Nine teachers from Swansboro Elementary School have played Powerball together for years and their group efforts paid off with a $100,000 win.
The group of teachers calls themselves the “Nine Lucky Pirates” after their school mascot. Check out the full list of the winners:
- Leah Allen of Swansboro
- Mary Brooks of Swansboro
- Leah Cottle of Swansboro
- Suellen Dixon of Swansboro
- Lori Jones of Maysville
- Jill Kidd of Hubert
- Nicole Meadows of Hubert
- Cynthia Paredes of Hubert
- Melinda Whorley of Hubert
“Fifteen years ago it just kind of started as a joke and we were walking down the hall going, ‘If we won that we could retire early,’” Meadows laughed.
They bought the winning $3 Power Play ticket for the Nov. 24 drawing from the Walmart on West Corbett Avenue in Swansboro.
“I couldn’t hardly talk,” Meadows said recalling the moment she found out. “I was hyperventilating.”
Suellen Dixon laughed recalling her exciting phone call from Meadows and Allen telling her the big news.
“She is like, ‘We won!,’ and I am like, ‘What?,’ and Leah goes, ‘She is for real; we won, we won!,’” Dixon said.
The nine teachers split the prize so each claimed $11,110 and, after required federal and state tax withholdings, each took home $7,972.
Monday’s Powerball jackpot stands at a $1.6 billion annuity or $735.3 million in cash. The odds of winning a Powerball jackpot are 1 in 292 million.
Check out the video below of the group recalling their big win.
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