Lisa Ann Walter may play a beloved teacher on TV, but her dedication to those within the profession goes back long before Abbott Elementary aired.
The actress, 60, sat down exclusively with Us to talk about her family’s history in teaching and how it shaped her decision to become the “Head Teacher” for the debut of the BIC Supply Ride Bus Tour that brings free classroom supplies straight to educators.
The SAG award winner might have chosen the spotlight over the classroom but grew up watching her mother spend 40 years working with students as a public school teacher, and years later, her own daughter, Delia, followed the same path.
“Being the daughter of a teacher and the mother of a teacher, and watching what they go through…watching how they fight for their kids, and struggle to get the meaningful essentials that they need to create a good classroom environment — our tax dollars don’t cover it,” she told Us.
But it’s not the first time she has candidly opened up about the toll the job takes on teachers. In a previous interview with Us, Walter spoke about how teachers had “been so under fire” in previous years, sharing how there has been a decline in public appreciation for educators, with rhetoric that seemed to change overnight, from gratitude to criticism.
That same struggle she channels directly into her work on ABC’s Abbott Elementary as Melissa Schmmenti, the feisty, street-smart teacher at an underfunded Philadelphia school. In the show, her character is known for being a fearless advocate for her students in need — and off-screen, Walter is fighting for the same cause.
“Even if I wasn’t in the job that I’m in on Abbott, I would want to support this,” she said. “I would want to try to advertise it and help get the word out. But luckily, being in the position that I’m in, in the public eye, I get to do things that draw attention to things that I think are really important, and this is absolutely top of the list.”
Showing up for children is a habit that hasn’t stayed confined to a script for Walter, who’s built an acting career out of playing characters who do exactly that, like her beloved role as Chessy, the fiercely devoted nanny in The Parent Trap.
“It’s really important to not just say we honor you, teachers; we think that you do a great job,” she told Us. “[BIC’s] putting their money literally where their mouth is… That’s meaningful to me. That’s why I did it three years ago and why I’m doing it again.”
The BIC Supply Ride Bus Tour will travel directly to teachers, delivering free classroom essentials at each stop. This year’s tour builds on the 2023 NYC back-to-school “Supply Closet” pop-up event, which Walter’s was also a part of. This time around, the tour is expanding beyond New York City with new stops in Austin, Atlanta and Chicago. Teachers nationwide can also enter for a chance to receive their own supply package at bic2school.com.
“All of us either have been to school, are going to school, or have kids in school, and some people teach school,” she continued. “So it is something that affects all of us, and it’s actually something that we could kind of fix easily. But luckily, there are companies like BIC who are stepping in from outside and just saying, ‘Here, let’s try to help.”
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