Local teacher wins lottery
By ROBERT LINNEHAN
The Cherry Hill Sun
7/11/2009

A local Cherry Hill High School West teacher didn’t have to wait till the summer to take her year off. In fact, she jump-started her summer vacation by applying for early retirement on March 24.

If you can’t retire early after winning the Powerball Lottery Jackpot, when can you retire early? Palmira Nicolo, 57, a long-time Italian teacher at the high school revealed on Thursday, June 18 that she was in possession of a jackpot-winning Powerball ticket from a Feb. 28 drawing.

According to the Pennsylvania Lottery, Nicolo had winning jackpot ticket that matched all five white balls, 03-16-20-42-58, and the red Powerball number, 7, to win the Feb. 28 jackpot. The jackpot actually grew over 12 drawings with no winners until it had a total annuity value of $174.4 million.

Nicolo had one of the two top-prize winning tickets, each worth an annuity amount of $87.2 million or $46,629,112.16 in a lump sum.

Nicolo elected to take the $46,629,112.16 cash value of the jackpot.

Nicolo taught when present Principal Joseph Meloche was a student at West, he said. She’s an institution at the high school and it couldn’t have happened to a better person or teacher, Meloche said.

Nobody at the school had any idea Nicolo had won the lottery, Meloche said, but the teacher had her last day on April 30. She initially came to Meloche in March and gave her 60-day notice, which is a requirement for district teachers looking to retire, he said.

“She retired on May 1. Her last day in the building was April 30 and she came to me in March about retiring,” Meloche said. “Teachers have to give 60 days’ notice, which she did. She had a great career, she was a wonderful woman.”

The district has already hired another teacher to replace Nicolo, Meloche said, but replacing the dedicated teacher and everything she has done for the school will not be an easy task.

“To replace her in the culture and fabric of the school will be difficult to do. She was the heart and soul of the Italian program in Cherry Hill West,” he said. “She’s probably finally being paid what she deserves. It couldn’t have happened to a better or more deserving person.”

Nicolo could not be directly reached for comment, but the Pennsylvania Lottery released a press release that stated Nicolo said she would continue to play the lottery because, “the Lottery is doing a good thing supporting senior programs and services.”

Nicolo purchased the winning ticket at the Plymouth Meeting Mall Customer Service Center in Montgomery County.

Because it sold the winning ticket, the mall will receive a $100,000 bonus.

According to the Pennsylvania Lottery, the odds of hitting all five numbers plus the Powerball are over 1 in 195 billion.