Overview

• Parents gifted the teacher a batch of scratch-offs at the end of the school year, which sat untouched in their car through early summer.
• They checked the tickets one morning in July and hit the $500,000 top prize on a $10 The Shore Thing game.
• The educator officially claimed the prize on July 16 after New Jersey Lottery officials confirmed the win in a press release.
• Describing the result as life changing, the teacher noted that leaving tickets in a vehicle risked them being lost or damaged by a puppy.
• New Jersey Lottery allocates a portion of ticket sales to state pension funds supporting teachers, police and firefighters.