TRENTON, NJ — A New Jersey teacher ended the school year with more than thank-you cards and mugs — they received a $500,000 top prize from a lottery scratch-off gifted by a student’s parent.
The public school educator, who has chosen to remain anonymous, received several New Jersey Lottery scratch-offs as part of end-of-year presents in June. The tickets sat forgotten in a stack in the teacher’s car until earlier this month, when they decided to check them while looking for “gas money.”
Among the batch was a $10 “Shore Thing” scratch-off, which turned out to be a $500,000 top prize winner — the first of three such prizes available in the game.
The player claimed the prize at the New Jersey Lottery office, noting they had been driving around for weeks with the tickets in the car alongside their dog, unaware of the half-million-dollar ticket in the vehicle.
The teacher’s win adds to the nearly $33.7 billion the New Jersey Lottery has contributed to the state since 1970, including over $8 billion to the public pension system since 2018 — a fund that supports teachers, police, and other public employees.