Ms. OB scampers into the Jewish American Literature room with a grin on her face and a pep in her step. Her own unique uniform consists of some sort of cuffed jeans or long pants, a patterned top and always a messy bun. She sits her long legs down and asks my classmates and me how we are doing, likewise, sharing how she is and what she has been up to since we last met. She poses some sort of question to engage us as a community; for example, just a few weeks ago she asked us to, “List these 4 carbs: pasta, bread, potatoes and rice, favorite to least favorite.” After Ms. OB patiently and enthusiastically listens to our answers, she shares her own. We then begin class, answering Ms. OB’s imaginative questions that challenge mine and my classmates’ minds about the text we most recently read for homework, discussing our thoughts and ideas. As different students answer her questions, she doesn’t fix her eyes on just that one student speaking; instead, she scans the room like a hawk, observing every single person in the room.
Hannah Oberman-Breindel is a native New-Yorker who grew up on West End Avenue, surrounded by her close-knit family as she attended the Ethical Culture Fieldston School from toddlerhood all the way to adulthood. Today, Oberman-Breindel resides in Washington Heights where she has come full circle – she leaves and comes home every day from teaching English at Fieldston, her alma mater, working on her novel when she can. From writing about womens-sports, to teaching young minds about the world of Literature, Oberman-Breindel’s life manages to circle back to Fieldston, where she started her journey and eventually returned to.
Oberman-Breindel grew up alongside her mother, father and two younger sisters, Naomi and Srob, in what she describes to be an “insular” family-dynamic. Oberman-Breindel, a naturally rambunctious child, discovered her passion for track and soccer at a young age, allowing her to “start seriously running in ninth grade”. She described her busy schedule, always making time for track; in the wintertime, after she relished in theatre, when it was dark, she would run around the track at school. She recalls her soccer coach, Coach Keith Bergen, being a great mentor, a coach who is still at Fieldston today, many years later.
Oberman-Breindel was eventually recruited by Yale to be a Division 1 cross country athlete in college. While in college, she double-majored in English and American Studies. After college, she went to graduate school for creative writing at the University of Madison-Wisconsin. Shortly following, she moved to Seattle where she coached track and continued developing her career as a teacher and novelist.
One day while at a writing conference in Seattle, Oberman-Breindel ran into Michael Morse, an English teacher at school during her time as a student, and now during mine at Fieldston. He explained to her that he was taking the year off as his book of poems, “Void and Compensation” was coming out. Morse spotted the opportune immediately and suggested to Oberman-Breindel that she apply to fill the position for his yearlong leave of absence. She took his advice and applied for the spot and ended up getting it! Little did she know, it would lead her to many years down the road of teaching at the school where she grew up.
Oberman-Breindel has been teaching at Fieldston for the past eleven years, and while she loves teaching English, one of her greatest passions, she also recognizes the potential challenges and complex feelings that come with teaching in what used to be such a different environment to her. She notices occasional mixed-feelings with her career at Fieldston, as it is a particularly unique experience to teach at a place where she and her sisters grew up learning to think, compete and engage in so much of what she has learned. Simultaneously, Oberman-Breindel is happy with her job and has the ability to be flexible in so many ways.
Oberman-Breindel is an indefatigable worker and person – she not only works tirelessly as a teacher at Fieldston, but she also has carried numerous other positions throughout her career. For example, as women’s sports started to come back after COVID-19 in 2021, Oberman-Breindel was offered the opportunity by Venus Sports (which no longer exists) to partake in a press conference over zoom and write about two WNBA (Women’s National Basketball Association) teams: the Connecticut Sun and the Washington Mystics. Through the conference, Oberman-Breindel was able to speak with players who she was used to seeing on her television screen, like Natasha Cloud, a top-tier WNBA player and WNBA championship winner. She also kept up a blog for approximately one year about women’s sports and the politics that accompany it, something that she feels zealous about. Additionally, she is currently working on her own novel, an extremely admirable achievement.
Through Oberman-Breindel’s time as both a Fieldston student and teacher, she has accomplished so much. As she has returned back to Fieldston, she has truly come full-circle, only now with remarkable personal and professional growth.
When asked about her personality, Oberman-Breindel described her character as “stubbornly myself” – as one of her students, I couldn’t agree more. She brings her own unique, authentic style and energy to teaching class that sets her apart in a memorable way. After hearing her life-story, it is clear to me that her thought-provoking questions stem from a deep curiosity of both literature and the world around her. Oberman-Breindel had an incredulous journey from a young student to becoming a teacher and mentor at Fieldston. Her journey reflects not only her full-circle-return, but her steadfast commitment to her identity, character and passions in life.
