Cash scratch fever
<p>Ramsey Magnet School of Science teachers Troy Wassik, left, and Steve Blee scratch lottery tickets as fast as they can during Idaho Lottery's annual Scratch for Schools event Wednesday night at North Idaho College.</p>
<p>Joel Holmes, right, an art teacher at Priest River High School and Kristi Payne, left, from St. Maries Community Education Center scratch as many lottery tickets as they can in a minute during the final round of Idaho Lottery's Scratch For Schools Event at North Idaho College Wednesday night. Priest River beat out St. Maries Community Education Center, winning $541 from its tickets.</p>
<p>North Idaho teachers scratch as many tickets as they can to win cash for their classroom and schools during Idaho Lottery's Scratch for Schools event Wednesday night at North Idaho College.</p>
<p>Kootenai Elementary School principal Kelli Knowles scratches a ticket during the first round of Idaho Lottery's Scratch for Schools Wednesday night at North Idaho College.</p>
Piles of scratch tickets filled the North Idaho College Christianson Gymnasium floor Wednesday as representatives from 56 North Idaho schools competed to be this year’s Scratch for Schools champion.
For the Idaho Lottery’s 15th annual Scratch for Schools event, more than $11,000 was won for North Idaho public schools.
“We’re in it to win it,” said Julie Simpson, a secretary at Post Falls High School, before the first round started. “We’ve been practicing and doing arm curls.”
Liz Ross, an eighth-grade math teacher at Lakeland Junior High, had never been to the event before, but was eager to rake in the winnings.
“I really need calculators,” she said. “I’m hoping I can use the money for classroom needs.”
Most teams wore school T-shirts and some wore wigs or fun hats.
Each school team received an entire pack of Scratch Tickets at the beginning of the event. Teams, composed of two scratchers and one leader, had 2.5 minutes to scratch as many cards as they could. The schools got to keep the winnings from all the cards they scratched.
Priest River High School beat St. Maries Community Education Center in the final round of the competition, winning $541 from its tickets.
During the past 15 years, Scratch for Schools has awarded more than $950,000 to Idaho public schools. This money has been used for playground equipment, library books and computer software.
“The [Idaho] lottery was created to benefit public schools in Idaho,” said David Workman, Idaho Lottery’s public information specialist and Scratch for Schools event coordinator. “This is one way we continue our mission.”