Susan Scheinman Leonard

Profile Updated: September 1, 2023
Susan Scheinman
Residing In New York, NY USA
Occupation Educator
Yes! Attending Reunion
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My first year of teaching was in 1969 and I made a whopping $4900. But it was a good school, Rogers Herr Jr. High, serving the Duke community and the extensive African American community in Durham under freedom of choice. The next year was enforced integration and white flight. I was in a traditionally Black Jr. High and frequently the only white face I saw was my own in the mirror and Steve Leonard's when I got home. It was difficult, to say the least. A great deal of animosity. But I was elected Teacher of the Year by the 8th grade.
We moved to New York and I began teaching in private schools. Columbia Grammar and Prep, Collegiate, Packer Collegiate, Lenox and Birch Wathen Lenox. I am part time now, teaching online. After being a French teacher, Middle School English and History, College Guidance, Director of the High School, Director of the Middle School, Academic Dean.... I am now teaching a curse called Civilization. It is a History and Culture course for 12th graders. Over the years we have done Southern Africa, the Caribbean, China, India, Russia, and Brazil. I laughingly tell my Headmaster he is the reason it takes me so long to read the paper in the morning. All that history and culture to update. After 52 years, I am finally calling it quits this year. It has been a great time.
I have been lucky enough to SCUBA and photograph all over the world. I loved flying, that same feeling of freedom in the air that I get flowing over the reef. These days, the beauty of the Hudson River just blocks from my home keeps me walking.
I am looking forward to the end of this plague and the chance to travel again and see friends worldwide. Already planning a safari in Zambia. Fingers crossed.

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Sep
12
Sep 12, 2023 at 6:20 PM

Posted on: Sep 01, 2023 at 1:10 PM

So sorry to hear about Frankie Hagberg. What a vibrant, elegant woman. My last 2 years in Johnson House would not have been as good without her. My condolences to family and friends.

Jun
15
Jun 15, 2023 at 4:33 AM
Jun 15, 2022 at 4:33 AM
Jun 15, 2021 at 4:33 AM
Susan Scheinman Leonard has left an In Memory comment for her Profile.
Dec 27, 2020 at 7:56 PM

Gideon was the bookends on my time at Oberlin, From opening day of Freshman orientation to graduation, with alphabetical seating, we sat next to each other: Schein and Scheinman. In the four years in between, we went to France together and shared moments. We sat in Finney Chapel and listened to Rostropovich play. We talked and walked and forged a deep friendship. I lost track of him for a while. I got married and moved one way and he moved another. And then one day I got a call from his mother. She was helping him with an Oberlin fundraiser at the New York Public Library. And we reconnected.

From then on, in some ways, our lives intertwined . We celebrated birthdays together every year, as his was the day before mine. My 50th birthday was a huge party celebrated in his apartment. He was with me from beginning to end of the party I threw for myself to celebrate 70. We went to concerts. We ate well. We shared emotional pain and highs. We supported each other through thick and thin. Divorces-his, breakdowns-mine, illness-his. I connected him with a friend, a cardiologist, who became so important in his life for many years.  I spoke with him last week, after he came home from the hospital, and before he returned for the last time. It seemed he would beat the odds yet again. But it was not to be. My rational mind accepted the inevitable on Monday and Tuesday. Every day since then has been harder to bear. He could be infuriating. Seemed to know everything. Had all the answers. He knew and I knew it wasn’t so. But he was so smart, so well read, so educated, in all ways. My life is emptier right now. But so much fuller for having him in it.

Sleep well my dear friend. You deserve it.

Susan Scheinman Leonard has left an In Memory comment for her Profile.
Nov 15, 2020 at 9:35 AM

What a sad notice to wake up to. So many laughs and good times. He expressed so many of my insecurities and helped me grow up. Dearly missed.

Jun 15, 2020 at 4:33 AM
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Nov 20, 2020 at 1:42 PM

Posted on: Jun 15, 2019 at 4:34 AM

Susan Scheinman Leonard has a birthday today. New comment added.
Jun 17, 2018 at 1:16 PM

Posted on: Jun 15, 2018 at 4:33 AM

May 23, 2018 at 12:33 PM

I dated Scott Freshman year. He was way to sensual for me at that stage of my life, and I was attracted and frightened. He was very sensitive and poetic.

 

May 23, 2018 at 12:33 PM

Rick sat at my dinner table in Dascomb. We were chastized by the Dorm mother for laughing too much. The other diners would be jealous. We all knew Rick hustled pool and worried on those nights when he went out. His father was some big General or something at Fort Ord. 

 

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Nov 05, 2017 at 12:46 PM
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Jun 15, 2017 at 8:25 PM

Posted on: Jun 15, 2017 at 4:33 AM

Jun 15, 2016 at 4:33 AM
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Jun 07, 2016 at 1:59 PM
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May 15, 2016 at 8:09 AM
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Jul 03, 2017 at 12:34 PM

Posted on: May 13, 2016 at 9:17 AM

Good to see your name here. Remembering our table at Dascomb Freshman year. We laughed so much. Susan Scheinman Leonard