VOL. 34
• Treat Yourself Scratch Tickets
• $3,000,000 Winner!
• Math Olympiad - Classroom Wishlist
• Special Delivery in Idaho City
The Idaho Lottery is brewing up some wickedly good wins this autumn, with three Halloween games to choose from and top prizes up to $100,000!
Last month we previewed Dum-Dums, the first of its kind, strawberry-scented Scratch game, partnering with Spangler Candy. Joining Dum-Dums in the spook-tacular game line up are the $5 Make Me Witch Scratch game, and the $10 Monster Slingo.
Make Me Witch is one of the most directly Halloween-themed games offered from the Lottery in years. It features all the fun elements necessary to conjure up wins for your players including a spooky jack-o-lantern bonus area, witches hats,
spider webs, and bubbling cauldrons. The game features two top prizes of $50,000. That’s so fun, it’s scary!
The $10 Monster Slingo is the second $10 Slingo game ever offered from the Idaho Lottery. The game plays like a traditional Slingo game, only bigger –with a monster-sized top prize of $100,000!
Let the thrills and chills of the Halloween season begin with Dum-Dums, Make Me Witch, and Monster Slingo. Three spooky games with wildly, wickedly good wins. Tell your players about these games this fall for their chance to treat themselves up to $100,000!
$3,000,000 MEGA MILLIONS WINNER!
Ahead of the 4th of July, Utah resident J. Refugio Gonzalez Almeida made two trips from Utah to Malad, Idaho to make sure he had Mega Millions tickets for the then $400 million Mega Millions jackpot draw. The decision to visit the second time over the weekend turned into a $3,000,000 windfall.
$3,000,000 MEGA MILLIONS WINNER!
“Playing the Lottery is my hobby. When I didn’t win the jackpot on that Friday, I thought ‘I need a ticket for the 4th of July,’ so I drove back to Malad on Saturday,” described Almeida on purchasing his ticket over the long, holiday weekend. He had smaller winning tickets, so he cashed those and reinvested the winnings. “I bought all the games, including Mega Millions.”
On the Mega Millions draw for the Fourth of July, which coincidently is his birthday, Almeida’s ticket matched the first five numbers but not the Megaball. It also had the Megaplier feature. The Megaplier number for that draw was 3, turning his $1,000,000 winning ticket into a $3,000,000 winner.
Director’s Corner
Dear Friends,
The Idaho Lottery just transferred the largest dividend ever in FY2023 and we begin FY2024 right where the record-setting one finished. Within a span of just three weeks from mid-July to early August, both Powerball and Mega Millions advertised jackpots exceeded $1 billion. As you know, your customers become enthusiastic with jackpots like that. Mega Millions had the third largest big game jackpot ever, setting a new record for that game at $1.58 billion. Sales from the final Mega Millions draw alone created nearly $750,000 in dividends for our beneficiaries.
It was good to see many of you in Sun Valley recently at the Idaho Petroleum Marketer and Convenience Store Association annual conference. Of note, there was a good presentation on convenience store “frictionless” engagement with customers from the Vice President of the National Association of Convenience Stores (NACS), Michael Davis. His presentation was timely as we look ahead to the upcoming Legislative session in January.
As summer draws to a close and schools return for a new year, the Idaho Lottery is preparing for increased support to public education through our Do Good initiatives. We have added additional resources for the Classroom Wishlist program and are currently accepting applications from school libraries who need to enhance their new book acquisition through the Bucks for Books program.
The future is bright and promising for everyone who participates: our players, our beneficiaries, and you, our valued retailer partners. We realize our success depends on your success. Be assured, we are grateful for all you do to support the Idaho Lottery and public education in Idaho.
Happy Selling,
A month later, he returned to Malad to check all his tickets. “I had $2, $8, not a lot. And then they scanned this one and told me I had to take it to the Lottery Commission. So here I am!” Almeida declared with a smile as he held his $3,000,000 winning check.
Continued from Page 1 Almeida plans to invest his winnings. “I am taking this right to the bank and depositing it!” he said.
The Mega Millions jackpot eventually climbed to a game record $1.58 billion. Since July 1, Mega Millions generated approximately $3,000,000 for the Idaho Lottery’s beneficiaries, Idaho public schools and buildings.
MATH OLYMPIAD GROWS EXPONENTIALLY IN HARRISON
Sometimes the adventure is in the journey not necessarily the destination. In August, the Lottery team made a long trek from Boise to Harrison, on the southeast shore of Lake Coeur d’Alene for a special, back-to-school Classroom Wishlist delivery. Travels begin exiting I-90 and winding along the southern shore of the lake for 33 miles with dramatic views of the lake on one side and the forest on the other. About seven miles from the lake shore in Harrison on some rolling farmland that is tucked against the backdrop of the Coeur d’Alene National Forest sits the Kootenai Schools complex for Harrison, the Junior High facility squarely next to Harrison Elementary and directly below the newest neighbor – the high school. The original building was constructed in the 1950s and serves as classroom facilities for middle school and high school students, based on the teacher and subject matter. This is the building where math teacher, Mary Nelson’s, classroom is located.
Jr./Sr. High teacher Mary Nelson. “We wear many hats here.”
To help her students learn and understand math concepts, Mary has had her Junior High students competing throughout the year in the Math Olympiads for Elementary and Middle School students. Last year, they competed in five competitions. Four of her students earned the top score with a fifth earning honorable mention. In total, she had 35 students competing.
“This curriculum is real problem solving. And there’s something rewarding when you see the math concepts click and the students really get it,” explained Mary. “As students have success with the Math Olympiad, other students want to join and be a part of it. It’s growing exponentially.”
The journey for Mary doesn’t stop with her students’ success. “I am hopeful that we can get enough competitions with other northwest schools, in Oregon, Washington, here in Idaho, that our students can actually attend one in person or we could host one ourselves right here in Harrison!” Mary said of her future plans for the development of the program.
The Lottery provided this year’s registration fees, contest problems book sets, pencils, and notebooks for the well deserving students.
“I am the only math teacher in the Junior High, but I teach both Junior High and High School math,” explains Kootenai
“It’s exciting to see where $500 in curriculum and program supplies can take students on their math journey,” added Mary. “Thank you for this classroom wishlist!”
MARY NELSON - JR HIGH & HIGH SCHOOL MATH TEACHER
