Tony Frazier
Aviation Technology, Entrepreneurship and Drones Teacher
Arlington Career Center (a STEM-oriented high school)
Years Teaching: 25
Frazier spent 20 years in Air Force intelligence, retiring as a technical sergeant before taking up teaching and running Junior ROTC programs in Prince George’s County, Maryland and in West Virginia. He has received teaching awards from the Air & Space Forces Association and the Virginia Department of Education, most recently earning second place for the National Air & Space Forces Association/Rolls Royce Aerospace STEM Teacher of the Year. He is also a commercial pilot.
- My students use flight simulators, maps, GPS, visual and paper navigation, weather information, aircraft checklists and other hands-on activities to understand how aviation works. The program exposes them to flying aircraft, drones, military aviation, engineering, aircraft maintenance, and the decision-making pilots use to communicate, plan and stay safe. Students are not just learning about airplanes; they are building discipline, confidence, problem-solving skills and career awareness that can help them see aviation and aerospace as real possibilities for their future.
- My big foundation for my classes, being from the military, is respect. I’m respecting you, you’re respecting me.
- I would never have chosen the teaching profession initially, but I love it. I like to watch the growth process.
- I now have about 50 former students who will be pilots, engineers, aircraft maintenance folks. Maybe they’re flying for fun. I’m a part of that process, no matter what they decide to do, and that’s nice. I teach them, and they run with it.
- One former student is an FBI agent. He said to me, “I want to thank you for staying on me and keeping me disciplined. Everything you said helped me become a federal agent. Now I understand.”
- It’s easy for teachers to burn out if they aren’t here for the right reasons. You have to want it. It’s not about you, it’s about the students.
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