Jan Voiles
When his geography teacher asked him to stay after class one day he assumed he’d gotten in trouble again. Sixth grade trouble just seemed to follow Jacob Allen Frazier around.
A sophomore at Rushville Consolidated High School, he had come to stay with his dad, Kenneth Allen Frazier, the summer before his freshman year.
This time the tenth-grader wasn’t in trouble. His teacher, Ruthie Leeth, encouraged him to enter a postcard contest.
“When I was in her class I would sit there and draw during the whole class. She used to get mad at me and hold me after class,” Jacob recalled. “One day she told me to stay after class and I thought I was in trouble again.”
Since what he had gotten in trouble for was spending class time drawing graffiti rather than working, she recommended he use his talents in a contest. Evidently the judges of the Geography Educators' Network of Indiana (GENI) competition recognized his talents too since they awarded him the grand prize.
It was the second annual postcard contest for Geography Action!/Geography Awareness Week 2010. The theme was Europe Beyond Borders. Students were evaluated on the quality of their work and how well the hand-drawn design and description conveyed the theme.
Leeth described the event.
“I am a Geography teacher at the high school,” she explained. “I am also a member of Geography Educators' Network of Indiana (GENI). They have a yearly postcard contest during their Geography Action week for students of all ages. They choose winners for elementary, middle, and high school divisions. Jacob, a 10th grade student of mine, won the high school division and then the grand prize over all categories.”
“Jacob drew the countries of Europe and colored them each a different color,” she said. “He then took the word ‘Unity’ and researched the word in each different European language. He wrote the word ‘Unity’ in the shape of each country in that country's language. It looks pretty neat! I am really proud and excited for Jacob!”
Both teacher and student were pleased with the finished project and confident the sophomore would win.
“I’d been in art contests in Indianapolis but I’d never won any statewide or anything, so that’s a first for me,” he noted.
The prize winning entry appeared in the Winter 2010 issue of the GENI newsletter.
He grew up in Indianapolis and attended Park Meadow School.
“It’s definitely different here,” he commented. “Before I left Indianapolis I was pretty skinny because in sixth grade I was really fat. Then I got kicked out of school in seventh grade so I pretty much used what time that I wasn’t getting tutored at the library to exercise and play basketball with a friend across the street and I lost a lot of weight. Before I left Indy I was really scrawny and now I’m chunky again because there’s nothing to do in Rushville.”
Whether he pursues a career in art will depend on whether he accomplishes his first goal.
“My number one goal for a career is to be a rapper,” he said. “I’ve been rapping since I was in third grade. I’ve been working on it a lot more since I’ve been in Rushville because I have a group of kids who wanted to rap and so they give me topics and I’d rap about it and then I’d give them topics and they’d rap about that.”
“If that doesn’t work out art would definitely be it,” he commented.
Art seems to run in his family. His dad used to draw a lot. Half sister Kelly Harris attended art school then went to IUPUI. Now she’s designing video games. Half brother James Harris animates comic books.
“He and Kelly used to make comic books together. Now they do their own thing,” their brother observed.
Half sister Trena Harris Love draws Disney characters and things like that. Her husband Ron is an architect.
“Art pretty much runs through our blood line,” Jacob added.
He also has three step brothers in Missouri and Washington and a sister, Jessica Baker, who is married and has a daughter. Frazier’s motto is “Stand up for your family.”
A Rushville resident, the young rapper-artist has a cat, two dogs, a snake and a gecko.
Jacob’s mother died April 1, 2001 when he was eight.
“She’s definitely a part of some of my rap lyrics and my art because a lot of the emotion from my mom passing away has got me to get a little more serious about my art and my rap lyrics,” he remarked. “I rap about my mom a lot. I’ll record them on my phone and send them to people and people really like them because I’m pretty much telling a true story. I rap about life so I’m saying stuff that’s actually happened to me and things that I’ve actually been through.”
Part of his prize money went for a gift for his girlfriend.
“Since I got that check for the postcard I bought her a promise ring,” he noted. “It says ‘love is patient, love is kind, love never ends.’”
In an anger management class he was asked if he saw the twosome together in the future.
“I still see us being together,” he explained. “We’re two completely different people. She was raised in the country. Most people I know are exactly like me but she’s completely different from me. As far as personalities go we’re completely different. I guess opposites attract.”
“She always makes me smile, even when I’m mad,” he added.
Although his favorite subject is art he also likes physical education and algebra. Science is a challenge.
“It used to be my favorite when I was in sixth grade. Now it doesn’t catch my interest. I like animals but I don’t like learning about them.”
He described his art instructor as an encourager.
“Mr. Zamzow, my art teacher now, will tell me when I’m doing a good job, which makes me want to do more,” Jacob said.
Evidently he did a good job on his postcard contest entry. Now he’s looking toward another competition that calls for creating an oceanic flag with sea creatures on it.
Jan Voiles can be contacted at jan.voiles@rushvillerepublican.com or at (765) 932-2222 ext. 107. Add a comment to this story at www.rushvillerepublican.com.
