They race ducks in July so they can spread cheer in December.

That’s exactly what the Kingfisher Educational Foundation Board of Directors did last week as they made their way - along with Santa and Mrs. Claus - throughout every building in the school district.

The KEF was making the rounds in order to award grants to teachers and staff.

In all, some 49 grants were awarded totaling $62,178.

It’s a record amount awarded by the KEF...and for a reason.

“The board wanted to give as much as we could with the budget shortfall and impact to our teachers this year,” said David Blair, president of the KEF board of directors.

The grant applications and awards covered a variety of areas from classroom materials, continuing education, learning materials, library books and more.

“KEF was extremely generous to our teachers and students,” said KPS Interim Superintendent Andy Evans. “The work they do to raise funds to support our school is greatly appreciated.

“We are fortunate and blessed to work in a community that supports its students in such a strong manner.”

The KEF has one major fundraiser a year - the duck race that’s held at the Vernie Snow Aquatic Center on July 4.

This year’s race raised more than $32,000, which was a record amount.

The foundation also has a year-end giving campaign, which is open to any business, family or individual who wants to make a tax-deductible donation. ( Ed.note: A QR Code appears at the end of this story. Scan the code to be directed to the website that allows you to donate.)

Teacher grants aren’t the only service provided by KEF.

This is the second year of the Students With A Role Model (SWARM) program.

The program provides mentorship for students from members of the community.

In its first year, SWARM was for students in Gilmour, Heritage and Upper Elementary.

It has expanded to the junior high and high schools this year and now has 19 mentors.

Joining Blair as an officer on the KEF board are Vice President Zac Kannady, Treasurer Joe Voth and Secretary Heath Redwine.

Other board members are Whitney Johnson, Tanya Cameron, Kristi Hyatt, Alberto Sanchez, Jeff Wilcox, Jennifer Farrar and the newest member, Mark Andrews.

Following is a list of grants that were awarded.

The listed is broken down by school and includes the teacher who was awarded the grant, the project title or description and the amount awarded:

Gilmour Elementary

Tiffany Blundell - Class- room Focus and Small Group Reading, $1,504.25 Jill Farrell - Leaping to Learn Centers, $872.62 Jarren Graham - Reading with Movement, $163.92 Teresa Greco - Positively Piano, $1,899 Laurie Hagar and the PK/TK team & first grade team - Student art/Project Hallway display, $2,309.33 Kayla Meyer - Improve reading Fluency, Enhance Math Facts and Play is Essential, $409.15 Jessica Stewart - Resources to increase knowledge and skills in Phonics, Vocabulary, Writing, and Math, $930.76 Melissa Warren - Science Exploration and Experimentation, $579.32 Melissa Warren - Emotional Regulation and Social Emotional Skill Development, $1,100.74 Laurie Hagar - Light Boards for Learning, $3,663.29

Heritage Elementary

Amy Barnett - Desk dividers, $45.99 Amy Barnett - Indoor recess games, $278.71 Davin Devilbiss - EXTREMEly awesome ANIMALS, $735 Stephanie Farrell - Secret Stories, $1,018 Lili Giles - Heritage Playground Funnel Ball Game, $838 Makylah Henton - Sensory bins, $191.98 Makylah Henton - Phonics Craft Bundle, $235.75 Rachel Ince - Book Study, $473.50 Lacey Kuehn - Literacy Intervention, $1,950 Jenny Laudwig - Academic and Social Emotional Learning, $463.06 Lisa Meier - STEM Club activity cart, $1,551.35 Lesley Redwine - Bookworm Restock, $1,000 Kris Schaefer - Art for Elementary, $2,100 Morgan Shuman - Reading intervention tools, $1,023.26 Kaytlyn Woods - Exploring the Human Body, $550.24

Kingfisher Upper Elementary

Katy Buckner - Science supplemental material for maternity leave, $402 Morgan Finley - Art Technology, $299.70 Coni Kitchens - Chromebook typing covers, $325.25 Lara Kostka - Wash Your Worries Away, $1,419.89 Melody Kuehn - Circuit Fun, $1,564.54 Meggan Lunsford - Readers are Leaders, $933.05 Kara Mueggenborg STEAM and non-fiction science classroom library, $710 Kara Mueggenborg - Phenomenon- based learning and STEAM materials, $1,500 Michele Simon - LCD writing tablet doodle board, $67.98 Liz Walter - Books for Explore Book Club and First Chapter Friday, $226.02 Heather Wittrock Classroom Management, $11,736.12

Kingfisher Junior High

Stephanie Bieren Missing books in a series, $497.40 Whitney Hauser - The Outsiders Museum field trip, $1,183.75 Deana Silk - Photography and Beyond, $2,190

Kingfisher High School

Stephanie Bieren - Getting Up-to-Date, $2,577.67 Logan Desmond - Jazz band bass guitar, $342.47 Morgan Dutton - Classroom calculators, $385.75 Lana Miller - Student necessities, $234.93 Jan Swart - Supplemental materials for forensics, anatomy and AP Biology, $1,420.27

Yellowjacket Academy

Libby Wood - Jacket Academy improvement, $2,158.98

Multi-School

Mandy Owens - Keyboard, $849.99 Steffanie Stephenson Speech therapy materials/ evals, $2,116.69

Funded by GO for Public Schools

KaylaVoth(multi-school) - Dyslexia awareness and instruction continuing education and training, $1,364.06 Nikki Young (multischool) - Jet dyslexia training and materials, $1,785.00