Emily Riley

Emily Riley was born and raised in the West Suburbs of Illinois. From as young as she can remember, every summer, her brother and she would head into her mom’s school and they would help sort supplies in her classroom, help set up bulletin boards, and much more. This was by far one of her favorite times of the year. She loved teaching so much that her grandparent's basement often became her own classroom, fully furnished with boxes she created to be desks, and different areas set up for her to teach her little cousin and brother all the different subjects. She was involved with competitive swimming at a young age and pursued it through high school. She also competed in Water Polo from 4th grade and continued that through college. Because of her love of sports and having some phenomenal programs as she grew up, especially in high school, she decided to combine her love of teaching with her love of sport and physical activity. She went to Illinois State University to obtain a Bachelor’s Degree in Physical Education and Health Education.

After graduating, she moved to Oklahoma to teach Physical Education and Health Education at César Chávez Elementary, and to be closer to her now husband, T.J. Even though Emily was passionate about teaching PE and Health, she quickly discovered that working with lower elementary aged students was her real passion. While she was able to make great connections with students in P.E., she wasn’t able to make a greater impact in their education and their love of learning. So while still teaching, she decided to start attending classes at the University of Central Oklahoma to obtain her Masters in Early Childhood Education. Through this program, she was able to help create and implement several research studies based around Loose Parts play and alternative assessments for mathematical concepts using board games. Before graduating in the Spring of 2019, she received the Dr.Janice Johnson Outstanding Early Childhood Education Graduate Student. 

After graduating, Emily started teaching Kindergarten at Kaiser Elementary. During her first year of being a classroom teacher, COVID hit, and she started to teach kindergarten virtually like everyone else. This was a new challenge for her along with all the other teachers in the world, but she was able to find ways to keep her students engaged and learning. In September 2020, Emily gave birth to her first child, Emma. Due to the pandemic still being widespread, Emily decided to remain home to care for their daughter starting in December. However, she returned to Kaiser Elementary the following school year and started a new adventure in first grade. She is enjoying the wit, and curious nature of these students and is still teaching in this grade today. Emily, T.J., and Emma also welcomed another girl into their family this past January, 2023! She is incredibly honored to be named the Kaiser Elementary School Teacher of the Year and was even more elated to become one of the nine OKCPS District Teacher of The Year finalists!