15 Swansboro teachers win lottery

RALEIGH - Christmas just got merrier for 15 Swansboro High School teachers who just won $200,000 from a Powerball lottery ticket bought in early November.

The winners are from Jacksonville, Swansboro, Maysville, Stella, Hubert and Cape Carteret. They matched all five white balls in the Powerball lottery game.

Albert Zima of Jacksonville, who organized the pool for the teachers and buys the tickets, said he initially thought they'd only won $100, according to a press release from the N.C. Education Lottery. That's because he'd written down one of the numbers incorrectly.

When he took the ticket to be scanned, he learned that the group actually matched all five balls.

The ticket was purchased at the Wilco on Richlands Highway in Jacksonville. After taxes, the ticket will be worth $136.

Each player took home more than $9,000 after taxes. They plan to spend the money on Christmas shopping and family members, along with putting some of the money away in savings.

This isn't the first time the group has won money in the lottery. The teachers won $10,000 back on Jan. 10 in another Powerball drawing.

The teachers say they enjoy playing the lottery because it supports educational programs in the state. Proceeds go to school programs, scholarships and other educational programs.

The other winners are Frank Jones Jr. of Maysville, Maria Garcia-Gorritz of Swansboro, Julian Sanders of Stella, Barbara Chandler of Swansboro, Judy Ervin of Hubert, Harriet McCall of Cape Carteret, Catherine Ormsby of Swansboro, Debra Olson of Swansboro, Stephen Ross of Swansboro, Rochelle Harper of Hubert, Harold Butler of Hubert, Darlene Rappa of Swansboro and Linda Provost of Hubert.

Barry Smith can be reached at bsmith@link.freedom.com.