Bronxville and Scarsdale region

The whole school at Greenvale in Scarsdale came out for the Arbor Day celebration today.

Photo above: Nicholas Lindsay-Jones, the coordinator of the student government, watches as fifth grade president Frankie Czuchan, 11, left, and vice president Kelly Ryan, 10, center throw some dirt on the Japanese Lilac tree planted at the school, during the Arbor Day celebration at the Greenvale School in Scarsdale April 30, 2010. Eastchester, designated a Tree City USA for over 20 years, celebrated with Town officials, a DEC urban forester and a character called Steward, a street “treeture” from the creation of Eastchester resident Judith Blau. ( Mark Vergari / The Journal News )

Left photo: Steward the “treeture” gets mobbed by the kids.

For more photos on LoHud,com click here, and check out a future Review Press EXPRESS for more photos.

Today is Arbor Day and the third grade at the William Cottle School in Tuckahoe held a ceremony at the school.

Steven A. Ecklond, the deputy mayor for the Village of Tuckahoe, helps third graders in Jennifer Scrivo and Gianna Cozzali’s class water the newly planted flowering dogwood tree, during an Arbor day celebration at the Cottle School in Tuckahoe, April 30, 2010. Over 100 white pine saplings, secured from a grant from the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation were distributed to the third graders, after the students read poems and stories about trees. ( Mark Vergari / The Journal News )

For more photos on LoHud,com click here and check out a future Review Press EXPRESS for more photos.

Ten Bronxville Elementary School third-graders will be competing in the national children’s chess league games on May 6 in Atlanta, Georgia.

Nolan Kordsmeier, center, the coach of the team, works with from left: Jack Haims, Cory Ramundo (rear left), Tyler Mackesy, Jack Kochansky, David Weild, Buzby Robb and Fritz Pingel of the Bronxville Elementary School third-grade chess team, as they practice at a home in Bronxville April 30, 2010.( Mark Vergari / The Journal News )

Check out a story by Randi Weiner in an upcoming EXPRESS publication.

Westchester County Executive Rob Astorino says he will not be employing the security detail used by his predecessor Andy Spano. That detail included three bodyguards who shadowed Spano, even for travel, and racked up hotel and meal expenses beyond the thousands in payroll and benefits.

Find out how much he proposes to save taxpayers in a special report from Jorge Fitz-Gibbon exclusively in print editions of The Journal News on Sunday.

More school tidbits, courtesy of Mary Ellen Byrne:

The following seventh and eighth grade students represented EMS in the National French Contest, an annual event sponsored by the American Association of Teachers of French:  Natalie Ewing, Kiersten Harris, Daniel Pollack, Yasmeen Safaie, and Juri Tanaka; (seventh graders)   Jacqueline Mazariego, Michael Poletti, and Emmanuelle Roche (eighth graders).  Congratulations to all for a job well done!
Yasmeen Safaie and Emmanuelle Roche achieved high-ranking scores and will be recognized at an awards ceremony for Westchester winners on May 27, 2010 at the Rye Country Day School.

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The annual Eastchester Arts Festival will take place from May 13-May 18.
Students in grades K-12 will have art projects on display in the EHS gym.  Schools will also hold their spring concerts. The exhibit is open Weekdays: 9:00 am – 3:00 pm and Saturday: 1:00 pm – 4:00 pm and also before each school concert.  The opening reception is Thursday, May 13, 3:30 pm – 5:00 pm.  For a complete calendar of events, go to http://www.eastchester.k12.ny.us/district2/calendar/upcoming.htm#1

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The Sophomore Class thanks the HS and MS teachers at who contributed to another successful event by being dance partners during Dancing With Our Stars.  This year’s event raised $9,500.00! If you missed the event, be sure to watch it on channels 78/24.  Thanks also to all those who supported the event by either attending or making a donation.

A few tidbits from Eastchester schools, courtesy of Mary Ellen Byrne:

The Class of 2010 Valedictorian and Salutatorian have been announced:
Valedictorian:  Raina Gandhi (attending Harvard in the fall)
Salutatorian:  Elizabeth Pereira (attending Cornell in the fall)

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Through her collaboration with the Albert Einstein College of Medicine and The Advanced Science Research Program, EHS senior Raina Gandhi has become a coauthor of a research project she worked on as part of a team. The article, KidWAVE: Get Healthy Game—Promoting a More Healthful Lifestyle in Overweight Children can be found in the Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior Volume 42, Number 3, 2010.

