The South Whidbey Schools Foundation provided more than $21,000 to South Whidbey School District educators on Monday, Nov. 4.

The money will help fund projects for 16 teachers on the district’s four campuses.

The foundation awarded 20 grants in total with values ranging from $325 to $2,000.

Thirty-one grant applications were received this year by the foundation for more than $39,000 in funding.

“There was not an unworthy grant proposal in the bunch, which made it very difficult to decide how to distribute the Foundation’s limited funds,” said Foundation president Chris Gibson in a press release. “We had to make some very difficult choices.”

Chosen projects for the grants include 3D mRNA, DNA and amino acid modeling kits for high school biology, building and operating underwater robots for the underwater robotics club; raising young salmon in the classroom for elementary school students; and bringing numerous local artists into South Whidbey schools to help maintain an art curriculum on every campus.

Funding was also provided for several garden projects aimed at multi-disciplinary learning opportunities and, eventually, locally grown food for school cafeterias.

The foundation is a non-profit organization that supports innovation in the South Whidbey School District. For more information about the foundation, visit swsfoundation.org