Band members from H.B. Thompson Middle School and South Woods Middle School performed to a packed stadium of New York Mets fans at Shea Stadium before the Mets-Braves game on Tuesday night.

Superintendent of Schools Dr. Carole G. Hankin received an invitation from the Mets shortly before the end of school in June for the middle school bands to perform in an end-of-season pre-game show. Tickets to the game were sold by each middle school and the Mets promised to donate $3 from each ticket to the schools' student government associations.

"It was truly a Syosset Community Night at Shea with the attendance of over 1,000 parents, children, teachers and friends getting together to applaud our band performance and also to cheer for the Mets," said Hankin.

Following the band performance, which was shown up close on the huge Diamondvision screen at the stadium, the Mets announcer caledl the fans' attention to a special award ceremony on the diamond right next to home plate. As the Mets and Braves players prepared for the game in nearby dugouts, Hankin, Syosset School Board Trustee Shari Dorfman, South Woods Principal Dr. Jean Clark and H.B. Thompson Principal Dr. Jim Collins and students Logan Sappell representing South Woods and Jimmy Murphy representing H.B. Thompson were presented with the Mets Spirit Award for bringing together the Syosset community at Shea Stadium. Hankin expressed great appreciation for everyone involved who worked to make this memorable event such a great success. "Once again, the Board of Education, students, teachers, administrators and parents worked together to make this District proud," she said.