SYOSSET, N.Y. (WCBS 880) — Billy Joel and his foundation are making a big donation to a Long Island high school, according to an announcement posted to the performer's website Monday.
In 2015, when the Long Island High School for the Arts in Syosset was in danger of closing because of low enrollment, the "Piano Man" stepped in to donate $1 million.
Now, the Grammy Award-winning singer and songwriter, who hails from Hicksville, is once again pledging, through his Billy Joel Foundation, another $1.5 million to help the school.
"Our kids, like any other kids, are very impressionable," said Dr. Robert Dillon, superintendent for Nassau BOCES, which runs the school. "When someone of this stature pays attention, it really means something. You see stars on TV, you see them in the media, but here's an individual who's stepped up to work with them and say that they are important."
In the fall, the school, which was founded in 1973, will launch a journalism program, along with game design and film-making programs — and it's all thanks in part to the generosity and dedication to Joel and his foundation.
"Their contributions, not only financially but programmatically, have helped us expand the program and develop the program to what it is today and we're very grateful," Dillon said. "We're really pushing workforce development. We're really pushing careers at the end of the rainbow for our young men and women here. It's beyond more than just singing and dancing. It can be costume, it can be makeup, it can be stage construction, it can be audio."
According to Newsday, there are currently about 200 students enrolled in the school and is expected to welcome approximately 300 students in the fall.
“We are incredibly proud of LIHSA’s momentum and positive impact on the next generation of artists from Long Island,” Joel and wife, Alexis, said in a statement. “The vision of Nassau BOCES and the LIHSA team to develop a creative [Career and Technical Education] curriculum inspired us to continue our support.”
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