A Kansas City educator wants to 'make lives easier' for trans people. So he's teaching adults

Riley Long, a high school teacher in the Blue Valley School District, is taking his passion for educating outside of the classroom to help others learn how to be better trans allies.
A new school year brings new starts — and for Riley Long, this year, it brings several.

He moved to Blue Valley West High School this year after teaching middle school special education in the district for the last three years.

After graduating from the University of Kansas, Long was an AmeriCorps volunteer before traveling to Australia and Europe — but he says teaching felt inevitable.

“I am the oldest, I have two younger brothers so I feel like from a young age, I was always helping take care of them kind of show them the way,” Long said. “I think working with youth… it just kind of led me from there.”

Long and other educators have to cope with a lack of education funding, low pay and frustrated parents.

But he says being transgender adds an extra layer of concerns.