Have you ever though to yourself, “What would I do if I won the lottery?” Well, that is exactly the kind of game Ms. Thompson and her husband liked to play, since they never actually imagined winning. After all, the odds of winning are about one and 300 million.  

Over two decades ago, Mrs. Thompson was part of a group of faculty members at RE who bought lottery tickets together. With each faculty member making a minimal contribution at just five dollars a month, that money would be put towards the purchase of tickets, increasing the odds of winning with the number of people in the group. “And then, if any small amount was won, they would just reinvest it into more tickets, so it didn’t bust your bank,” Thompson explained. 

It had always been a lighthearted tradition with no real expectations. Who could have imagined that a group of teachers at our school could call themselves lottery winners? Certainly not Mrs. Thompson. 

In September 2004, the person in charge of the lottery group excitedly called Mrs. Thompson, saying she thought there was a slight chance they had won. Mrs. Thompson was in disbelief and went straight to the source, scanning her ticket to be sure. “We said, ‘Okay, well, you have to have the ticket to prove it, right?’ So she came over to the house, we looked it up, we looked it up online, and there’s the ticket.” 

The winnings? $3 million. 

Once they confirmed their win, they had to follow a strict procedure to claim their prize. “We sent one of our group members to go up to Tallahassee,” Mrs. Thompson explained. “You have to pick it up, sign all the paperwork. and everything. We arranged with a bank in Coconut Grove to have the checks written up for each of the group members.”  

The group came face-to-face with the reality of how much of the money would be owed to the government: a tax of over 25%, on top of additional income tax. But it didn’t overshadow their excitement and disbelief. “We were laughing because we were saying, well, at least we had the money to pay this huge tax,” she said. 

Adjusted for inflation, the $3 million total is equivalent to over $5 million now. Mrs. Thompson was overjoyed and couldn’t contain her smile. “It was amazing. It was great. It was just found money for people that work really hard.”  

The money not only provided stability for some, but allowed others to pay off their mortgages, invest in stocks, and get a head start on saving for retirement. Mrs. Thompson used part of her share to expand her summer cottage in Maine, as well as adding a pool to her home in Miami. The rest she saved.  

“It was nice that it happened to a group of teachers,” she said. “People who work really hard, who love what they do. Teacher salaries aren’t big corporation salaries.” 

The excitement was contagious, and once everyone received their checks, there was only one thing left to do: celebrate. “We met over there after school one day and kind of had a big party and a bottle of champagne,” she said. 

A portion of the tax ended up being put towards Florida’s education system—which couldn’t be more fitting.