Last February, former Aiken County educator Dr. Frank Roberson underwent emergency surgery after collapsing from an abnormal clustering of blood vessels in his brain.

Nearly a year later, the Richmond County School District superintendent graciously accepted the "drum major" award Saturday from Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity's annual Drum Major Award Breakfast, commemorating Martin Luther King Jr.

Roberson continues to undergo rehabilitative therapy for the life-threatening condition and is now back at work for about two hours a day, three days a week.

He considers it miraculous that he's still alive. Roberson could even joke about it Saturday, expressing pleasure that he could see his friends from Brightharp and Jackson-Brooks funeral homes from this side and not the other.

"I should have been on the other side, based on science, based on logic," he said. "But God said no, said there's work for you to do here."

Each year Alpha Phi Alpha's Omicron Tau Lambda and Sigma Tau chapters give the drum major award. It's based on a King speech in which he preached that people should seek greatness but only through service and love.

"I thank this chapter for honoring me," Roberson said. "I know I'm here because of God. He has a mission for me, and I'm going to carry that mission out. I've been a student of Dr. King all my life, have been a receiver of his philosophy all my life."

Roberson spent 27 years with the Aiken School district, beginning as a teacher and, at the time he left in 2005, was the associate superintendent for instruction. He got his dream job with the Richmond district in the summer of 2010, only about seven months before his illness.

"It's wonderful to be back," Roberson said. "That's probably the best therapy one could have. The greatest part of my recovery is to get that connection with people and be about the business of education."

As he has done throughout his career, Roberson is once again concentrating heavily on student-learning, making sure that students are benefiting from instruction. Ironically, he has gained new insight into that process from his own cognitive experiences over the past 11 months. Roberson had to relearn many of the basic skills and much of his life.

"That has been the most valuable thing for me as an educator," he said. "To get all this back is such a joy. I plan to share with our teachers how the brain retrieves information."

Senior writer Rob Novit has worked for the Aiken Standard for the past 10 years. He covers education news and general assignments.