El Chicano, Colton Courier, Rialto Record

RUSD Partners with Shiekh Shoes for VIP Shopping Experience for students

2 min read

2 years ago Maryjoy Duncan

Evelyn P. Dominguez, Rialto Unified School District Board Member, assists a student in selecting a pair of shoes at the Shiekh Shoes store at the Inland Center Mall on February 16. Select RUSD students were treated to a VIP shopping experience and were able to pick out a new pair of sneakers for free thanks to a partnership between Shiekh Shoes and the RUSD.

Rialto Unified School District students beamed with excitement as they entered the Shiekh Shoes store with the purpose of selecting a free, brand-new pair of shoes on February 16. The students were part of a VIP shopping experience and a new partnership between Shiekh Shoes, a global shoe retail company headquartered in San Bernardino, and the RUSD.

The RUSD recently announced a partnership between Shiekh Shoes and the District’s Sharing Our Love Non-Profit Foundation. Through the company’s Shiekh Impact Center, and the District’s “Body, Sole, Spirit” sneaker initiative the collaboration has resulted in select students receiving a brand-new pair of high-quality, stylish, and proper-fitting sneakers. Students were selected based on citizenship, community service, acts of kindness, academic achievements, or something noteworthy that they accomplished.

Six students per RUSD school were selected by school site leaders to receive a pair of free sneakers. Shiekh Shoes hosted the VIP shopping experience for selected students at the Shiekh Shoes retail location at the Inland Center Mall in the City of San Bernardino. With the assistance of Shiekh Shoes and RUSD staff, each student perused the store until they found the fit and style that they liked best.

Shiekh Shoes donated $9,000, allowing the district to stretch its initial in-house donations of $6,000 for a total of $15,000 to spend on this initiative. The initial seed money was raised by the RUSD management team through a fundraising campaign that encouraged staff to wear their favorite sneakers on a day in December 2022.

The “Body, Sole, Spirit” initiative was born out of constructive and creative conversations held during a training for the District’s Strategic Plan in November 2022. The Strategic Plan reflects the collective voice of administrators, teachers, students, families, and members of the community, anchored in creativity and innovation and guided by a set of core beliefs, and a mission.