VILONIA — When Carolyn Frazier graduated from college and started her teaching career 38 years ago, her principal told her it would be beneficial if she bought herself a phonograph and a filmstrip machine.
She bought neither.
Today, as she prepares for retirement in June, she uses all sorts of technology in her second-grade classroom at Vilonia Elementary School.
“We have three computers here in my classroom,” she pointed out. “All classrooms have document cameras, and they all have SmartBoards.
“Technology is wonderful. It is the biggest change I’ve seen in teaching.”
Born and raised in Vilonia, Frazier graduated from Vilonia High School and received her college education at the University of Central Arkansas in Conway. She has a bachelor’s degree in education and a master’s degree in reading, and has also completed additional graduate hours. She is certified to teach kindergarten through 12th grade.
As with all teachers in Arkansas, she completes 60 hours of in-service training every year.
“This district goes above and beyond what is expected on curriculum development,” she said. “It really focuses on teacher-training.
“A teacher’s training never ends. If you’re too old to learn, you’re too old to teach.”
Frazier was honored for her teaching career in February when the Vilonia Area Chamber of Commerce named her the Vilonia School Employee of the Year. Nominations for the award are accepted annually from the community at large.
Jackie Fowlkes of Vilonia nominated Frazier for the award.
“I’ve known her all her life,” Fowlkes said. “We grew up together, went to school together. She’s taught here ever since she got out of school.
“She’s taught my kids and my grandkids,” Fowlkes said. “She’s always interested in the kids, not only in their school work but in their lives. She wants the kids to succeed. She keeps up with them. She has a special talent for teaching.”
Frazier said the award was “a total surprise.”
“My brother (Bill Jones of Vilonia) said we needed to go to the banquet this year,” she said, noting that it was not unusual for her and her husband, Tommy, to attend the banquet, as they had done so occasionally in years past.
“I was very appreciative to have been recognized,” Frazier said. “I always wanted to be en elementary school teacher, and I always wanted to teach here.”
She has taught second grade for the majority of her 38 years with the Vilonia School District, although she did teach third grade for three or four years when she first started teaching.
“Carolyn touched both students and fellow educators’ lives while working at Vilonia Elementary,” said Julie Binam, principal. “She has been an essential piece of our campus. She is a hard worker, has a positive attitude and is committed to excellence. Carolyn made a difference every day.”
The daughter of the late George and Ruby Jones of Vilonia, Frazier said education was always important in her family.
“My parents grew up in the Great Depression and had the opportunity to go to the eighth grade,” she said. “It was important to them that me and my brother go to college.
“My dad was a prisoner of war during World War II,” she said. “My parents worked hard, and they wanted us to be educated.”
Frazier said she is “kin to a lot of people” around Vilonia.
“In the old days, men didn’t go to Conway to get a bride; they just went over the hill,” she said, smiling. “They didn’t go far.”
She is also “kin” to a “patriot” from the American Revolution, as attested by her 26-year membership in the Cadron Post Chapter of the National Society, Daughters of the American Revolution.
She has proven her lineage to Mary McCollum of North Carolina, who “supported her husband (Daniel) by providing supplies to aid the cause,” Frazier said.
In retirement, Frazier is looking forward to spending more time with her family, including her 22-year-old daughter, Angela.
“I also want to be able to help people in my family that I haven’t been able to before.
“Tommy wants to build a house and move back to the farm that my parents had,” she said. “That very likely is what we will do. He wants his chickens, his beagles and his guineas.” (The couple had made those plans before the tornado hit Vilonia in April. Their home sustained some damage in the storm.)
Although she has made her decision to retire, Frazier said, “It’s hard for me to come to grips with it. I love what I do.
“I’m now teaching children of those I taught when I first began,” she said. “Many of my former students have become teachers, doctors, business men and women.
“You pay for your raising,” she said with a laugh. “I want to see the children I teach grow up, have a family and become successful.”