At almost any New York City bodega, you can quick-draw, scratch, or mega-million your way towards million dollar jackpots. Thousands of New Yorkers play the lottery every day. But how does the lottery really work? Who is playing, and where does all the money go? Who wins and who loses?
A group of New York City high school students worked with the Center for Urban Pedagogy (CUP), the Resilience Advocacy Project (RAP), and CUP teaching artist Lindsay Catherine Harris to scratch beneath the surface. The group interviewed the head of the New York Lottery, a math teacher, lottery retailers, an economist, and lottery players.
The team created a video, “Lotto Zone,” to uncover the surprising story of the connection between Powerball, policy, and public school funding. “Lotto Zone” had its debut at Anthology Film Archives in Manhattan. Since the debut, the video has been awarded the prestigious Core 77 design award as part of our Urban Investigations program.
Check out the video below!