IMPORTANT DATES

PROJECT HOPE - A TIME OF GIVING
From: Sheila & Letty Sustrin
POSTED 10/1/12

     Sixteen years ago, ROBS began PROJECT HOPE! This project was a way that the RETIREES OF THE BRENTWOOD SCHOOLS could show our support and love for the families the district services. Through “Suburban Children, Inc.” an organization located in Bay Shore, we have been able to adopt local families and give them “HOPE” during the Holiday Season. Our organization provides food for Thanksgiving, and gifts for the members of the families at Christmas time.
     We have been fortunate that our ROBS members have been so generous each year
when,”giving” time has come. With your wonderful support, ROBS has been able to adopt four families each year. We hope we can do this again.
     PROJECT HOPE has touched the lives of many; not only the families that we make happy, but also those who are involved in trying to fulfill some of the dreams of people that are less fortunate than themselves.
     You will be receiving a letter at a future date asking for your generous monetary donations. Let's continue to support this worthy tradition.
     We are honored to be chairing this committee for the coming season. We're looking forward to our fun days of shopping (one of our favorite pastimes). The elves helping us shop will be Lois Morella, Loretta Ellington, and Anne Mygland.
     Please make your checks out to: ROBS, and put “Project Hope” in the memo area. All donations should be sent to:
Marge Kirchner
666 Hawkins Road East
Coram, N.Y. 11727

Have a wonderful holiday season.
Sheila & Letty Sustrin

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SHEILA AND LETTY SUSTRIN BOOK SIGNING - NOV 2
POSTED 10/18/12

     The Sustrin twins will read and sign the latest book of their "Teacher Who Would Not Retire" series, at the ROBS meeting on November 2nd. This fourth book is titled, The Teacher Who Would Not Retire Becomes A Movie Star. There will be a drawing for one book, and each attendee at the meeting will receive a special souvenir tocommemorate the 10th anniversary of Mrs. Belle, “Everybody?s Favorite Teacher!”

FEATURED TOPIC-A WEED IS A WEED
POSTED 10/6/12
by Elmon Kazandjian
Reprintted from Bayard Cutting Farm Newsletter, Volume 1 Issue 14 October 5, 2012
      Who knew that there are many weeds that are actually nutritious for you? I certainly know about dandelions, which my Italian neighbors taught me to use in salads, though not to make into wine. I guess I wasn't considered old enough. Mr. La Rosa not only made dandelions part of his diet but also made red wine in barrels in his basement, which he only shared with me by the perfume that permeated to my end of the block.
     I was lucky enough, though, to have an elderly, feisty Aunt from Connecticut who always brought us bunches of greens from her garden that sort of looked stemmy with lots of ovalish succulent little leaves attached. She called it " Perr-Perr" in Armenian. I thought it looked too foreign for me to eat, but my mother gladly chopped it raw into salads, or steamed it with olive oil and herbs and combined some into a rice or a bulgur dish. Who knew then that this was just a weed that invades and conquers? I was excited to see it growing on the Bayard Cutting farm grounds, and asked Jeff if I could take some. Of course he consented, and I think he would have been happy to see me and my husband rip up a lot more from his carefully cultivated beautiful grounds.
     Aunt Z, the consummate back seat driver who taught herself how to drive at age 60, I think of you whenever I see lemony Purslane. I now realize that you shared a nutritious weed that I have come to love and respect.
      So those of you that want to help with the volunteer weeding, don't forget to try some purslane. If you are not adventurous enough to try it, at least think of my Aunt Z as you weed away!

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CUBAN MISSILE CRISIS - 50 YEAR ANNIVERSARY
POSTED 10/18/12
     Where were you in October of 1962 and what were you doing during that crisis? Please email us and share your story. The following was submitted by John Sherin:

Recalling the Cuban Missal Crisis
         “We had the first snow of the season last night. There wasn’t a sign of it when I went to bed this morning, only a little rain. When I rose there were already two inches on the ground and it was still coming down furiously.…..This is the first time in my life that I have ever seen snow come this early. It seems odd to see green leaves and yellow peeking out from under the white and the hardiest of chrysanthemums buried beneath the wet weight. Only the day before yesterday the temperature had been in the seventies. I guess Fall forgot what it was supposed to be doing and relaxed just long enough to let the world go spinning on ahead without it. Today, after this anything but subtle hurry up reminder from old man winter things will from now on I fear be different. From my window I see the ground around a dogwood that only yesterday had not as yet so much as given up even a single leaf. From here I can see the white under its base splattered with browns and yellows and reds”.
     “Even for those perennials with red blooms those flowers all summer long danced in a circle around the house next door dying will come more quickly and easier now. It makes one wonder if nature (itself) doesn’t know something that we here in this life can only intuit. Could autumn’s reluctance to leave us suggest, or rather portend the arrival of some catastrophic moment in history which would prohibit her joyous seasonal display of exhilarating color associated with Fall”?
     “We seem to be drifting ever closer to some awful moment with the dawning of each new day. Yet, by God’s grace it may not come. The present course, however risky, is the only course open to us, and the determination with which people here are facing an uncertain future however frightened they may be from the vantage point of the path upon which we have embarked, is a wonder to behold. “The man that will listen to reason, let him be reasoned with “…but it is the weaponed arm of the patriot that alone can prevail against battalioned despotism”. So spoke a Great Uncle (“The O’Rahilly”) in the city of Kilkenny, Ireland years ago and prior to The Easter Rising in Dublin. His words may still apply. However grave things may appear now and they do look ominous, it is my belief that what we fear most, will not happen. We will likely learn to live with this fear for the rest of our lives or for the better part of our lives and with each new instance of “what could happen” becoming more unthinkable, have little choice but to confront the fear again and again”.
John M. Sherin @ Age: 25
Journal Entry:  Long Island, NY  
October 25, 1962

