Neighborhood News
COMPILED BY LIZ GOFF

FDNY Fire Marshals Expand Into Queens

Fire officials last week announced plans for the establishment of a new fire marshal base in Queens.

The new base, located at Fort Totten, will "greatly expand" the FDNYs ability to probe suspicious fires in all boroughs, fire officials said.

The base will serve as headquarters for 32 new fire investigators, 27 fire marshals and five supervising marshals.

Kids 'Nickel & Dime' Strays

Youngsters at the Dry Harbor Play School donated a wagonload of nickels, dimes and quarters- and a few dollar bills- to a local animal rescue haven last week.

More than two dozen kids from the Glendale preschool delivered the cash to Bobbi Giordano, founder of "Bobbi and the Strays", a nonprofit group that rescues homeless and abused cats and dogs.

Giordano, who founded the group in 1998, said she was brought to tears when she spotted the youngsters pulling the wagon, filled with 27,000 coins, toward the storefront animal adoption center she operates several blocks from the preschool.

Each of the almost two dozen youngsters had a tale to tell about their contribution to the wagonload of cash. Some of the kids said they donated money they had saved for toys, while others gave cash they earned doing chores, helping wash their parents' cars or by shoveling snow.

Giordano said the kids' coins would go a long way to care for the 125 cats and dogs the center normally shelters who are, "hoping for a good home with good people".

Student Interns: Apply Now!

Queens students interested in working as summer interns at city agencies are urged to apply as soon as possible. Candidates for the summer intern positions must be enrolled in undergraduate or graduate programs. The internships offer compensation in the form of college credits or a cash stipend at agencies including the Department of Health and the Department of Corrections.

For more information, visit the Department of Citywide Administrative Services Web site at: www.nyc.gov/dcas.

Forest Hills Students Compete

Administrators at Forest Hills H.S. announced recently that honor students in the school's Carl Sagan Math Science Program have been chosen, for the third consecutive year, as finalists in the city Science and Engineering Fair.

School administrators also said four Forest Hills H.S. students would represent New York City in the International Science and Engineering Fair in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

'Global' Grads Rule

The graduation rate at New York City's four-year high schools is on the rise, Department of Education (DOE) officials said.

The Baccalaureate School of Global Education in Long Island City came in second citywide, with 89 percent of its students graduating on time, DOE officials said.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who fought for mayoral control of city schools, said he is "thrilled" with the current rate of students who will be graduating from Big Apple schools in June.

Bloomberg said he believes the education system should offer students support and programs that encourage them to graduate, even if they need extra time to reach their goals.

"Some students can graduate in four years," Bloomberg said. "But if others need an additional three months, six months or even a year to graduate, so be it."

We just need to get more of our kids through the system with the education they need to make it in the outside world."

Administrators at the Baccalaureate School for Global Education said they will be hosting ceremonies in June for the school's first class of graduating seniors.

The school, located in a renovated factory building on 36th Avenue, offers qualified students the most prestigious baccalaureate diploma in the world, DOE officials said.