Occasionally, we get a chance to talk with students about what we do for a living. I was invited to Pearl River Middle School to speak this morning with three classes of seventh-graders during the school’s annual career day about being a reporter.

The trouble with being a reporter in today’s multi-platform media-savvy world is there’s not a whole lot to show large groups of people unless you have a PowerPoint presentation on hand.

I just talked. Visually not much to show, frankly.

Several of the other presenters had more photo-worthy jobs and activities, including Dina Casale, who had her sixth-graders doing push-ups in the gym.

It always surprises me what students will find interesting.

The first group of students got a description of my first years as a reporter, but i don’t think they quite understood what carbon paper is.

I was a little more modern with the other two groups, having learned my lesson, but two questions came up for all three groups: Do I make up the information in my stories and what was the most disgusting story I ever wrote.

Making up stories or knowingly printing false information is a firing offense, not to mention illegal. I had a nice discussion with one class about the difference between libel and slander.

The most disgusting story, however, appeared to rivet the students to their seats and had to do with the recovery of a drowning victim when I was working in Michigan 20 years ago.

I won’t print the details since they are—well, disgusting. I just hope no one decides on a newspaper career solely in the hopes of writing stories on disgusting topics!

Have you seen this story?

Here’s the letter sent out this afternoon by the school district….

The Elmsford school district is revamping its cable television program, turning it into a story-hour type of show.

The focus of the half-hour “Spotlight on Elmsford Schools” will shift from providing general information about district schools to a reading program, developed to help improve literacy among elementary students.

Tune into Greenburgh Access TV and you’ll see district officials reading some popular children’s books. In the current program, Wayne Harders, principal of Alice E. Grady and Carl L. Dixson Elementary Schools (holding the book in the picture to the right), reads “Shortcut” by Donald Crews, “Puff the Magic Dragon” by Peter Yarrow and Lenny Lipton and “Roller Coaster” by Marla Frazee.

Lauren Scott, president of Elmsford’s Parent Teacher Association, reads “Miss Nelson is Missing” by Harry Allard and “Way Out West Lives A Coyote Named Frank” by Jillian Lund. Peter Giarrizzo, district clerk, reads “Oh The Places You’ll Go” by Dr. Seuss.

If your child’s favorite book is on that list or if you want to see what new books they’re featuring, you can tune into channel 75 every Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. and channel 76 at 7;30 p.m. on the second and fourth Thursday of each month.

A special prosecutor from the Rockland County District Attorney’s Office, Joanna DeVito, has been assigned to the case against four educators from the the former Bridge Program at Mahpoac Falls Elementary School.

The case is due back in Carmel Town Court at 6 p.m. March 11.

Click here for some of the back story.

Click here for today’s story. See below for more information.

Letter sent to schools by Ingerman Smith: Click here.

Letter sent to schools by New York state Attorney General: Click here.  

My colleague Richard Liebson reports that a 12-year-old South Salem boy’s Internet blog item prompted Valhalla schools to go into “lock out� mode and kicked off a series of security procedures that eventually involved the Mount Pleasant police, the Westchester County District Attorney’s office, Somers state police and the Chicago police department.

“In the end there was no threat, but the school district did exactly what it should have done,’’ Mount Pleasant Police Chief Louis Alagno said of Thursday’s incident.

It began at about 1 p.m., when Valhalla Schools Superintendent Diane Ramos-Kelly received an e-mail from someone quoting from a blog item that Alagno said “could have been perceived as threatening.’’

Ramos-Kelly immediately contacted Mount Pleasant police and ordered a “lock out� at all of the districts school buildings, which kept students and staff members inside and restricted entrance to the schools. She also used the district’s message alert system to advise parents of the situation via telephone.

“Police told us there was no immediate, serious threat, so we didn’t go into a lock down mode, which would have kept everyone in their class rooms,’’ Ramos-Kelly said yesterday. “Nevertheless, we live in a world where you can’t be too careful, so we decided that the lock out procedures were appropriate. When it comes to the safety of our kids, we don’t play around.â€?

Mount Pleasant police sent the e-mail to the District Attorney’s high technology crimes unit, and as a precaution, stationed two youth officers inside the Valhalla Middle/High School and had two uniformed cops patrol the campus.

In the meantime, Alagno said, the DA’s office traced the e-mail to a woman in Chicago. Police in that city were notified. Chicago police interviewed her and determined that there was no threat. The DA’s office was also able to trace the original blog item and discovered that it had been written by a 12-year-old South Salem boy. State police and Mount Pleasant detectives interviewed the boy, but did not arrest him.

“There was no threat, and there was no crime,’’ Alagno said. “State police are talking to the boy’s parents about it.â€?

While the incident “turned out to be a lot about nothing, I have to say that the Valhalla School District handled it very well,’’ Alagno said. “They are one of the most pro-active school districts in the state in terms of security and they proved it in this incident. Everything worked the way it’s supposed to.’’

