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| Barbara Green Elbeze and her husband Fernand share a love of biking in foreign lands. Here they are in a 2012 trip to Costa Rico. |
Barbara
Green Elbeze retired in 2008 after 27 years in Alexandria City (VA) schools. Her career in education totaled 35 years as a
teacher and administrator, from full time teaching middle and high school level English for Speakers of
Other Language (ESOL) and Spanish. However, she continues to work
in her community in many ways such as teaching ESOL and Spanish for Fairfax County adult community education programs, tutoring, working as a
teacher-support specialist for her religious school, supervising
student-teachers in their MA programs for two universities (GWU and JMU) and assisting a Class Manager for jazzercise. She also volunteers
as a Court Appointed Special Advocate.
Whew! She and her Parisian husband
of 40 years Fernand Elbeze live Fairfax, VA, a metro ride of only 12 miles from the
White House. She lived in the DMV (District, MD VA) area from 1969-1975, until finishing
grad school. Then Barbara lived for
seven years in the Monticello, NY, area. In 1984, she and
her husband moved back to Virginia to raise their two daughters and have been there ever since. She
met Fernand at a kibbutz in Israel in 1976.
They love to travel and they are especially passionate about bike tours
to different countries. In fact, she is
returning from a bike tour in Greece the day before the reunion (Oct. 5) and
may be too jet-lagged to attend.
What
was your sense of community in your class/in the school at NPHS?
I definitely felt a spirit of community and connection
to everyone in our class, whether or not we were in the same classes or not. We
were encouraged to participate in sports, clubs, social activities and to mix
up with everyone. At least I felt that
way. We knew each other since kindergarten in some cases and when the “East
End” met the “West End” and the Catholic schools, we just merged and all became
friends.
What
experiences in high school, positive or negative, helped to shape you as a
person?
Growing up in North Plainfield, helped make me the
tolerant, open, and multiculturally sensitive person I have become. Our town was the original “multicultural”
one. My friends were all from different religious and ethnic backgrounds.
Different languages were spoken at home, different foods cooked, but all of us
became the melting pot. Our dreams and
aspirations were given wings by our teachers and we were given confidence to
pursue them. They gave us great courses,
challenging learning situations, and the tools to help us manage the rigors of
studying without the stress. As an
educator, I realize how those NPHS teachers helped mold me into the teacher and
member of my community that I became.
Do
you have any regrets about your experiences during your high school years?
I wish I had been more of an “activist” but I
suppose I didn’t have the confidence to be a leader then. I was developing and
at least I felt enough self-esteem to continue to grow in college and beyond. I
wish girls had had the opportunity to play the sports like the boys, but GAA (Girls’
Athletic Association) helped keep me “in the game.”
Now,
50 years later, has your perspective on your high school years changed at
all? If so, how?
Yes, I treasure those memories and realize that it
was an important chapter in my life that I will never forget! We were naïve, awkward, inexperienced, but we
were still “us.”
What
is your fondest memory of your years at NPHS? I loved so many classes and teachers, but I remember
the “Great Books” discussions we had with Ms. O’Brien. We really began to do higher level thinking
and developed those skills that helped us in college and life!
What
was the craziest or stupidest thing you did in high school? Once I got “drunk” before a canteen dance. According to the friends I was with, I kissed
one of the teachers and acted totally silly.
I was so ashamed because I felt the worst punishment would be that I had
dashed my chances of being inducted in the National Honor Society!! Imagine that.
But, I was inducted senior year anyway.
What
was your proudest accomplishment in high school?
I enjoyed languages so much (and still do, of
course) and I was thrilled to be able to take two languages my junior and
senior year. (Spanish and French) I accelerated myself over the summer to go
from French 1 to 3 while taking Spanish 5 and loving it. I actually tutored the
French 1 students for the teacher in that class. (Ms. Harford).
Who
was your favorite teacher?
Undoubtedly it was Mr. Kianese, who became a role
model for me. I had him for four years and was never bored, always challenged
in his classes. He inspired me to major
in Spanish undergrad and the foundation he gave me was instrumental in being
selected for a fellowship from University of Maryland for my first MA. I once wrote a paper about him and his
influence on my teaching style and love of Spanish.
What
was your worst class?
I hated math, but never felt like it was the
teacher’s fault. Not being astute enough to take Calculus senior year, I went
into a Probability and Statistics class over at “Harrison” school. That’s the
only class I ended up spending more time skipping, in the bathroom, (with Paula
LaCosta) and not in the classroom because it was SO boring. I can’t remember the teacher, but his lessons
were so lackluster that he put me to sleep!
(maybe Mr. Pritchard?)
What
is your most powerful or haunting memory during your years at NPHS?
I remember the decade of the 60’s and going to
school in such a volatile time. In fact,
I remember 6th grade and hearing about the Cuban Missile Crisis on
the PA and being scared out of our minds with our teachers in that building.
The assassinations, the Vietnam War, the protests, Woodstock, the hippies. It was all in our time. I remember one of our
classmates’ brothers who died in Vietnam.
He was the only son in that family with three daughters. I was friendly
with the youngest girl (Faye Baranoski) who was in our class and it broke my
heart when we learned the news of his passing. It made it real to us and then
going to college in DC it all became even more “real” but I was then in the
middle of it all.
How
did growing up at a child of the 60s – and all the social baggage and impact
that it may have entailed – impact you at the time and in your young adult
years?
I think it made me a thinker, a do-er, and more
altruistic. I read, watched, observed
others, and tried to find my own niche and style. It was a fascinating time and one that made
us care about others and the world. Hope
we never lose that ideal!
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| Barbara (seated) in 1975 teaching English for Speakers of Other Languages. |
