The 25th edition of Idaho Lottery’s Scratch for Schools event took place Monday in Idaho Falls.

“The Idaho Lottery was created to benefit public schools in the State of Idaho,” said David Workman, Idaho Lottery public information specialist, who served as the event speaker. “This is one way that we actually benefit schools directly.”

The lottery is hosting a total of 11 events this spring across the state with 514 schools registered, Workman said. Scratch for Schools alone has returned more than $2.1 million to benefit public education and classrooms in Idaho over the last 25 years.

“Last summer the Idaho Lottery returned $75 million back to support education across Idaho,” Workman said. “That’s about $25,000 every 30 minutes.

“Since 1989, the Idaho Lottery has returned $1.2 billion to support education in Idaho,” Workman added.

Winnings that school teams took home from here will be used for any classroom need.

“The packs that we use are specifically designed just for Scratch for Schools,” Workman said. “You can’t buy these in a local store.”

“They have 200 Library Loot tickets that they can try to scratch in five minutes,” Workman said.

Each participating school was represented by a team leader and two scratchers.

Lincoln Alternative High School in Idaho Falls was one of the schools participating from across Eastern Idaho.

Stephanie Peña was a scratcher on her three-member team.

“This benefits two of our clubs at Lincoln High School which is Hope Squad and Student Council,” Peña said. “The money goes toward the students for prizes and treats and fun games and activities that we do throughout the school year.”

“It is phenomenal to see that this event, in the time that I have been doing it, has doubled in size,” Workman said.

As music blared to get the teams hyped up, Workman counted down the start on his mic.

“Everybody get ready,” Workman told the teams. “Scratch safely. In five, four, three, two, one-scratch.”

With that the teams were off scratching tickets for the next five minutes.

In the final official results from the event in Idaho Falls, Workman said Hamer Elementary School from Jefferson County was the only school to scratch all 200 tickets in the five-minute round.

Falls Valley Elementary from Idaho Falls and Sugar Salem Junior High in Sugar City were the top winners with each school claiming $774, Workman said.

While 64 schools registered for the event, Workman said 55 schools participated. Total prize amounts awarded to all of the schools totaled $18,448.