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LATE BLOOMER
POSTED 9/2/20
 
      Letty Sustrin, who retired from Brentwood Schools in 1998, recently published her 7th children's book.  The first 5 books was a series that she co-authored with her twin sister Sheila, who passed away in October 2015. After Sheila passed away, Letty wrote a 6th book in memory of her sister. The latest book, A Penny From My Sister evolved from Letty's life-long connection to her sister
.     The following is a blog that Letty wrote about the life that she and her sister shared and what lead them to become teachers and writers entitled "Late Bloomer Guest Blog":

You can click on the image of the blog to enlarge and open it. It's truly a delightful read. Enjoy!

SAD SHARING
POSTED 9/28/20
      With great sadness we inform you of the death of Milton K. Siler Jr. Milt passed away peacefully in his sleep on Sunday, September 27, 2020.  Milt was Chairman of the Social Studies Department in Brentwood.  He, along with John Sherin, co-founded the Maslow-Toffler School of Futuristic Education, the alternative Brentwood H.S. Milt left Brentwood in 1980. You can view his ROBS History Project interview on the March 2019 Announcements Page.

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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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THIS MONTH'S FEATURED    HISTORY PROJECT
INTERVIEW:
Arthur Freed
Social Studies Teacher
May 15, 2002



Click on the image above to read Arthur Freed's Biography