The California Lottery has reached record amounts in the past year.
There have been at least three drawings with potential jackpot winnings of over $1 billion.
The most recent winner was announced on Feb. 14 by lottery officials.
Edwin Castro won a $2.04 billion Powerball prize making it the highest lottery win in history. Castro chose the 'lump sum' option, which pays him $997.6 million before taxes.
“We here at the California Lottery take a tremendous amount of pride in our mission – which is to raise and reliably deliver supplemental funding for public education," California Lottery director Alva V. Johnson said. "Those funds are being used to elevate student learning experiences across the state."
Back in 1984, voters approved the lottery that has since raised $39 billion to benefit public schools across the state. That includes K through 12 schools, community colleges, and public universities.
Eighty cents of every $2 Powerball or Mega Millions ticket purchased goes to fund education programs.
Sarah Hillard, a science teacher at San Diego Unified District's Millennial Tech Middle School (MTM) in the Chollas View neighborhood, is an expert at finding funding and donations for all the extras she wants her students to have so they learn and succeed.
“We’re appreciative for all the money the district gives us, all the money that we get from our site, all the money we get from concerned partners in the community, non-profits look to us asking, 'What can we do to help out?' Hillard said. "We definitely appreciate the lottery money and all the different sources that it comes from."
The supplemental lottery money could be used to buy extras like the LED lights and batteries Hillard's students are using in their Black History Month projects this week. Hillard's specialty includes lessons in robotics and 3-D printing. Her students chose a quote from a famous leader, athlete, or community activist, then carved it into a piece of acrylic and wired the base to light up their learning.
Jada Blackman, 12, is a seventh-grade student at MTM who said she was grateful for the extra resources.
“I chose, ‘Never be limited by other people’s limited imagination.' The quote was made by Mae Jemison, one of the first black astronauts," Blackman said.
Her classmate Alana Lara is also thrilled to be in the science class.
"We’ve made a bunch of 3D prints on our 3D printer," she said. "We’ve made custom DIY t-shirts and pretty cool stuff. Oh, and robots!"
Lottery money not only pays for these extras but also can be applied to cover salaries to retain quality teachers, such as special education assistants. But it cannot be used for things such as new school buildings.
“We don’t want people to think of the lottery as the savior for schools," said Carolyn Becker, California Lottery’s deputy director of public affairs and communications. "As most people know, education funding is quite complex. They always need more. Again, we are here to raise supplemental funding, not replace those traditional dollars, and we’re proud to do it."
Besides being a devoted educator, Hillard is also a lottery player.
“I do buy lottery tickets. Yes, I do buy lottery tickets. I have yet to hit it big, but here’s hoping," she said.
