Henrico's Top Teachers - Erienne Bryant, Tuckahoe Middle School, history

Erienne Bryant is a well-known figure at Tuckahoe Middle School. The outgoing and exuberant history teacher makes sure to greet every student she walks past, even those she has never seen before.

“I know hundreds of kids, and I don’t even know their names, but we just say ‘hi’ every single day,” Bryant said. “It can be a simple, ‘Hi, I like your shirt!’ or ‘Wow, cute sparkles!’ It doesn’t have to be anything big, just make some kind of small connection and make them feel special in some way, or make them feel seen and recognized.”

After 18 years of teaching at Tuckahoe, Bryant has made her mark – literally – on the school. When you walk into her history classroom, every inch of the walls is covered in maps of the world, hieroglyphics, paintings of historical figures, pictures of historical monuments, and loads of hand-drawn student artwork. It is almost like a learning oasis for her students. 

Bryant herself used to think history was boring in middle school. But after switching her major to history in college, she realized it doesn’t have to be a snooze-fest – history is essentially a collection of memorable stories.

So Bryant makes history memorable to her seventh- and eighth-grade students. Remember Alexander the Great, the king of ancient Macedonia who conquered the Persian Empire? Well, did you know that he had a baby face? That no matter how much he tried, he couldn’t grow a beard?

Bryant’s students certainly know that, and they know that for the next 500 years in the ancient Balkans, major leaders like Julius Caesar continued the style by shaving their faces, despite the fact that for generations before, all leaders had long beards.

For a tuned-out seventh-grader, that silly anecdote is enough to grab their attention. And Bryant tells the story with gusto, saying she doesn’t mind “sounding stupid” in front of her students, knowing that the moment will stay in their minds a few weeks later when Alexander the Great shows up on a test.

“It’s one of the most minor things I could tell them about him, but they remember that story because of the way I tell it and because of the little anecdote,” she said. “I have a lot of energy and enthusiasm, and I don’t mind looking dumb in front of teenagers.”

Bryant’s spirited attitude also comes out while coaching the Tuckahoe track team. In her classroom before track meets, Bryant and her runners will paint strips of black under their eyes, or cover their faces with glitter or red, white, and blue paint – the school’s official colors.

When the team reaches the meet, everyone gets in a huge huddle, puts their hands in the middle, counts to three, and “out of nowhere, explodes” with “PATRIOTS!” – the name of the Tuckahoe mascot. And no matter how they perform, Bryant makes sure the team keeps that positivity going for the entire meet.

“Winning feels great, especially when they’ve all worked hard, but in middle school, success isn’t the most important thing,” Bryant said. “It’s the team and the community. It’s being positive and bringing the spirit.”

Tuckahoe’s track team is the only one at many meets to cheer for both their own team and all of the other teams – something that Bryant encouraged them to do, and do exuberantly.

“I teach them to cheer for everybody,” she said. “And the whole meet, I’m usually standing there at the finishing line cheering for everybody, and they watch me do that.”

Bryant truly makes school a fun place to be, said one nominator, and her former students come back to her classroom year after year just to visit her.

“Not only is she a top history teacher that students beg to have, but she runs one of the most successful middle school track programs,” they wrote. ‘She personifies a teacher who cares about her students as humans. She knows them, their hobbies, and their families. She creates a community.”

It is not often that Bryant comes to school in a bad mood, but if she does, she knows it won’t stay. The friendly greetings, funny stories, and lively moments Bryant shares with her students every day are the most important part of teaching for her.

“I know that once I start interacting with the kids and talking to them, then they’re just going to turn my mood around,” she said. “It all boils down to me being positive, having the relationship with the kids, and being a person that they can and will talk to and approach.”

Liana Hardy is the Citizen’s government and education reporter. Support her work and articles like this one by making a contribution to the Citizen.