New Jersey teacher gifted scratch-offs wins $500,000: 'Life-changing'

NEW JERSEY (PIX11) --- A New Jersey teacher who was gifted scratch-offs at the end of the school year won $500,000, according to lottery officials.

The scratch-offs sat in the teacher's car until they played one of them while getting gas, hoping they had won some cash to fill up the car, officials said.

“I had a stack of cards as gifts, and I had forgotten I left them there,” the player said while claiming their prize at the New Jersey Lottery office. “One morning, I went out to the car and thought that I’d see if I won any gas money.”

But then the lottery player came across the $10 card, Shore Thing, and realized they had won the top prize of $500,000, officials said.

“I get them as gifts, but I never imagined. For me, this is life-changing," the teacher said.

Thirty cents of every dollar in lottery sales is contributed to the state pension system, which helps support teachers, police, firefighters, and other public workers, officials said.