WASHINGTON — May 8 through May 12 is Teacher Appreciation Week, and for the second year in a row, the Virginia Lottery and the Virginia Tourism Corp. are running a contest that will award three Virginia public school teachers with prizes.
The “Thank a Teacher” contest lets anyone — students, parents or colleagues — send an electronic “thank you” note to the teacher of their choice.
Those notes come with a shot at a free vacation for the teacher.
“The great thing is since it’s the Virginia Lottery, you know there are prizes, and with our partners at the Virginia Tourism Corporation, if a teacher gets one of these thank you notes, there is a code on the thank you note,” Paula Otto, executive director of the Virginia Lottery told WTOP.
“If they go online and enter that code, they have a chance to win a summer vacation,” she said.
The teacher who wins the grand prize can choose from one of three four-night vacations: Virginia is for Beach Lovers, Virginia is for Mountain Lovers or Virginia is for Wine Lovers.
Two other prizes include Amtrak tickets for four anywhere in the Northeast Corridor, and a $250 gift card.
Virginia public schools get a significant amount of funding from the Virginia Lottery, and Otto says the “Thank a Teacher” contest is a good way to remind people of that.
“Last year, it was more than $550 million, and we expect that for this fiscal year as well. In fact, each and every day, the lottery raises $1.5 million for Virginia public schools,” Otto said.
The deadline for submitting an electronic “thank you” is May 12.
Teachers who receive them have until Friday, May 19 to enter.
See details of the prize packages and submit an electronic “thank you” note to a Virginia public school teacher (you’ll need his email address) with personal note on the Virginia Lottery’s website.
