Virginia Lottery campaign awards teachers $2,500

This month, it pays to be a favorite teacher in Virginia.

Individual schoolteachers have been awarded $2,500 each under the unique Thank a Teacher campaign, which is funded by the state lottery and gaming partners.

A different type of lottery

Since 2016, the Thank a Teacher campaign has awarded four K-12 teachers and their schools every year.

Beginning around March, students create notecards thanking a teacher of their choice. They send the notecards to the game's headquarters. Around mid-month, just after Teacher Appreciation Week between May 5 and May 9, a drawing takes place.

Each year, four teachers are awarded $2,500 each, and their schools are additionally awarded $2,500 for supplies, thanks to The Supply Room, an office and furniture outlet. According to the Virginia Lottery website:

It is an initiative to celebrate those teachers whose hard work and inspiration have made a difference in so many lives.

This year, over 210,000 notecards were sent to teachers, either digital or hard copy. From those, 25,000 teachers submitted a special code to correspond with their thank you notes, making them eligible for the grand prize. Winners are randomly selected from this pool. So far, three winners have been announced for 2025.

The prizes are funded by the Virginia Lottery and gaming companies IGT and NeoPollard Interactive.

The contest has grown year-over-year. In 2024, 130,000 thank you notes were sent to headquarters, with 17,000 valid entries coded by teachers.

The notecards themselves are also the result of a contest. They feature one of three winning designs submitted by students earlier in the year.

Who won?

On May 27, just two days before summer vacation, Kelly Bostic, a special education teacher at Covington Middle School, was surprised with the winning announcement, according to the Virginia Lottery.

On May 22, Veronica Berrios, a fourth-grade math and science teacher at Chatham Elementary School in Pittsylvania County, was announced as a grand prize recipient. It was the school's last day before summer break.

On the same day, it was announced that Sarah Gordon, a seventh-grade science teacher at Northumberland Middle School in Heathsville, was announced as a winner this year.

Each of the winners was photographed with a big check.

The fourth winner will likely be announced in the next few days.

The Virginia Lottery and the public school system

Since 1999, all Virginia state lottery profits have benefited the school system.

In 2024, of a total of $5.5 billion in sales, the Virginia Lottery diverted more than $934 million toward K-12 public education, while the rest went to winning prizes, retailers, and operational lottery expenses.

A sales pitch on the lottery site is:

Every time you scratch a ticket, play online, or pick your numbers for the big jackpot, you are creating winners in education all over Virginia.

Other states that use lottery to significantly, specifically fund public education include New York, Florida, Kentucky, and North Carolina.