Schools scratch way to fun, money

PONDERAY — The mood was both light-hearted and serious, with money for their respective schools on the line.

"Money, money, money, money," Sandpoint High School principal David Miles said of his school's participation in the first "Scratch for Schools" held in Bonner County in several years.

"We have excellent scratchers," Miles said. "We're probably going to win."

While they had several strategies in mind, the team — Miles, Nayla Moron and Melinda Nieman — declined to share them, joking they didn't want other teams to steal them and win.

"We're here to have fun and get a little money out of it," he said.

Northside Elementary's team — Jacki Crossingham, Jill Flanigan, and Michael McLaughlin — said they started by reading the rules.

"After all, we're educators," Crossingham said.

They joked they did some calisthenics and finger exercises to get ready, and brought an experienced team to the event.

"We're just super excited to see what we can do for the kids," Crossingham said. "That's why we're here."

While the event is a lot of fun, Washington Elementary's Olga Curiel, Ellen Frei and Angela Hentges but is a little bit stressful as you try and scratch off as many tickets as possible in a five-minute span.

"We just want to do the best we can for the kids," Hentges said.

Priest River Lamanna High School's Rebecca Chaney, Sarai McCormick and Steffie Pavey joked they'd been training for weeks in preparation.

"We've been doing breathing exercises," Pavey said. "You've got to stay calm [to scratch as many tickets as possible]. We made sure to drink plenty of water — it's all about the hydration."

On a more serious note, they said the money they earned at Scratch for Schools goes a long way to help students at PRLHS.

"We need the money for the kids," Chaney said. "The kids need that money."

Prior to the pandemic, the event had been centralized in Coeur d'Alene for all school districts in North Idaho. This year, 35 schools in Bonner and Boundary counties were invited to take part with about 12 schools in the Lake Pend Oreille, West Bonner County and Boundary County school districts taking part.

Statewide, Idaho Lottery held 14 events — the most in its history — with more than 400 schools registered to participate in the annual fundraising event. This year's events make the 21st edition of Scratch for Schools, with more than $1.4 million returned to local schools as part of the program.

In Scratch for Schools, teams of three — two ticket scratchers and team leader — have five minutes to scratch as many tickets as possible. The two fastest teams — at the Ponderay event it was Washington Elementary and Sandpoint High School — move on to a final round where they played a game of heads or tails.