By Martie Thompson
editor@floridanewsline.com
Leanne Haishtaine is a relatively new resident of St. Johns, moving here with her family in July 2023. She was raised and lived in Brooklyn prior to that, so the move south was a big one for her and her family. She always loved working with kids, so she pursued a career in education and graduated from SUNY – Oneonta with an undergraduate degree in English. While working on her master’s degree, she was certified to be in the classroom and she taught special education/English Language Arts at a few different grade levels in Brooklyn. She found working in the public schools to be difficult so she started working in a family daycare and then in a preschool. “It’s an education in itself when it’s just you and an assistant working with 12 two-year-olds,” she said. “I really loved it, but knew I needed to make more money.” After she was married, she worked as a special education teacher in private schools and once she married and had her own children, she left her position to raise them. Today, she cares for her two youngest children, aged four and one (her oldest, age seven, attends Durbin Creek Elementary) as well two other young children whose parents are teachers in St. Johns County. The Haishtaine family lives in the Julington Creek area with their two pets, a Yorkie named Yoyo and an adopted cat named Jellybean.
Q: How did you meet your husband, Michael?
A: I met him on the OkCupid app. I had been online dating for 10 years and had dated every Jewish guy in the tri-state area. Michael is from Israel and had just arrived in New York when we met. A week after we started dating, his parents were visiting from Israel and he wanted me to meet them. I thought, “Why not?” and thought how much they reminded me of my parents. Michael and I were married in 2015.
Q: How did you come to live in St. Johns?
A: We were living in a basement apartment in Brooklyn and knew with our young family that it was time to move. We looked at Texas and Florida. I have a sister who lives in Boynton Beach and she told me about the good schools in St. Johns County. Highly-rated public schools were important to me, as was a strong Jewish community and affordable housing. We found them all here. There are plenty of Jewish people here in the NW St. Johns County area and I was glad to know that there would be other Jewish kids in my children’s public school. We moved here in July 2023.
Q: What is it that you like about Chabad St. Johns County?
A: There are no synagogues in St. Johns; the closest ones are in St. Augustine and Mandarin. The family who runs Chabad St. Johns, Rabbi Mendel and Dini Sharfstein, do such a great job of planning events to bring Jewish people together. They bring events to the community as well as holding services at their home one time a month. Our daughter attends an after school program on Wednesdays in Nocatee and we go to services on High Holidays. The Chabad family is orthodox, but not everyone who attends is expected to be — all are welcome.
Q: What are your hobbies?
A: I take and edit too many photos, especially of our family. I also recently started a Girl Scout troop with another mom since there wasn’t room in the local troop for my daughter. I like to daydream about trips we will take when the kids get older, like camping and to the Grand Canyon.
[Editor’s Note: Visit www.jewishsjohnscounty.com for more information about Chabad St. Johns County.]
Photo courtesy Leanne Haishtaine
Leanne Haishtaine and her daughter.
