Friday, October 2, 2026
Long Island is a hotspot for artists of all ages, the home of famous musicians, local painters and young performers receiving an education from the Long Island High School for the Arts.
More than 40 LIHSA students were inducted April 16 into the National Honor Society in a ceremony held in the Nassau BOCES Jerusalem Avenue School in Bellmore. The ceremony recognized students for achievements in five groups: visual arts, national dance, international thespian, technical arts, and tri-am music.
The students were selected based on their academic achievements and community service, representing towns across Long Island including Long Beach, Levittown, Bethpage and more.
Olivia Carmody and Cooper daSilva are juniors at East Meadow High School, splitting their days between normal curriculum and theatrical training at LIHSA. The two students are members of the Thespian Society, a badge of honor representing their hard work and cooperative spirit.
The two students have been passionate about theater since childhood.
“I’ve been doing theater since I was in sixth grade, and when I was in the end of my eighth-grade year, heard about LIHSA and their summer program, so I came here and I auditioned for it,” daSilva said.
That early experience drove daSilva to join the program when he became eligible to join the specialist school, which is only available to juniors and seniors.
“Every single day, from 12:00 to 2:00, we are completely immersed in theater,” he said. “It’s fantastic.”
Out of the school’s many majors — studio or digital art, coding, film and more — Carmody opted to pursue musical theater as a combination of multiple interests.
“Musical Theater does a kind of a little bit of dance, a little bit of singing and a little bit of acting,” she explained. “I think it’s really important for people our age to find something that they’re good at and be able to follow that passion and be able to refine their skills, and this school really gives that to us.”
Throughout the school year, the thespians take classes in dance choreography, theater history and even personal finance to take care of themselves when establishing their careers. Primarily, LIHSA is an opportunity to connect with peers and professionals in the fields students plan to pursue a career within.
The educators prepare students for the challenging next steps in their development: auditions for arts colleges. They strike a balance between constructive critique and encouragement, helping students find their footing as professional artists.
“Going after our dreams… it brings us joy,” Carmody said. “The teachers here are fantastic; they advocate for us, they find what’s special in each person, and guide us to be something like more refined, and also to find ourselves to be unique.”
To all young aspiring artists, LIHSA Principal Lindsay Rogan shared a message.
“Cooper and Olivia started at LIHSA at our Summer Arts Academy program,” she explained. “Our summer program is running again this summer, from June 29 until July 24. They both spent a couple summers here working on the shows, and that’s where we started to say to them, ‘you’re definitely a LIHSA kid, definitely make sure that you apply’ … they really are two of our exemplary students here.”
