Rancho Cordova police team up with Santa to reward successful students

The Rancho Cordova Police Department gave local students a Christmas surprise on Dec. 21, treating them to a holiday shopping spree at the Rancho Cordova Walmart.

The police department’s Holiday STAR program gifted 28 students from 13 local elementary schools with new clothes, shoes, backpacks and a $100 Walmart gift card on Thursday morning, according to the department’s Facebook page. The students were being rewarded for high academic or behavioral achievement.

The program targets students in the city who have become high achievers despite financial hardships, according to Good Day Sacramento. Police sprung the surprise on these 28 students Thursday morning as students, police and city employees descended on the Walmart Supercenter on Folsom Boulevard and Zinfandel Drive for the event.

Rancho Cordova Assistant Police Chief Chad Lewis told Good Day Sacramento that the idea for the Holiday STAR program came from a Rancho Cordova police sergeant who saw the effort these students put into school and wanted to encourage their successes.

The city partnered with Walmart, Famous Footwear and McDonald’s to reward the kids with a shopping trip, new Famous Footwear shoes and a warm breakfast outside the store.

Each student was accompanied by a police officer or city staff member as they roamed the store in search of toys to help them pick out toys and to push the kids’ stuffed-full carts around the store.

This story was originally published December 21, 2017 at 10:42 AM with the headline "Rancho Cordova police team up with Santa to reward successful students."