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Six EHS students competed at the Tri-County Science and Tech Fair at White Plains HS in April.  Three students placed in their categories for their research.  Here are the winners:
Tom Kump - Senior – 1st PLACE – Engineering Category – for his project titled: The Effect of Increased Surface Area and Electrode Composition on Electrical Output of Geobacter sulfurreducens Fuel Cells.  Tom did his research independently at Eastchester High School.
Rebecca Gibson – Senior – 2nd PLACE in – Environmental Category – for her project titled: Determining the transmission routes of Israel Acute Paralysis Virus within colonies of Apis mellifera.  Rebecca did her research at Penn state this past summer with entomologist Dr. Diana Cox-Foster.
Nicholas Stefano- Senior – 3rd PLACE – Biology Category – for his project titled: The induction of chemotaxis and invasion in human malignant glioma cells through the use of FGF2.  Nick did his research at Albert Einstein College of Medicine over the past two years with Researcher Dr. Salvatore Coniglio.

School board interviews
Candidates in select contested school board races are invited to discuss the issues in interviews webcast LIVE on LoHud.com. The schedule follows. Because of the vast number of races — and the impossibility of crafting a schedule that meets everyone’s family, work and campaign needs — we appreciate efforts by candidates to make their scheduled hour. Westchester candidates are asked to confirm their attendance by contacting editorial assistant Brenda Ross, 914-694-5030 or bross@lohud.com; Rockland candidates are asked to contact Rockland Opinion editor Nancy Cutler, 845-578-2403 or ncutler@lohud.com.

Candidate questionnaires
If you are running for school board in Westchester, Rockland or Putnam, we want to hear from you. Please send your full name, home address, daytime phone numbers and e-mail address to elections@lohud.com. In both the subject line and body of the e-mail, be sure to indicate your school district. The information will be used by our news and editorial staffs to contact and correspond with candidates. Additionally, the e-mail address will be used to send candidates a username and password for a questionnaire; responses will form the basis of our online election guide for voters.

How voters can participate
Watch the interviews at www.Lo­Hud.com/editorialspotlight; to ask a question during a live session, engage the “cover it live” feature. Video of completed interviews — including Eastchester, Chappaqua, Scarsdale and East Ramapo — may be found in the “on demand” menu at www.LoHud.com/editorialspotlight. Only candidates may attend interviews.

Westchester
May 3
Bedford, 1:30 p.m.
Katonah-Lewisboro, 2:30 p.m.

May 4
Lakeland, 1:30 p.m.
Port Chester, 2:30 p.m.

May 5
Ossining, 1:30 p.m.
Briarcliff Manor, 2:30 p.m.

May 6
Byram Hills, 1:30 p.m.
Hendrick Hudson, 2:30 p.m.

May 10
Peekskill, 2:30 p.m.
Harrison, 4 p.m.

May 11
New Rochelle, 2:30 p.m.
Mount Vernon, 3:30 p.m.

Rockland
May 1
Nanuet, 10 a.m.
Clarkstown, 11 a.m.

May 4
Nyack, 10 a.m.
May 5
Pearl River, 10 a.m.

Directions are available here.

The Eastchester high school baseball team traveled to Glover Field in Pelham where they defeated Pelham high school 13-3.Eastchester’s Hajima Ozawa (26) looks between Pelham pitcher Dylan Howlett’s legs as he leads off first just prior to stealing second, during baseball game at Glover Field in Pelham April 29, 2010. Eastchester defeated Pelham 13-3. ( Frank Becerra Jr. / The Journal News )

To see more photos from the game click here.

Julia Giustiniani of Eastchester is greeted at home after scoring against Pearl River at Pearl River High School on Thursday. Click here to view a gallery of photos from the game.

My coworker Jerry McKinstry, who covers county politics, has just posted on his blog that the county Board of Elections has set June 22 for a special election to fill the 10th Legislative District seat that had been held by Vito Pinto.

The seat represents Eastchester, Tuckahoe and parts of New Rochelle.

Two Democratic party members have announced their interest in the seat: Tuckahoe Mayor John Fitzpatrick and New Rochelle Library Board member Greg Varian.

I received this from the New Rochelle Democratic Committee, courtesy of  Jeremy Sherber:

New Rochelle’s top elected Democrats have endorsed Greg Varian’s candidacy for County Legislator. In a letter sent to New Rochelle Democratic district leaders (last week), Mayor Noam Bramson and City Councilmembers James Stowe, Marianne Sussman, and Barry Fertel praised Varian’s experience and commitment, and urged their fellow Democrats to support his campaign.

“As the past president of his neighborhood association, leader of the local bar, and elected Trustee of the New Rochelle Public Library, Greg has proven himself to be an outstanding community advocate, with a clear understanding of issues and opportunities confronting Westchester County,” read the endorsement. “Each of us has had the privilege of working with Greg, and we admire him greatly. Please join us in supporting this exceptional candidate.”

New Rochelle Democrats unanimously endorsed Varian on April 28 during a caucus and will reiterate their support during a mini-convention to nominate a Democratic candidate for the positionfor the special election. The nominating convention is set for 7 p.m. May 5 at the Crowne Plaza in White Plains.

While both Varian and Tuckahoe Mayor John Fitzpatrick were invited to yesterday’s caucus, only Varian attended.

Nomination rules give New Rochelle a majority of votes to pick a candidate.