off his mortgage. The two women both plan to travel through Europe, but one added that they would be careful how they spent their money.
“I watched coverage of the jackpot win on television all week, just so I could listen to the financial advice the professionals were offering,” she said.
After opting for the lump sum payout, they’ll each collect about $35 million, which will pay for plenty of cafeteria lunches and even an extra chocolate milk.
“It’s so crazy that even celebrities are tweeting about this,” one of them explained. “Even Britney Spears tweeted a congratulations message to the winners.”
No detention for millionaires
Vice principals are known for handing out discipline and monitoring the lunchroom. But at Shasta Middle School in California, assistant principal Steve Gray took up another responsibility, turning teachers into millionaires.
Since 2002, Principal Gray has organized the teacher lottery pool with little success.
For seven years, the group bought tickets with the same numbers, but they never won. "We've been losing forever," he told reporters.
However, that all changed on a fateful February day in 2009, when the big losers turned into even bigger winners.
Gray heard on the news that the winning ticket for the California Super Lotto Jackpot, with a $76 million top prize, was purchased at the same Circle K where he usually bought the group's tickets.
He raced to school and checked the list of numbers he kept of the group's numbers and saw that he had a winner: 14-23-24-25-44, Mega: 18,
He still wasn’t ready to believe he had really won, so he asked his wife, Kate, to call the state lottery office and verify those were the right numbers.
He said when the woman on the other end of the phone confirmed they had the winning ticket, Kate started shaking like she was cold.
The timing of their win was also perfect because the school was closed for Lincoln’s birthday. One by one, Gray called the other 15 members of his club, including the school nurse, the superintendent, and several teachers, and they held an impromptu party at his house in Redding with everyone cheering as one after another each new millionaire arrived.
Gray said that the group membership hasn’t changed over seven years, and that no one can remember how they came up with the numbers they’ve played that entire time.
The group opted for the lump-sum payout, which puts the prize at about $38 million, meaning each member stands to collect about $2.3 million before paying taxes.
When asked what he planned to do with his millions, Gray said, "Who knows. We might get new carpet."
Gone but not forgotten
For a group of ten teachers from Crestland Elementary in Ashland, Ohio, their big lottery win was also tinged with sadness for the member of their lottery club who couldn’t celebrate with them.
The teachers spent six years pooling their money to buy Powerball tickets without ever hitting it big.
Karen Rader, an art teacher who organized the group, told reporters. “We have won $4 here, $4 there, and I would text everyone and say, ‘We won $4; no winnings to report.'”
However, after checking their tickets for the August 6, 2024 Powerball drawing over breakfast, she saw that she had something very big to report.
“I was talking to my daughter Jill, and I scanned it on my phone, and I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, I think we just won a million dollars.'”
She was so overcome with emotion that she needed her daughter, Jill Young, to verify that she had really won. Young explained:
It was really wild because she was like, ‘I’m going to send you a text message to make sure that I’m reading this correctly.’ And I was like, ‘That looks like a million dollars.'
Rader immediately texted the lottery club group chat, aptly named Future Millionaires, and told them the big news. While everyone celebrated, their joy was tempered by the memory of one member who couldn’t celebrate with them.
Fellow group member and teacher Mary Jo Manocchio passed away in March 2021, but Rader and the rest of the teachers still considered her part of the group, and they chose to honor her by sharing what would have been her share of the prize with her children. Rader stated:
She was a good friend. Makes me get a little weepy. She loved her kids, her own children, and she loved the children that she taught. She would send books home with them in their backpacks just out of her own money.
She added that Manocchio’s children planned to take a family trip together in honor of their mother.
The group opted for the lump sum payout, so once taxes are paid, each member expects to collect about $73,000.
Rader added that just because they finally scored a win doesn’t mean they’re done playing.
“I keep texting them, ‘do you want me to keep playing?’ and they are like, ‘yeah, keep playing.’ So we’ll play. Lightning might strike twice, who knows?” she said.
Surgery
We would never advise you to try to win the lottery to help you pay your bills, but North Carolina teacher Tonya Carter is probably very glad she ignored our advice.
Carter faced big bills in 2025 because of an upcoming medical procedure, so she decided to try an unorthodox way to raise funds.
“I’m going to have surgery next week, so I wanted to try to get some extra money to help with that,” she told North Carolina lottery officials.
She drove to the On The Mark convenience store in Warrenton and bought a $10 Jumbo Bucks instant win ticket. She uncovered the ticket and discovered she won the game’s million-dollar jackpot.
“I didn’t believe it,” Carter recalled. “I’m still in shock.”
She took the lump-sum payout and, after paying taxes, collected $430,000. She told officials that in addition to helping pay for her surgery, she plans to use the money to purchase a new home.
Hang up your spurs
It’s common to tell people we like that they’re one in a million. For one North Carolina educator, that compliment was literally true after he scored big in the state lottery.
Vandenberg spent thirty years shaping bright young minds as a teacher in Raleigh, North Carolina. After three decades of dedicated public service, he was preparing for a well-earned retirement in 2025.
Now his golden years will have a little more gold in them after he spent $50 on an $8 million Money Maker instant win ticket. Unfortunately, he not only missed out on the grand prize when he uncovered it, but he also missed out on every prize.
However, just as some students need second chances, so do some lottery players. Vandenberg entered his ticket into a second-chance drawing for a chance at a million-dollar prize. Miraculously, his was chosen from among 979,465 entries, and he took home the seven-figure jackpot.
“This couldn’t have come at a more perfect time,” he told lottery officials. “It was a big wow. It was really cool. We’re ecstatic about this.”
Vandenberg opted for the one-time payout, and after withholdings, he took home a check worth $430,500.
