This is an archived article and the information in the article may be outdated. Please look at the time stamp on the story to see when it was last updated.
MEMPHIS, Tenn. — The local teachers who were caught on camera walking their students home from school got a big surprise from a very celebrity on Thursday. It was none other than Ellen Degeneres. On Thursday, the television show told the students and faculty of Whitney Achievement School they would be speaking with a producer of the show via video, but when the feed went live it was Ellen herself who greeted the kids. However, that wasn’t the only big surprise. The school also received rain gear for their students and a $50,000 donation from Shutterfly. WREG first reported on the photo when it first went viral. It was a heartwarming photo of a teacher holding the hand of a student while walking a group of children home. That teacher was Carl Schneider, a special education teacher at Whitney Achievement School, which is part of the Achievement School District. We learned six teachers volunteer to walk students a quarter mile from the school. About two hundred students take part in the walking program. Chris Hill, a spokesperson for the ASD, said, “We saw a need and it makes sense. We want to make sure the kids get home safely.” Hill said Schneider volunteers for the program because it allows him to bond with the students outside the classroom.