HEBRON, Ky. — A winning Powerball ticket sold in Hebron belongs to a group of current and former employees at a Boone County middle school.
The Kentucky Lottery said the "Jones 30," a group of educators who met while working at Rector A. Jones Middle School in Florence, carpooled to lottery headquarters after work Tuesday afternoon to claim their prize.
They told lottery officials they have been playing together for years, remaining friends despite changing schools or retiring. The group has used the same set of Powerball numbers every week since 2019.
"Our math teacher and assistant principal pulled them out of a hat," one winner said in a release. "At first, we didn’t have the right amount of numbers to choose from, so we drew again. Thank goodness we did."
The organizer of the group, a retired math teacher, told the lottery she realized their numbers matched the five white balls for Saturday, Jan. 27's drawing the next day. She kept the ticket hidden in a textbook.
"No one looks in a math book," she said in a release.
Each group member received $24,000 after taxes. Some said they would invest while others wanted to use the money for traveling or repairs.
The group told lottery officials they plan to continue to play the lottery together to stay in touch. They'll keep using the same numbers too.
"We didn't give up," said Sharon Reynolds, 7th grade Vice Prinicipal. "We kept trying. We persevered and now here's our big smiles!"
The Kroger on North Bend Road in Hebron will receive $10,000 for selling the winning ticket.
Watch Live:
