Scholarship to honor the late Dr. Frazier, 33-year FIS principal
The family of the late Dr. Robert Frazier, who served as Farragut Intermediate School principal for 33 years until his sudden death in 2006, is establishing a scholarship at Hardin Valley Academy in his memory.
Dr. Frazier’s son and Farragut native Russ Frazier, who along with his wife, Kim, have made their home in Hardin Valley for the last 15 years, recently announced the scholarship, which is being structured through the Go Fund Me platform.
“Near the anniversary of his passing I was asked to serve on the board for the Hardin Valley Academy Foundation,” Kim said. “At our first meeting, the chair reported on the number of scholarship dollars that the foundation was able to award to students and teachers.
“It was amazing to hear the stories of the planned use for those funds and I simply thought to myself, ‘Poppy would love this,’” she added. “Days before the anniversary, Russ and I were talking about the foundation and reminiscing a bit about his dad riding a scooter through the halls of Farragut Intermediate and the hundreds of sacrifices that he made personally to attend college and then go on and receive his Doctorate of Education (degree).
“We always wanted to honor him in a way that was long-lasting and in line with his passion of education ... so the more we talked, it just seemed like a no-brainer.”
As for the next step, “I reached out to the other board members with the idea and we launched the Go Fund Me page on the 13th anniversary of his passing, April 11,” Kim said.
As of June 20, $600 has been raised toward a goal of $2,500, with plans to award the first scholarship next spring to a HVA graduating senior.
Kim said she “is still working out the requirements to be included on the application, but it will follow the general standards already established by the HVA Foundation with an emphasis on education and health sciences.
“Education because he believed that every child deserved a free and exemplary education (and) health sciences because he felt such tremendous pride of his son, Russ, when he was accepted and graduated from medical school.”
Kim said the family decided to target HVA, instead of Farragut High School, because “although Farragut is Russ’ stomping grounds and Dr. Frazier’s educational legacy is felt primarily in that community, we wanted to blend the history that he made in Farragut with the life and future that we have built in Hardin Valley.”
Dr. Frazier, an Alabama native with more than 40 years in education, worked for a time at the University of Tennessee, and worked for Knox County Schools as principal at Ramsey Elementary School from 1973 to 1975. He was assistant principal at Farragut Middle School in the 1975-76 school year.
For more information, or to donate to the scholarship, visit www.gofundme.com/the-dr-robert-w-frazier-scholarship.
