A local teacher received a surprise Walmart shopping spree Thursday in Kearny Mesa.
Cynthia Arredondo, a kindergarten teacher at Willow Elementary School, wiped away tears after several Walmart employees and a representative with the San Ysidro Vanguard Foundation surprised her.
She received a $513 gift card and a basket of back to school supplies.
“I spend at least $300 on back to school,” Arredondo said. “I mean the school district gives us so much, but at the same time you always see these things that you say, 'Oh, I could use this. This is going to make me better; this is going to make my kids better.'”
Arredondo teaches in San Ysidro, where many of her students learn English as a second language, an added challenge to the many tasks of an early childhood education teacher. Some of her kids also have trouble affording their own supplies.
“In San Ysidro we do have some kids that don’t have any crayons or they don’t have those scissors or the glue sticks.”
Arredondo said she puts extra supplies in the classroom prize box, and rewards the kids with items on Fridays.
Local
According to Walmart, teachers often spend around $500 of their own money on school supplies for their classroom.
