Issue link: http://educator.cta.org/i/795366
says that things have been OK at school for the most part, and his teachers are using his correct name and the pronoun "he." He is doing well in his classes, and he's glad staff aren't making a fuss over him. He says he is not teased or harassed. W h en asked hi s go al s, h e re pli e s, " I just want to get through school quickly and quietly." (Gender Spectrum obser ves that the majority of transgender students hope to "escape notice" in school and survive rather than flourish.) e student says it's a relief to finally live life as the boy he always knew he was. " You acknowledge it and move on," he shrugs in typical teenage fashion. "It had to happen." ere is no one-size-fits-all plan to help a student transition at school. In some situa- tions it is private; in others, public. In either case, schools and parents working together in the best interest of the student should be an ongoing process, and school employees should follow up with transgender students regularly to assess their well-being. Schools can also provide the family with referral s to lo cal re s ourc e s, nonprofits, mental health pro- viders and support groups if additional support is needed. S c h o o l s m a y c o n s i d e r tra i n i n g s o m e e du c a t o r s t o be advocates for LGBTQ+ stu- dents and make it known to students that there is a go-to person on campus. Making schools more inclusive English and creative writing teacher Lucia Lemieux has taught six students she knew were transgender at Newbury Park High School in Thousand Oaks. She suspects she has taught others without knowing. Inside her classroom is a rainbow flag and a sign proclaiming that her room is a "safe space." She relates to students who have been bullied; a few years ago, she was bul- lied by adults in her community for organizing a Day of Silence on her campus to create aware- ness of the struggles of LGBTQ+ youth. e bullying against her included some hateful emails. When her school decided to develop a training for staff to become more educated about transgender students and oth- ers on the gender spectrum, she was asked by her principal to create it. "As a straight but not narrow woman, I cannot ever know what it is like to walk in their shoes, but I can listen and advo- cate," says Lemieux, a Unified Association of Conejo Teachers member who serves as adviser for the Gay Straight Alliance on 26 cta.org Joel Baum FEATURE