Kentwood cheerleaders surprised students at Scenic Hill Elementary on Monday with drawstring backpacks filled with brand new schools supplies — there was a backpack on the desk of every student.

The Conqueror cheerleaders have adopted Scenic Hill Elementary for the 2011-2012 school year.

The cheerleaders participate in community service projects throughout the year and wanted an opportunity in which they could help children for this year’s project.

When the members of Kentwood’s cheer squads learned about the amazing staff and students at Scenic Hill,  they quickly realized that their large team of 53 cheerleaders could make a difference.

Conqueror cheerleaders partnered with their little sister team at Mattson Middle School and both worked with their respective student bodies as well as local businesses to gather nearly10,000 items to benefit every one of the 604 children of Scenic Hill Elementary.

Scenic Hill had also gathered some donations from another source and the donations are still coming in to help aid the students in overcoming obstacles to have a successful year.

The cheerleaders will continue to work with Scenic Hill throughout the year by offering tutoring and homework help, supporting their math and literacy projects with flash card and book drives, adopting students during testing windows, offering teacher assistance and more.

The Kentwood cheerleaders, coached by Kim Kawachi and Tyler Janes, will also host their second annual Breast Cancer Awareness night when Kentwood takes on Kentlake on the gridiron on Oct. 7.

Proceeds from this event will be donated to the Susan G. Komen Foundation of Puget Sound.