SAN DIEGO—Garden Road Elementary School teachers received a special surprise donation of supplies and kits as they begin the new school year.
On Tuesday, August 25, 2026, representatives from Poway Honda visited Garden Road Elementary and dropped off school supplies and several teacher appreciation kits, containing items like index cards, sanitizer and tissues, markers, sticky notes, stickers, and toys for students.
Principal Sue Melnick and Assistant Principal Ryan Hicks walked through campus and brought the kits to teachers, surprising them during class with the bags full of supplies.
“As we walked in today with the bag for teachers, everyone was just so touched and excited. This is a real moral booster for our teachers who come in and they pour their hearts out to their class,” Melnick says.
The donation was part of a larger campaign by Sonic Automotive, which owns Poway Honda, and Echo Park Automotive working in tandem with Cheeriodicals, a corporate team building company that organized the logistics and distribution of supplies. The campaign has seen more than 2,300 kits distributed to more than 60 elementary schools—including Garden Road Elementary—across the country.
“To get this gift of supplies plus a beautiful bag for the teacher, a hand written note to each teacher, this was a great moral boosting activity,” says Melnick.