NAMPA, Idaho — With plastic coins in hand, the timer sounds. The scratching begins.
The Idaho Lottery partnered with 69 schools in the area for the Scratch for Schools event, a way for teachers to raise money for classroom needs.
In a news release from Idaho Lottery, they said this is the fastest five-minute fundraiser in Idaho. Each school competes for the title of fastest scratching school, and win cash for their classroom or school. According to Idaho Lottery, this program has returned roughly $1.6 million to help public education in Idaho.
But how does it work exactly? Each participating school receives an entire pack of scratch tickets from Idaho Lottery. The school representatives, usually teachers, get five minutes to scratch as many tickets as they can. The school with the fastest scratching win additional prizes and advance to the final round, said Idaho Lottery.
The news release goes on to state that nearly 225 administrators, teachers, PTO members, and staff all came together to scratch thousands of lottery tickets for their schools, with many of these folks donned in fun costumes or school attire.
The fastest scratching school for this cycle of Scratch for Schools was Seven Oaks Elementary, which successfully scratched 195 tickets in that five-minute round.
Timberline High School and North Junior High were the big winners of the day, each winning $767.
The total prizes awarded at Wednesday's event equaled $24,093.
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