Reach Richard Liebson at rliebson@lohud.com or 914-694-3534.

Click here to see the letters sent to the firm’s clients following the Newsday series.

Here are the most recent Newsday stories related to the investigation of alleged double-dipping school attorneys:

Westchester schools added to lawyer probe

Harborfields votes to seek bids for legal services

Federal agents subpoena two dozen school districts

Reich’s journey started at state Education Dept.

4 law firms dominate school district services

Cuomo wants records from every LI school district

Click here for all related stories.

State and federal officials have been investigating cases out in Long Island where attorneys were allegedly collecting state pensions while simultaneously being paid by their firms.

Now the probe has made its way into Westchester County, with New York State Attorney General Andrew Cuomo yesterday requesting records from all 48 school districts in the county.

Click here for the letter sent to the school districts.

“The Attorney General has made public integrity a priority of his office and we will take a close look at any schemes that have the potential for double-dipping or self-dealing, especially when it involves public funds,” said spokesman John Milgrim.

“At the same time, we understand that inappropriate practices are often not isolated to any single part of the state. We are committed to uncovering the full scope of these problems and finding a solution that puts an end to them,” he added.

Also, Newsday today reports that FBI agents and federal prosecutors yesterday subpoenaed the records of Ingerman Smith, a Hauppauge law firm, and spent the day at the firm questioning partners about their knowledge of the possible double-dipping scheme.

The investigations began after Newsday reported that a former partner at Ingerman Smith, Lawrence Reich, was collecting a state pension of $61,000 after being credited with working full-time by five school districts while simultaneously being a partner at Ingerman Smith.

Bronxville, Bedford Central, Dobbs Ferry, Harrison, Katonah-Lewisboro, Mamaroneck and Pocantico Hills are among the Westchester schools represented by Ingerman Smith, according to the firm’s Web site. Click here for the full list of schools.

Continue to check back for updates on this story.

Now actor Will Smith plans to start a school.

Julie Tilsner, writing for parenting.com, says it comes down to a few basic traits: resolve, forethought, a sense of fantasy, stoicism, nonchalance, dexterity and empathy.

Sounds easy enough! (Yeah right!) What do you think?

Largest Donation in SUNY History; Gift from Simons Foundation will Fund Construction of Simons Center for Geometry and Physics

Governor Eliot Spitzer today announced a $60 million donation to SUNY Stony Brook from financier and former SUNY Stony Brook Mathematics Department Chairman Jim Simons and his wife Marilyn Simons. The donation, the largest to any New York State public university, will fund the construction of the Simons Center for Geometry and Physics at Stony Brook’s Long Island campus. It will also support the recruitment of top faculty and students to the center.

The gift represents a defining moment for Stony Brook, which is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year. It also demonstrates how collaboration between the public and private sectors can help make the state’s public colleges and universities magnets for research, which will both enhance the state’s public higher education system and spur economic growth in our communities.

Let’s see how well we all do on the following quiz about basic American history, civics and economics: Click here for the test.

The Intercollegiate Studies Institute developed the quiz as part of a study about how colleges teach these topics. Among the major findings:

• College seniors failed the basic test.

• America’s most prestigious universities performed the worst.

• Inadequate college curriculum contributes to failure.

Check out my colleague Phil Reisman’s recent column on the subject.

I’ll be honest, I’m terrified of the grade I’m going to get on this test…

Mount Pleasant schools had received some contaminated meat products, but officials assure parents everything’s under control.

Jim Ryan, who has been Rockland BOCES superintendent for seven years, is expected to be appointed tonight as the new superintendent of Carmel schools.

Although nobody is willing to say anything specific, one of the reasons given for Ryan’s jump from BOCES is related to money.

Since 1992, the state legislature has capped BOCES superintendents’ salaries, a move made after a Long Island BOCES super got a $1 million windfall (on top of a $227,600 salary) when he left the position.

The way the law was structured, however, capped the BOCES salary at 98 percent of the commissioner’s salary in 1992. That meant that for the next 10 years, the salary for a BOCES superintendent was slightly more than $128,600.

In 2002, the legislators changed the amount to nearly 98 percent of the 2002 education commissioner’s salary, which at that time was $170,165. Since 2002, the BOCES superintendent salary cap has been a little more than $164,000.

Carmel advertised for a superintendent with a proposed salary of no less than $195,000. Ryan’s salary at Carmel will be made public at tonight’s school board meeting. Whatever it becomes, this makes nice financial jump for Ryan, plus a chance for more pay increases as time passes. In Rockland, Ryan’s current salary trails the least paid public school superintendent by more than $35,000 a year.
The Regents want some changes to the state education budget that weren’t addressed to their satisfaction in Gov. Spitzer’s proposal. One was to eliminate the cap on BOCES superintendent salaries.

Considering that both Orange Ulster and Southern Westchester BOCES are currently without superintendents, it probably isn’t crystal-ball gazing to feel that this issue is one that will continue to come up during the current budget season.