Petersburg High School in Petersburg, Va., has seen its share of impressive students. The school’s alumni include 12-time NBA All-Star Moses Malone, Grammy-nominated artist Trey Songz, and actor Blair Underwood. And the school isn’t finished building legacies yet.
Coach William W. Lawson III, the school’s athletic director, is the son of retired guidance department chair Lula Lawson and William W. Lawson Jr., who was the head basketball coach and athletic director. Coach Lawson’s grandmother also taught in the school system, and his grandfather was head football coach at Virginia State College, Coach Lawson’s alma mater.
These days, he’s working on building his own legacy.
“Coach Lawson is a legend at Petersburg High School,” said Zack Guida, team leader at RTW Media. “He’s a legacy coach, a legacy athletic director and is actively building his own legacy by creating quality experiences for these student athletes both through his foundation and in the athletic facilities at the school.”
In 2022, Lawson started Rise Up 4 Greatness, a foundation to help support student athletes education post-high school. Around that same time, he started working on upgrades to Petersburg High School’s athletic facilities.
“The systems at the football stadium and in the gymnasium were dated,” said Guida. “They were using speakers from the mid-’90s. The sound was unintelligible, and they were barely functioning.”
Zack’s team at RTW Media was selected for the upgrade. RTW selected Danley Sound Labs products for the upgraded
sound system.
“RTW Media works consistently in K-12, higher education, corporate and houses of worship-type environments,” Guida said. “We design and install many of the audio, visual and lighting projects in the eight counties surrounding Richmond, Va. Our work is well-known and word-of-mouth between athletic departments and coaches travels quickly.”
The first project was the school’s William H. Lawson Jr. Gymnasium, named after Lawson’s father, which saw the installation of seven Danley OS80 loudspeakers and one DBH218 subwoofer, chosen for their quality and ease of installation, according to Guida. Indoors, the products “provide crystal clear sound,” he said, while outdoors they “…are very rugged, well-protected from the elements and the throw is kind of mind-bending.”
The football stadium was the next to see upgrades, with five loudspeakers and a subwoofer. “When we upgraded the football stadium next, Bill wanted the best and had experienced it with” the speakers in the gymnasium, said Guida. “The students, student athletes and fans have been blown away with how robust and clear the sound is. The clarity of the sound is just impeccable.”
Next up for the high school is a new athletic training facility, which will include 15,000 square feet of indoor practice space, a weight room with rubberized surface, multiple locker rooms, a fitness room, classrooms, multipurpose spaces and more. The groundbreaking for the facility took place this summer. RM
FOR MORE INFORMATION
Petersburg High School:
high.petersburg.k12.va.us
Danley Sound Labs:
www.danleysoundlabs.com