Each year, "Teacher Appreciation Week" is observed during the month of May — and for one preschool teacher in Washington state, her "appreciation" came in the form of some good luck from the universe.
A resident of Edmonds, Washington identified only as "J.C." stopped at a Safeway grocery store on May 11 to get coffee with her mother before a day of running errands, Washington's Lottery said in a May 31 press release.
Edmonds is north of Seattle.
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While at the store, J.C. bought a scratch-off lottery ticket at a vending machine, using $10 she'd won from another scratch-off ticket.
J.C. then put the ticket for the "$200,000 Cash Stacks" scratch-off game in her purse, temporarily forgetting about it.
A woman known only as "J.C." won the $200,000 top prize in the "$200,000 Cash Stacks" game from Washington's Lottery. (Washington's Lottery / Fox News)
Later that night, J.C. was watching TV when she remembered she had not yet scratched off the lottery ticket she purchased, said Washington's Lottery.
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"When she saw one of her numbers matched the winning number on the ticket for the $200,000 prize, she was in disbelief," said the lottery in a press release.
"J.C." (not pictured) did not believe it when she won, and double-checked her ticket using the Washington lottery app. (iStock / iStock)
Not able to believe her own eyes, J.C. used Washington's Lottery app to check that she had indeed won the game's top prize — and for good measure, asked her mother to look at it as well.
"They both were speechless," said Washington's Lottery.
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With her big win, J.C. told Washington's Lottery that she plans on buying herself a new car and traveling to Ireland, a place she's always wanted to visit.
The winner told Washington's Lottery that she will use her newfound cash to take a trip to Ireland. (iStock / iStock)
The $200,000 Cash Stacks game has one remaining $200,000 prize, said Washington's Lottery's website.
Hundreds of thousands of other prizes, ranging from $10 to $500, are also up for grabs.
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The overall odds of winning any sort of prize in the game are 1 in 3.43, said Washington's Lottery.
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Washington's Lottery was created in 1982, said its website.
Since that time, the lottery has generated more than $5 billion for various state programs, including the Washington College Grant and the Washington Opportunity Pathways Account, the website said.
