Thursday, October 1, 2026
One of the best ways to take care of your mental health is to express yourself, socialize and pursue a hobby; for the music students of the Bellmore-Merrick Central High School District, rock, metal and grunge serve as a perfect outlet.
A number of bands from across the district performed in a two-hour concert at John F. Kennedy High School last Friday, celebrating the beginning of Mental Health Month with a student-organized fundraiser.
JFK seniors and event organizers Ben Roth and Jordan Siegel are longtime musicians who played in the concert. The duo came up with the idea for a music fundraiser, and worked with school staff to make it a reality.
“We’re spreading our love of music in order to help people redirect their energy productively,” Roth said. “This way, they’re also able to generate that same catharsis for music, just like we’ve been able to do over the last several years … We wanted to bring people together.”
The concert raised well over $6,000 in donations to benefit Northwell Health’s adolescent care programs — including those at South Oaks Hospital in Amityville — a cause near and dear to Roth and Siegel.
“We’re here to raise money for South Oaks Hospital through Northwell,” Siegel explained. “We’re supporting the adolescent ward there, and we’re raising money to get them more resources and to redo the hospital.”
Stephanie Roth, Ben’s mother, supported her son every step of the journey to make the event happen.
“He’s cared about mental health causes for a long time,” Stephanie said. “[This is] a really wonderful experience, being able to see these kids come together and play for a good cause — and to come together from five different schools. These kids don’t know each other, but they’re here for a common reason.”
11 bands performed, including Pulse, from Calhoun High School; Spark, from Grand Avenue Middle School; and the Mepham Rock Band. They are part of a broader, blossoming effort to support music in the district.
Superintendent Michael Harrington, who was among the attendees, shared his excitement about the success of the program. “The kids are so talented,” he said. “It gives them a sense of belonging and connection. It makes them get up in the morning and come to school.
“David Prince, our band chairperson, coordinated this whole event for an unbelievable cause, mental health, which is a top priority of ours,” Harrington added. “It’s a celebration of the spirit of our community, which is great.”
Prince is also the math chair for JFK and Merrick Avenue Middle School — and a member of the band Appetite for Instruction, which played a set of its own.
“[I’ve] been a semi-professional musician since I was about 14 years old,” Prince said, “and wanted to create this opportunity for the kids to play music that doesn’t fit otherwise within our orchestral and band curriculum. This is going better than I could have imagined … I just want to give the students an opportunity that I would have loved to have had when I was in school.”
Other school organization contributed to the event as well. Technical Director Ben Stone, a senior at JFK and a member of the school’s broadcasting program, oversaw the recording setup.
“I thought it would be a nice thing to do to do a live mix of the event,” Stone said. “It’s a really amazing opportunity, all this stuff that Kennedy offers, especially in the creatives. I came at such an amazing time that they started putting a bigger emphasis on this.”
From Northwell Health’s perspective, the event was a huge success. “We’re very grateful to community support for wanting to invest in the services of South Oaks,” Deepa Avula, president of both South Oaks and Zucker Hillside hospitals and Northwell’s senior vice president of behavioral health services said. “This funding will go to help support one of our children’s outpatient programs.”
Those outpatient behavioral services are designed to provide specialized care for children, using therapy to help them manage their stress, anxiety or depression, and ultimately to help them thrive in their communities.
