R.O.B.S. - Announcements April2017

Why did we do it?
     What was our purpose in taking on such an open ended “History Project”; for which we evolved a script of questions and got answers from over 150 subjects for two decades?
     We couldn’t answer the question in 1994 when people would ask “What are you going to do with the interviews?” All we could say was that for educational purposes we had to document our record now or lose the chance to preserve so many poignant accounts, funny stories and touching tales told by exemplary educators. We knew these dedicated public servants might shortly, for reasons yet unknown, be leaving Brentwood for good.
     So, we decided to let time sort out the details. We began scheduling appointments. We asked questions and listened saving for generations the essence of what it meant to have been an educator or employed, in this large public school system during the second half of the 20th century. Brentwood remains an exemplar to all others; a diverse microcosm of America reflecting 124 districts on Long Island while simultaneously resembling thousands across the U.S. We’ve accomplished something here to be proud of. Whether we were interviewed or not, ours is a claim of service that few professionals in the State of New York or elsewhere have positioned themselves to share in the way we have.
     INITIALLY the practice of sitting with a subject for an hour and giving them a hundred percent focused attention seemed somewhat daunting to a number of friends and colleagues. So much so in fact that many declined our repeated invitations to speak with us as they left careers or retired from full employment. Despite all assurances that we were not about investigative journalism or invading privacy, they deferred. Now, twenty years after we began, some are saying they may be ready. “Better late than never” we say. However, to all among you who were willing to share not only your classroom experiences and personal stories, but precious memories from your lives along with your fondest hopes for the future, we say “Thanks”. Thanks for allowing us to continue the process by paying it forward as we share these interviews with the Brentwood community and countless professionals and researchers near and far. Through an acceptance of ROBS offer of collaboration with Archivist Dr. Geri Solomon and The Long Island Studies Institute at Hofstra University our History Project lives on in academia as well as in the collection of the Brentwood Public Library, thanks to Director, Thomas A. Tarantowicz.
   Enjoy unlimited visits to www.robsny.org where you can watch and listen to segments from featured Interviews in the ROBS History Project Section on our Announcements Page each month. Return here to listen and learn again and again.

THIS MONTH'S FEATURED HISTORY PROJECT
INTERVIEW:

Kevin McNicholas
Administrator
March 11, 2010

    We began by asking Kevin to tell us about his family. Married for over 20 years and living in East Islip with his wife who he’s known for over 30 years, they have two children, son Brian (married and living with his wife in Brightwaters) and daughter Kerry who lives in Chelsea (Hell’s Kitchen) on the west side in Manhattan. They’re both kind, gentle people who were successful in school. Brian is great with his hands and with anything mechanical. He’s followed in the footsteps of Kevin’s father in that respect. Kerry has loved Irish dance since she was very young. She graduated from Boston College. Her brother graduated from Stony Brook University from which Kevin’s sister also matriculated.. He has two sisters, Kathleen who lives in Coram (recently retired from Brentwood School District) and Maureen who was a successful manager on Wall Street, with Baer-Sterns. She is currently consulting on Wall Street. His brother John is a retired NYC police officer and lives in Richfield CT. and is a Marshall in that area.
    Kevin was born on Mother’s Day May 11, 1952 in Queens to a woman who was told by doctors she would never be able to bear children. She had four. The family moved to Brentwood in 1959 where he attended the Village School. It was Lou Lotito’s first year as Principal of Village ..Kevin’s brother and sister attended St Anne’s that year in which there was no room for Kevin. Nevertheless, he has nothing but happy memories of both Mrs. Timlin’s and Mrs. Pincus’s classes there. His mother persisted in her desire to see Kevin get a parochial school education. The following year after agreeing to teach 4th grade at St Anne’s to get Kevin into the school she left her management position with Sears and taught at St Anne’s for the next 15 years for considerably less income.
     His mother’s maiden name had been Curran. Also, at the time of this interview Kevin had an aunt of 97 years who was living at the Maria Regina Convent in St Josephs Academy. When his paternal grandmother died (when he was just 6 or 7 years of age), Kevin’s father was sent from Brooklyn to County Mayo in Ireland where he was then raised by an aunt and subsequently placed in a foster home temporarily, until he finally was returned to the States at eighteen.