October 13
General Membership Meeting
Brentwood Public Library
10:15 am

Events Schedule

Meetings Schedule

ROBS MEMBERS RENEW YOUR 2023-24 MEMBERSHIP TODAY
POSTED 9/15/23
     You can download the registration form on the Membership Page of the ROBS Website. The membership fee is $30. New members can also use this form to join ROBS and can get more information on joining ROBS on the Membership Page..
      Simply fill out the form, and indicate if there are corrections to be made to your current listing in the directory. Return the form addressed to Carmen Roldan, 49 Linda Lane, North Babylon, NY 11703. Include your check made out to ROBS for $30 with "Dues" written on the memo line.

SCHOLARSHIP CHAIRPERSON
POSITION
POSTED 9/115/23
     Lori Gaziano has agreed to be our new Scholarship Chairperson taking the job over from Fern Sasso. Fern has so graciously agreed to give Lori any assistance needed to complete the many varied tasks associated with the awarding of scholarships for our Brentwood High School students on behalf of ROBS. We, of course, thank Fern so very much for the wonderful job she did for many years of the awarding of scholarships. She always put much thought and careful attention to the choosing of the deserving students. It is a job that requires organization and attention to detail for not only ROBS requirements for picking the students but also the deadlines put forth from the High School. Thank you again, Fern, for a job well done ... all your hard work is appreciated! Welcome to the Executive Board Lori ... we are so happy and excited for you to join our group!

2023 scholarship recipients

ROBS HISTORY PROJECT RETIREES EXIT INTERVIEWS NOW SEEN ON TV
POSTED 9/15//23      
      The exit interviews of the Brentwood retirees are being aired on public television. They appear on Altice Public Access Channel 20 every Tuesday at 2:00 pm. starting October 3, 2023 (Channel 115 for September). If you subscribe to Optimum Cablevision TV you can view the interviews each week.      
The following is the upcoming schedule:
Channel 115
Sept 19 - Walter Karp
Sept 26 - Arthur Freed, Drew Robinson
Channel 20
Oct 3 - John Sherin
Oct 10 - Diane Neesham
Oct 17 - Chris Veech
Oct 24 - Anita Silverman
     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!

Check Out Member Benefits

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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