New playground equipment for Kingfisher’s youngest elementary students.

A book vending machine.

Supplemental materials that make learning interactive and even…fun.

All that and much more is available to Kingfisher Public Schools students and has been made possible due to funding from the Kingfisher Educational Foundation.

The non-profit group each December awards teacher grants to help broaden the teaching abilities for staff and learning capabilities for students.

Last December, the KEF awarded $56,000 of the $61,000 presented to teachers (the rest came from GO for Public Schools and KPS).

How are those funds available?

There are several ways to donate to the KEF, a non-profit 501(c)(3). (Note: Visit the KEF’s website and Facebook page for more information on giving.)

But the foundation has one fundraiser each year: The Duck Race.

And duck season is here.

The KEF’s campaign began Sunday, June 1, the first day ducks can be purchased for the annual race that is held July 4 at the Vernie Snow Aquatic Center K-Town Cove.

But this year’s campaign drive got a huge initial boost.

Each of the three auto dealerships in Kingfisher donated $5,000 last week to the KEF.

“It was such a tremendous gesture,” said David Blair, the president of the KEF’s board of directors. “It’s such a blessing to start our annual campaign with that kind of support.”

On hand for the presentation were:

• Bryce and Brock Boeckman of Boeckman Ford, Kingfisher’s Ford dealership;

• Casey Jackson of Jacksons of Kingfisher, the local Chevrolet and GMC dealership; and,

• Jeff Johnson of Johnsons of Kingfisher, the city’s dealership for Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep and Ram.

Joining Blair for the presentation were fellow KEF board members Zac Kannady, who is the vice president, and Whitney Johnson.

KEF began in 1985 said Blair when he spoke last Thursday at the Kingfisher Lions Club meeting.

Blair explained that Arrel Reed, a longtime Gilmour principal and assistant superintendent at KPS, was “the mastermind with a vision” behind the foundation.

The KEF started the “Rockin’ Boppin’ Concert” in 1990 as a way to raise funds.

While successful, the concert had a shelf life, said Blair, so other ideas were conjured to help raise money for the KEF’s annual giving.

In 1999, KEF board members Pat Cheap, Mike Cheap and Lynne Howard landed on the idea of having people “purchase” plastic ducks, letting those ducks loose in a body of water and awarding prize money to the winning ducks’ owner.

Through some trial and error, including using the Cimarron River as the initial site, the Duck Race was born.

Eventually, after learning some ducks were difficult to retrieve in a natural body of water, the Kingfisher pool became the race’s permanent home.

It remains there a quarter- century later.

“It remains our only fundraiser and it continues to get bigger and better,” Blair said.

He noted that since its inception, the KEF has raised about $795,000.

The amount raised since 2020 alone is $131,500, an average of $26,300 a year.

Last year the KEF sold a record 630 ducks for a total of $31,500 raised.

Blair said those who support through the duck race and the generosity of Kingfisher’s auto dealers directly affects KPS staff and students.

“Last year was the most we’ve ever given (in grants),” Blair said. “And we want to give another $50,000 to $55,000 again this year, so that support is huge.”

( Ed. note: For more on the support by the local auto dealerships, see Page 12 of this edition.)