The Soviets publicly balked at the US demands, but in secret back-channel communications initiated a proposal to resolve the crisis. The confrontation ended on October 28, 1962,[7] when President John F. Kennedy and United Nations Secretary-General U Thant reached a public and secret agreement with Khrushchev. Publicly, the Soviets would dismantle their offensive weapons in Cuba and return them to the Soviet Union, subject to United Nations verification, in exchange for a US public declaration and agreement never to invade Cuba. Secretly, the US agreed that it would dismantle all US-built Jupiter IRBMs deployed in Turkey and Italy.  
From Wikipedia

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 Millie O'Neill, whose birthday occurred on Aug 11, 1928 was a much loved cafeteria aide and corridor monitor in the Ross Building. She died on March 21, 2006 after a long illness. 

nothing that you will learn that will ever go to waste. For those who believe they will get by with little effort, you have to be aware you'd only be cheating yourself. Your own self esteem should tell you just how important you are, so don't allow your high school years to go to waste. Some of you may go on to college and others to a career—the choice is yours—but whichever it is, you are going to need the basics that are available right here. We have wonderful teachers and staff who are more than willing to assist you in any way possible.
     If you are having a problem with a subject and need extra help, express that concern to your teacher. A teacher can't do the learning for you but they can open the door that allows you to learn. As I stated, we take a great deal of pride in any of your accomplishments and any amount of progress, be it large or small, is a step in the right direction. You 'II only get out of school what you put into it. How much of a wealth of education you leave here with is up to you—it's your future we are talking about. You'd be indignant if someone attempted to steal your possessions, so the next time you might think of slacking off think of how you are robbing yourself.
     Also be aware that the learning process is apart of reaching maturity. Not all learning comes from books. As you glance at students and staff you'll find an array of color, nationality and creed which gives us an opportunity of learning from many different cultures. Each one of us is unique and we all possess many talents. Take the time to learn from each

other and you'll find an opportunity of growth. Don't look into another person's face to decide negative or positive—reach for their soul, for this is where learning begins. In other words, get to know each other. One day when I was in charge of a gym class the students requested to play dodge ball so I gave them the okay. Sportsmanship was evident and everyone was having such a good time. I marveled at the difference in color, creed, nationality-different but yet the same. They all came together as one, they played together as a team. The thought came to mind as to how many times Brentwood is put down as an integrated neighborhood and if they could see the sight I saw that afternoon they would know that Brentwood is more enriched because of the differences, for they are making it work. Which brings to mind another occasion when my son-in-law's car became stranded in the snow. A young man stopped to assist him. As my son-in-law thanked him he replied "No need to thank me. God sent me. I'm from Brentwood." Spirit is what I find in Brentwood and I know it will continue with you. You too can boast of residing in Brentwood and remember it's only going to be as good as you and I make it so let's show them just how great we are,
     I, along with all the staff, wish you a healthy happy school year and if each one works to their potential we can't ask for more. Best of luck to you and we love you all.

Why did we do it? What was our purpose in taking on such an open ended “History Project”; the one for which we’ve evolved a script of questions with corresponding answers from over one hundred and fifty dedicated volunteers for nearly two decades?
      We couldn’t answer the question in ‘94 when people would ask “What are you going to do with the interviews?” All we could say was that for educational and informational purposes we had better document our record or lose any chance to preserve innumerable poignant accounts, humorous stories and touching tales told to us by exemplary educators and dedicated public servants, who shortly and for reasons unknown might soon be leaving our Brentwood for good.
     We decided to let time sort out the details as we commenced making appointments to ask questions and simply listen. Listen we did as this project evolved saving for subsequent generations the very essence of what it means to have been an educator or employed in a large student centered public school system during the latter half of the twentieth century. Brentwood remains an exemplar to all the others; a diverse microcosm and accurate reflection of the approximately one hundred and twenty seven neighboring school districts on Long Island and the thousands across this country. We’ve accomplished something here, something we can all be proud of having been part of, whether we were interviewed or not, ours is a claim of service that few other professionals in the State of New York are positioned to share in a like manner.
     INITIALLY the practice of sitting for an hour with the Subject of our interview and giving them one hundred percent of our focused attention for that period of time seemed a little threatening to many of our friends and former colleagues. So much so in fact that many declined repeated invitations to be interviewed as they left careers behind or retired from full time employ with the District. Despite all assurances that this was not to be about investigative journalism or invading their privacy, they’ve deferred. Until now, almost seventeen years after we began, some say they may finally be ready. We say, “Better late than never”. However, to all those among you who were willing to share openly not only your classroom experiences but personal stories, precious memories from your lives and fondest hopes for the future, we say thanks for allowing us to be able to continue the process of giving as we now are able to share interviews with you, with the community and with countless regional professional educators and researchers through tentative acceptance of ROBS offer of collaboration with The Long Island Studies Institute at Hofstra University.
      You can now enjoy unlimited visits to www.robsny.org/ where you’ll see and hear segments from the History Project Interviews featured here in the ROBS History Project section on the Announcements Page archived each month thereafter for those wishing to return again and again.