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April 20, 2006
Education Professor Royally Serves on Fiesta King’s Court
SAN
ANTONIO – Bruce Frazee, education professor at Trinity University for
30 years, is the first faculty member to serve on a court of royalty for a
San Antonio Fiesta King. This year, Professor Frazee is Minister of
Education to Ronnie Gabriel, Rey Feo LVIII.
Don’t let the Roman numerals trip you up, Professor Frazee says. “It’s an educational opportunity for the children. It’s Rey Feo 58.”
Serving as education minister has been an honor, Professor Frazee says, but the assignment required him to help Mr. Gabriel raise $413,975 last year for scholarships in order to claim the crown as Fiesta’s “Ugly King.” When he agreed to serve on Mr. Gabriel’s court – one of the few university professors to tackle such a role – Professor Frazee admits, “I had no idea how much work it would be.”
Nor did he know – at the time – that he had bile duct cancer. The diagnosis has meant juggling chemotherapy treatments with visits to San Antonio area schools to hand out medals and promote his love for learning.
“The good news is that my cancer has not spread, and the tumor has not grown,” Professor Frazee says. “I’m taking things easy (during Fiesta.) I only go to certain events.” He says Mr. Gabriel is a good friend, adding, “Ronnie understands that it’s all about the children.”
When he does visit a school, Professor Frazee makes the most of the experience – for him and for the kids. He says that in education, lessons must have a beginning, middle, and an end. He also observed from the early school visits as education minister that the king seemed to leave abruptly when all the medals had been distributed. “You can’t just leave a classroom,” Professor Frazee says, adding that he invented a funny song to signal the school children that the king’s visit was coming to an end.
He starts by
teaching them the “official Fiesta wave” – which he describes as holding
up the right hand, extending the fingers upward, and using the wrist to
simulate a twisting motion – “like you are screwing in a light bulb.”
Then, to build excitement, he counts down, “ 5 – 4 – 3 – 2 – 1……..Shake,
shake, shake!” (This is said while shaking the shoulders and upper body.)
“Fly, fly, fly!” (This is said while flapping hands next to the ears.)
“Roll, roll, roll!” (This is said while rolling both fists in front of the
body.) “Bye, bye, bye!” The “good-bye” motion is, of course, the Fiesta
wave that he just shared with the children. “And that’s how we leave!”
He has taken advantage of one perk – the ability to bestow a Cabrito Award on colleagues he respects. Professor Frazee has given the award to Trinity’s president, John R. Brazil, and to a new education faculty member, Rocio Delgado. He also shared the award with Diane Sosa, former Teacher of the Year at Hawthorne Elementary School, who helped him design a Rey Feo coloring book with crossword puzzles, word games, and other fun-but-educational activities. “That’s so the students will learn something about the importance of Fiesta.” After all, he says, Fiesta is not just about having fun – it’s a chance for young people to discover some of the rich history of San Antonio.
Cabrito is Spanish for “goat,” one of the symbols on the Ugly King’s crest on the prized medal that the king and his court hand out freely. The other symbols are a scroll, grapes, and a goblet. Since Mr. Gabriel is president of Gabriel’s Holdings, the corporation that owns Gabriel’s Wines & Spirits, the grapes and goblet are logical associations with this year’s “people’s king.” The goat relates to the gift that poor people were known to give to royalty centuries ago, and the scroll, Professor Frazee proudly explains, represents education.
Although he is on medical leave from teaching this semester, Professor Frazee has every intention of returning to the classroom for the fall semester. In February, he was honored at a reception for 15 years of service to the Core Knowledge Foundation, a cultural literacy program for elementary school children. He has implemented the program at Hawthorne.
For more information on Professor Frazee’s role as education minister for Rey Feo, contact Trinity’s office of public relations at (210) 999-8406.
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© 2006 Trinity University