Posted on by Californiacontrarian

Will Frazer

 Again for my Sunday special, someone we should admire because he did what needed to be done.

After 24 years of teaching advanced math, Will Frazer calculated how the COVID-19 plan would affect students during the 2020-2021 school year and cringed.

He couldn’t compute how remote viewing of classes from home could further learning. And he knew covering half his face with a mask certainly would impede his animated teaching style, even with those attending classes in person. If the goal was to keep students on track in math, the plan didn’t add up, argued the Wall-Street-whiz-turned-public-school-teacher. 

His students would fall behind, he knew in his heart. Already studies were emerging, documenting sickening trends teachers already recognized. Students kept out of classes because of the pandemic were experiencing learning losses, not gains. 

He recalls now, “I needed freedom to not follow a lot of these rules that were going to be set up.”

From Epoch Share:

Calling on his analytical skills, Frazer hatched a plan. His solution earned the blessing of his pastor, his principal at Buchholz High School and the county school superintendent, and Will Frazer did what he thought was best … he quit his job!

Frazer agreed to give up his paycheck, healthcare, retirement contributions, and seniority among faculty. In return, school officials pledged to give him access to his old classroom and teaching materials.

He moved his teaching operation to his own place of worship less than two miles from his high school. Pastor Calvin Carr, of North Central Baptist Church, asked for nothing in return for the use of Sunday school classrooms that sat empty on weekdays.

So maskless and engaging, Frazer taught seven, 50-minute classes each school day. Some students came before school, then drove, walked, or biked to campus. Some carpooled to the church between other classes at the school campus.

“I had kids who told me it was the happiest part of their day,” he says now. “They were learning from me, and getting to see some of their friends. That helped their mental side.

“And their learning gains were massive, compared to the rest of the world that was kind of in survival mode. Everybody else was shutting down, but we were barreling along.”

Parents who could afford it pitched in to cover Frazer’s salary and make a voluntary offering to the church to help cover electricity costs and normal wear and tear on the building. To make up for early pandemic setbacks, Frazer held classes 199 days that year, instead of the standard 180.

Competition results summed up the success of the makeshift math program best. In April 2021, Frazer’s team won their 14th state championship. Three months later, the 140-person team overcame other national championship competitors’ scores by a record margin. 

A the start of this school year, as pandemic worries relaxed, Frazer returned to a paid post at the high school. 

To sum it up, Will Frazer didn’t think that learning and mask restrictions added up, so he used “divide and conquer” tactics to come up with the right answer.

5/15/22

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