Landon Nault did a lot for Kingfisher High School during his time as a student and athlete.

As a student, he was a member of the National Honor Society, listed on the Superintendent’s Honor Roll and earned the 4.0 Award among numerous other honors.

He was even better known as perhaps the most productive football player the KHS program has ever seen.

Nault was a four-year starter and is the school’s all-time leader in rushing yards and touchdowns scored.

He played in three state championship games, including leading KHS to the 2013 Class 3A state title.

Nault was not only recognized statewide, but across the entire United States as well as he became a national finalist for the High School Heisman Award.

Nault brought so much positive attention to his school and his community that economists would be hard-pressed to put a dollar amount on it.

At a recent assembly, his alma mater tried to pay just a little bit of it back.

KHS Student Council officers presented Nault, his wife Ericka, his son Easton and newborn daughter Emery Sue with a sizable check.

The total amount: $17,257.26.

••• After high school, Nault had a stellar playing career at Emporia State University.

He earned a degree and - after more schooling - became a physician’s assistant.

Along the way, Nault met and married Ericka.

The two now reside in Enid.

He currently works in the emergency room at Okeene Municipal Hospital and the couple will soon open We Rock the Spectrum in Enid.

The indoor play place will be for all children, but is designed to be sensory safe for children with disabilities, specifically those on the spectrum.

The planned opening is currently set for June.

About 2 1/2 years ago, the Naults welcomed their first child, Easton.

Ericka was carrying their second child late last year when a diagnosis of myelomeningocele, the most serious form of spina bifida, was given to them at 20 weeks.

This form of spina bifida is a neural tube defect where the neural tube and surrounding bone structures don’t form correctly very early in development.

In utero surgery was performed at 25 weeks gestation to repair the defect by closing the neural tube on her back to preserve limb function and prevent worsening of the hydrocephalus, which is excess fluid on the brain.

That surgery was performed at Memorial Hermann Children’s Hospital in Houston, Texas.

Ericka was hospitalized for about two weeks at the time.

The family then returned to Houston in the middle of January at 30 weeks gestation.

Emery Sue Nault was born at 2:38 p.m Tuesday, March 5, 2024.

She weighed 7 pounds, 4 ounces.

“There were no procedures after delivery, thank goodness,” Nault said. “Successful surgery in utero prevented worsening of the fluid build-up on her brain so we didn’t need to have a shunt placed.”

Still, Emery was taken to NICU immediately after delivery.

She - and the rest of the family - remained in Houston for two more weeks before being discharged.

“She is doing very well,” Nault said. “We do have a lot of appointments, imaging studies, tests, etc., coming up, but for now we are happy that we are just monitoring things and tackling anything that may come up as it presents itself.”

Even more good news: Most follow-up appointments and testing can be done in Oklahoma City.

Unless situations change, the family won’t have to return to Houston until Emery turns 1, then 3, then 5 years old.

The Nault family has been blessed with Emery’s outcome since the diagnosis.

But it has also been hindered by hospital stays: Two weeks at the time of surgery, then from the middle of January until near the end of March.

The bills add up.

••• KHS math teacher Amy Pearson and librarian Stephanie Bieren are the co-sponsors for Student Council at the school.

The idea of a philandecided thropic project began about three years ago.

“Several other Student Councils around the state have the same sort of thing and we put our own take on it,” they said.

STING (Students Thriving in Neighborly Goodness) was born.

“We created a STING chair for our officers and began planning,” said the sponsors.

They knew - sort of WHERE they wanted to help.

“We love the idea of helping our community and our goal is to focus locally and help our community that supports us throughout the year,” they said.

The fundraising would take place around a week of activities called STING Week.

In its first year in 202223, students raised $10,000, which was presented to sixth grade math teacher Matthew Loch, who was battling a form of cancer.

The goal this year was to raise even more.

The Naults’ unexpected situation gave them their cause.

Student Council organized three bake sales.

Members sold chances for an iPad and an Apple Pencil during the Buckle of the Wheatbelt Invitational.

The entire school district participated in “Coin Wars” in which coins were collected for the cause.

There was also a 3-on-3 basketball tournament featuring students and staff as well as a dodgeball tournament.

Most of that happened in March during STING Week at the school.

It was also during that week that multiple businesses in the community and county stepped up, including donating a percentage of sales on a particular day to the cause.

In all, more than two dozen businesses offered some form of help.

Pearson and Bieren said it was the group’s officers who “made STING happen.”

Officers this year are: Amy Deatherage, president; Natalie Garrett, vice president; Emiley Watkins, secretary; and Kamryn Purintun, philanthropy chair.

“A special thank-you goes to them for all their hard work as well as their parents for what they’ve done behind the scenes,” said Pearson and Bieren.

Their work resulted in STUCO being able to nearly double what it raised last year.

All along, they knew the Naults would be the beneficiary of their philanthropy project.

All of them - Landon, Ericka, Easton and even Emery - were at the assembly on April 3 when the donation was presented to them.

The work of the students and the generosity of the community are not lost on Nault.

He was raised here, graduating in 2014, just a couple of years after his brother, Logan.

His parents still live here as his mother Sabrina is a longtime teacher at KHS and father Francis is the department manager of the Network Operations Center at Pioneer Telephone Cooperative.

Nault knows what Kingfi sher is about, but was still blown away by the gesture made to his family.

“Our family cannot express how blessed we feel with the overwhelming support and generosity from Kingfisher High School, Kingfisher and surrounding communities,” Nault said.

“The money raised helps relieve some of the large financial burden placed on us and it allows us to focus more energy on being the best parents we can be to Emery and our Easton.”

The gifts from the community haven’t just been monetary and Nault recognizes that as well.

“We also appreciate everyone who has kept us in their thoughts and prayers,” he said. “We truly believe in the power of prayer and could feel them working through every step of the process.”

They were prayers delivered from his hometown helping get his family home. Even though home isn’t currently in Kingfisher, Nault knows what it is to feel a part of this community and his school.

“It means so much to me to be a Jacket and I couldn’t be more proud and blessed to have been raised in such an amazing and strong community,” he said.

“Once a Jacket, always a Jacket!”

As for STING Week, Bieren and Pearson were hoping to build a foundation for positive results down the road in students, but are already seeing them.

“We believe that by providing our students the opportunity to help others in this way is giving them life lessons they can carry with them throughout their lifetime,” they said. “We can never have enough examples of showing kindness. This is just one way we can show the rest of the district as well as the community what kindness can be.

“We have also learned that through participation in the various activities, the camaraderie among the student body has grown stronger.”

They hope to see that expand even more…in more ways than one.

“As we continue with our STING efforts, our vision is for it to continue to grow and make a bigger impact each year.”