Georgia teacher running more than 50 miles to visit all of his students

KENNESAW, Ga - In these days of Zoom calls and virtual learning, teachers are starting to miss their kids. One teacher in Kennesaw decided he was going to visit all of his students.  But this is no drive-by.  He's lacing up his sneakers and running to all of their homes.

Bill McAllister is a teacher at Big Shanty Intermediate School.  It's been March 16th since he's seen his students in person.

"I knew my kids were at home missing school and everybody else so I thought why don't I just run through their neighborhoods and give them a smile, pick up their day a little bit," said McAllister.

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Bill McAllister leaves notes for students not at home when he goes for a run to see them. (FOX 5)

It took some planning.

"I had to figure out where everybody lived and figure out the most advantageous route to get from one place to another," said McAllister.

He'll be running more than 50 miles in all. His routes take him anywhere from 6 to 8 miles a day.  He had quadruple bypass surgery a few years ago, so he wants to keep his miles to a manageable distance.

Seeing her teacher brought a smile to Mia Strickland's face.

"To me, it's pretty awesome, just the other day I was thinking about him," said Strickland.

If no one is home, McAllister tapes a special note to the mailbox.

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'Letting them know that their teachers are still out there, we still care about what they're doing and we hope they're doing their best," said McAllister.

As an educator, McAllister realizes some students are missing more than classroom work and friends during this pandemic.  Some are missing meals.

"One of the things that was on my mind is that there are kids with parents not working and they're food insecure, so I decided I was going to make a per-mile donation to MUST Ministries," said McAllister.

McAllister says as others learned about what he was doing, he encouraged them to follow in his footsteps and donate as well.