March 16
Executive Board Meeting

April 14
Spring Brunch

Events Schedule

Meetings Schedule

ROBS HISTORY PROJECT RETIREES EXIT INTERVIEWS NOW SEEN ON TV
POSTED 2/01//23
     The exit interviews of the Brentwood retirees are now being aired on public television. They appear on Altice Public Access Channel 115 every Tuesday at 2:00 pm. If you subscribe to Optimum Cablevision TV you can view the interviews each week.
     The following is the upcoming schedule:
Feb 7- Marty Paschkes & Wally Belinsky
Feb 14 - Elizabeth DeLong
Feb 21 - Lou Lotito & Barbara Mascaro
Feb 28 - Gae Grobluski
Mar 7 - Paula Moore
Mar 14 - Jack Goldstein
Mar 21 - Rose Marie Brousseau
Mar 28 - Grace Fishenfeld
Apr 4 - Rick Edwards
Apr 11 - Maureen Finnegan
Apr 18 - Peter Vercillo
Apr 25 - Judi Weissman
     If you miss viewing any of these, they can be found on the Archives Page of the ROBS Website along with all interviews that were previously posted monthly on the Announcements Pages of the website and aired on TV.
    We know you will find these interviews of your colleagues to be most interesting and enlightening. So, sit back, relax and enjoy!
Schedule PDF copy

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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.
   You can 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.

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