- Over two dozen middle-school employees in Kentucky won a $1 million lottery prize.
- The "Jones 30," a group of current and former school employees, have played the lottery for years.
A few dozen middle-school employees in Kentucky banded together to play the lottery and won a $1 million prize.
The group of current and former employees of Rector A. Jones Middle School in Florence, Kentucky, calls itself the "Jones 30" and has played the lottery for over a decade.
"We all taught at the same school at one point or another," one winner told the Kentucky Lottery, according to a press release.
"We've got counselors, admins, special ed teachers, the school nurse," she added. "Some have moved on or retired but we still continue to do it. We've remained buddies for all of these years."
On January 30, the group carpooled to the lottery's office after work to collect their winnings from the January 27 Powerball drawing: $24,000 each, after taxes. After playing the same numbers weekly since 2019, they matched every one except the Powerball number.
A retired math teacher kept the group organized, stashing the winning ticket in a math textbook, she told the Kentucky Lottery.
"No one looks in a math book," she said. "I knew it would be safe there…page 200. I have checked this a thousand times."
The group says they will continue playing the lottery together.
"A lot of us have gone on trips together, we've had babies and grandbabies over the years," one winner said in the press release. "We always have so much fun. It's just cool to win as a group and share this experience."