Henrico's Top Teachers – Ahmir Lawson, Fairfield Middle School, history

As a rookie history teacher at Fairfield Middle School four years ago, Ahmir Lawson showed up to class wearing a shirt and tie, doing his best to convey the old-school teacher aura that he thought would earn him the respect of his students.

But it didn’t work.

“I realized quickly that that was not the way to reach these children,” he said, “because they can tell the difference. They can spot it a mile away.”

So, Lawson ditched the ties and became a more authentic version of himself in the classroom.

Now, “I’m the same person inside the classroom as I am coaching as I am when you see me in Walmart,” Lawson said. “That continuity is something that the students recognize, and they see that I am a real tangible person.

“That took work.”

Lawson was destined to teach; his mom has been a teacher and principal, his dad a counselor, his grandmother and several aunts also teachers, along with several other relatives in earlier generations.

“This was kind of chosen for me,” he said with a laugh, adding that he’s the only history teacher in the family. “The joke is that we could run a school [now].”

History is a subject that has captivated Lawson since his childhood in Richmond, where he competed in history bees twice at Albert Hill Middle School, before continuing his education at Henrico High School and later Old Dominion University.

“History is important because it allows us to gain insight into the human condition and the human experience, that shared experience that we all have,” Lawson said. “It helps us find commonalities.”

But it’s also not always the subject that resonates the most with middle-school students. Lawson realized that and has worked to change the way students view it.

“I felt like a lot of kids have a boring history teacher, and it was kinda my goal to kind of make it fun,” he said. “I’ve got to make it fun, and I’ve got to make it funny.”

Toward those goals, Lawson said he approaches his seventh-grade history class almost as if it’s a gossip session.

“The easiest way to talk about history is just to make it personal. We’re talking about other people’s business,” he said of the lessons he teaches. “It’s less of a lecture and more of a conversation. . . Everything has a story. Everyone has a story, as well. History is all around you – we’re from Virginia. No matter where you look, there’s a plaque or a sign or a building. We’re the originals. Without us, this social experiment doesn’t exactly go how it goes.”

The approach has paid dividends.

“His lessons were fun, interactive, and very well thought through,” a former student wrote in a nomination letter. “Despite his laid-back nature and goofy personality, Mr. Lawson actually taught. He thoroughly explained historical events, assisted when anybody asked for help, and he planned his lessons to be informative but also engaging for students. Many students genuinely enjoyed his class, and despite moving up a grade, they still went to visit him all of the time.

“He scolded the students who disrupted, but instead of mindlessly yelling and ranting, he actually made sure to explain what they did wrong, and how they could do better. He meant well and always was honest about it.”

As a young Black teacher working with a predominantly Black student population, Lawson is intentional in serving a handful of different roles.

"I find myself in the intersectionality of being a surrogate older brother, an uncle or a cousin, a friend for most of our students,” he said. “They know that no matter what – no matter how big, how small – they can always come to me with anything.”

Outside of the classroom, Lawson coaches wrestling and baseball at the school. The latter, a sport he played through high school at Henrico, is not the sport of choice for most in the Fairfield community, where basketball and football reign. But during his two seasons as head coach, his teams have won their division both years. Many of his players are new to the sport.

On the baseball field, “I get to see a different kind of growth [from students],” he said. “I tell them all the time, ‘Nah, I’m going to let you struggle a little. You’re up there on that mound, and there’s 100 eyeballs on you, I’m going to let you struggle. I’m going to help you, but I’m going to let you struggle first.”

The lessons he hopes he’s conveying on the field: “To have accountability, to be a part of something bigger than yourself but at the end of the day also just to have fun.”