Four tickets sold in North Carolina won $50,000 prizes in Wednesday’s Powerball drawing. The lucky tickets were bought at the following locations.

• Quality Mart on N.C. 68 North, Oak Ridge (Guilford County)
• Food Lion on Burlington Road, Whitsett (Guilford County)
• Joe's Sports Bar & Grill on Exchange Street NW, Concord (Cabarrus County)
• Buy and Go on Ploof Road, Leland (Brunswick County)

In Wednesday’s drawing, 149,377 tickets sold in North Carolina won prizes ranging from $4 to $50,000. So if you play Powerball, make sure you check your tickets.

A ticket sold in Wisconsin won the $768.4 million annuity jackpot. It’s the third highest Powerball jackpot on record.

This jackpot created some big prizes for players, but also resulted in some big wins for education. Since the jackpot started on Dec. 29, it raised an estimated $19 million for the state education fund. For every $2 Powerball ticket sold, 76 cents goes to education.

“A large Powerball jackpot brings big wins to the schools in our state,” said Mark Michalko, executive director of the N.C. Education Lottery. “We want people to remember that when they play for these life changing prizes they are also raising money for education.”

Ticket sales from jackpot games like Powerball make it possible for the lottery to raise more than $650 million a year for education. For details on how lottery funds have made a difference in all of North Carolina’s 100 counties, click on the “Impact” section of the lottery’s website.