ATLANTA - A Covington woman, who is the treasurer of a Forest Park lottery pool, has claimed a quarter-million dollar lottery win. Candice Goodson, and eight of her co-workers at Premier Transportation, matched the first five winning numbers in the Jan. 27 Mega Millions drawing and won a second prize of $250,000.

The others in the lottery pool with Goodson are ecstatic. Members of the group chose to use their date of hire for the lucky combination.

Winning numbers from the Jan. 27 Mega Millions drawing were: 3-11-12-14-21 and the Mega Ball was 25. Goodson purchased the winning ticket at Oak Hill BP, 3300 Highway 81 S. in Covington, on her way home from work.

She visited the Georgia Lottery's Web site before work the following day to check the numbers.

"Honestly, I couldn't believe it," said Goodson, 29. "I was highlighting each number, and I kept going. When I got to the end of the line, I dropped everything."

Other members of the lottery pool are Tiffany Carter of Rex, 27; Barbara Hughes of Jonesboro, 36; Deborah Griffiths of Locust Grove, 34; Robin Stone of Riverdale, 45; Deborah Griffith of McDonough, 55; Melanie Johnson of Hampton, 30; Terry Wade of Stockbridge, 51; and Marlena Cook of McDonough, 51.

Saving for the future and paying off bills are among the group's plans.

"Winning makes you feel good," Goodson exclaimed.

Since its first year, the Georgia Lottery Corporation has returned more than $10.5 billion to the state of Georgia for education. All Georgia Lottery profits go to pay for specific educational programs including Georgia's HOPE Scholarship Program and Georgia's Pre-K Program. More than 1.1 million students have received HOPE, and more than 940,000 4-year-olds have attended the statewide, voluntary prekindergarten program.

For more information, please visit the Media Center on the Georgia Lottery Web site at www.galottery.com