A group of 10 current and former teachers from Crestview Elementary in Ashland, Ohio, won a $1,000,004 Powerball prize and donated the late colleague’s portion of the payout to her children, the Ohio Lottery said.
The ticket, which matched all five white balls, struck on Aug. 6. The group had kept playing together in memory of Mary Jo Manocchio, a kindergarten teacher who died of cancer in March 2021 after more than two decades at Crestview. Friends in the pool had covered Manocchio’s share after her death so she would remain part of the group.
Retired art teacher Karen Rader, who organized the pool, told Cleveland’s FOX 8 that Manocchio had been the group’s “guardian angel” and that her colleagues kept the late teacher’s name on the tickets as a tribute. “She was a good friend,” Rader said. “Makes me get a little weepy. She loved her kids, her own children and she loved the children that she taught.”
Manocchio, 60, was remembered by colleagues for her long service and commitment to students. An online obituary on Dignity Memorial notes her many years in the classroom; colleagues and the Ohio Lottery confirmed that the pool’s decision to continue including her name was meant as an ongoing tribute.
The win comes amid a prolonged Powerball jackpot drought. No one claimed the grand prize since a May 31 ticket sold in California, a stretch that pushed the top prize to a record $1.8 billion for the upcoming Saturday drawing, the Ohio Lottery said.
Officials did not immediately disclose the precise dollar amount of the late teacher’s share after taxes. The group announced they would give Manocchio’s portion to her children as a gesture of remembrance.
The teachers said the ritual of pooling tickets had become part of their social ties at the school, a practice mirrored by many workplace and social lottery pools across the country. The Ohio Lottery confirmed the prize and the group’s decision to direct their late colleague’s share to her family.
Local news outlets and the lottery characterized the payout as both a financial windfall and a heartfelt tribute by colleagues who sought to honor a teacher they described as devoted to students and family. The group’s win and donation drew attention as part of ongoing coverage of the unusually large national Powerball jackpot and stories of smaller, community-focused winnings that accompany it.
