Longtime KC-area theater teacher dies unexpectedly: ‘A guiding light’
Around 50 students and alumni gathered in the Lee’s Summit West Theater Monday to honor the life of Brad Rackers, a theater teacher who died unexpectedly over the weekend.
His director’s chair was placed downstage center and was covered in flowers, balloons and stuffed unicorns, the mythical creature he had displayed all over his classroom. Show tunes from productions he directed were played on the school’s intercom, filling the halls in between classes.
These are just some of the ways Rackers has been honored by his school and the theater community, showing how his impact has spread throughout the Kansas City metro, changing the lives of countless students who’ve had him as their teacher over the years.
“His work to make his classroom a supportive space made a lasting impact. Our sincere condolences to his family and friends. This is truly a sad moment for LSR7,” Talia Evans, spokesperson for Lee’s Summit R-7 School District, said in a statement.
Rackers passed away Saturday from what was believed to be complications from diabetes, his mom, Carol Rackers, wrote in a Facebook post Monday.
‘Going on an educational journey with students’
Rackers taught in the Lee’s Summit school district since 2010, and was awarded Teacher of the Year in 2017. He was well known for his devotion to the theater program at Lee’s Summit West and his involvement with community theater programs.
“The best learning happens when students don’t realize they’re learning,” Rackers said in a 2017 interview.
“Teaching is all about going on an educational journey with students and letting them make mistakes, supporting them when they fail, reflecting on the successes and challenges throughout the process and celebrating the final product. All students have their own unique set of experiences they bring with them to the classroom each day,” Rackers said at that time.
Tabatha Babcock, director and theater educator at KC Cappies, a writing and awards program for high school theater and journalism students, said Rathers championed student voices through the program.
“To many of us, Brad was more than a colleague — he was a guiding light,” she said in a statement on Facebook. “To me, he was a dear friend, a mentor, and a constant source of wisdom and encouragement.”
A teacher’s lasting impact
Johnny Briseno remembers when he met Rackers as a freshman in 2012 while sitting at one of the school’s theater group booths.
Briseno spent all four years in the theater and participated in KC Cappies over the summer. As a senior, he became a teacher’s assistant for Rackers. When Briseno graduated in 2016, the two stayed in touch, creating a tradition of meeting at Jack Stack when Briseno was in town.
“He was the first adult in my life to see me in this world, and see my potential and believe in me and to really push for me to be better,” he said.
Briseno, now a full-time actor in Los Angeles, credits Rackers with igniting his love for the theater and for creating a space for students to find themselves in a welcoming environment.
“It truly all begins with Brad Rackers,” he said.
Musicals, plays and improv were always in the works at Lee’s Summit West, Briseno recalls, with between seven and eight productions in a school year. Outside of that, Rackers helped in community theater and pitched in over the summer at KC Cappies.
Looking back, Briseno’s favorite production was his first in “A Christmas Story” during his freshman year. Rackers wanted more kids involved and split one part between multiple kids so they could say lines. Briseno was one of those students.
“It was my first experience of a play, of rehearsals, of a live performance,” he said, noting how eye-opening and life-changing it was.
When Briseno received the call over the weekend from a former classmate about Rackers’ death, he wasn’t able to process the news. His social media was flooded with memorial posts praising the beloved teacher.
“He’s truly a man who cares about everything he does and about everybody who is involved in it,” he said.
Students honor legacy of Brad Racker
Gracie Heath graduated in 2020 and was hired by Rackers the following year as Lee’s Summit West’s improv coach, a role she said helped fill out her resume with experience she would not have gotten otherwise. He was the type of teacher who tailored his teaching style to what each student needed, she said, remembering how hard he used to push her.
“He really just believed in me,” she said.
Heath said 10 students were cast for the improv group out of the 30 to 40 who auditioned every year. The magnitude of interest, she said, was because of him.
“He really put effort into his shows,” Heath said. “... it already takes a lot of hours to put on a show, but the level and the quality of the shows that he was producing, is an insane amount of commitment and preparation and time. And he always put that in, often with very little thanks.”
A production that is still near and dear to her heart was when they did “Mary Poppins” her freshman year.
“It was a huge production. I mean, we were flying people in the air. It was a two-story set, kind of insanity for high school theater looking back,” she said with a laugh. “But it was such a beautiful show that he just worked so hard and we all just had a great experience.”
Heath was at the school on Monday when roughly 50 former and current students gathered on the stage with the decorated chair honoring Rackers. His current students brought out a Build-A-Bear they made a few weeks ago. She said when the toy is pressed, the students can be heard saying, “We love you, Mr. Rackers.”
“It was just so overwhelming how many people supported him and were there. And it was so lovely to see everybody,” Heath said, adding that several former students are flying into Kansas City to attend a memorial service later this week.
“His legacy will live on in every critique written, every award earned, and every young artist or critic who finds their voice because of this community he helped build,” Babock said in a statement.
Rackers’ memorial in Kansas City will be Friday at 6 p.m. in the Lee’s Summit Christian Church at 800 NE Tudor Road.
This story was originally published May 21, 2025 at 6:00 AM.
