A group of Ohio teachers hit a $1 million Powerball prize and turned it into a tribute to a colleague who died of cancer.

The 10-member pool from Crestview Elementary in Ashland had kept playing in memory of Mary Jo Manocchio, 60, a longtime kindergarten school teacher who died in March 2021. For years after her death, her friends covered her share so she would still be part of the group, according to the Ohio Lottery and Cleveland’s FOX 8.

That loyalty paid off Aug. 6, when their ticket matched all five white balls for a $1,000,004 payday. 3

Manocchio had been their “guardian angel,” Rader told the lottery.

“She was a good friend,” retired art teacher Karen Rader told FOX 8. “Makes me get a little weepy. She loved her kids, her own children and she loved the children that

See Full Page