Class Act with Chris Wragge visits Bayside High School in Queens

Athletic director Joe Capuana is retiring after 30 years at the school and said every day has been great. 

"I leave home every day, leaving the best family in the world, coming to the second-best family in the world," he said. "I love these students more than anything."

As Capuana was talking, you could hear the students chanting his name. 

Although he is retiring, he said he won't be too far away from the school.

"I'm not gonna miss it because I'll still be around," Capuana said. 

All-star New York Mets player Francisco Lindor is in love with the sports medicine and management program.

So much so that he has his own program called Lindor's Leaders. It aims to mentor students and help them develop leadership skills while also teaching about mental health in sports. 

"He was in the school two months ago, pitching wiffle balls to our kids. It was amazing," said sports program director Seth Siedman.

It's access to people and opportunities that create a special environment at Bayside.

Junior Henry Allen has been working with the Mets for two years. 

"It's actually been great," he said. "The year before, I worked as a case program career sports executive. And this year, we're talking about leadership, not just on the field, but off the field."

Student Victoria Sease, who is also part of the program, said she was able to do another internship with Citi Field last year. 

"We presented to some of the executives and those who run the behind-the-scenes actions at the park," she said. "There are so many other internships sports medicine offers to us."

One of the career and technical education programs includes a sports medicine and management program. 

It focuses on everything from medicine to physical therapy, rehab, coaching and management. It's led by teacher Seth Siedman, who detailed what students do.

"They work with people in general phys-ed classes. They teach them how to exercise, they do fitness assessments and things like that," he said. 

Siedman also has a special connection to Bayside as an alumnus. 

"I went here. This is my high school. To go back and be able to teach in a place that I love to go to, and to be able, you know, to pass a total of what I've learned over the years, it's a great feeling," he said.

Senior Jessenia Rashed said it's preparing her for a future career in nursing.

"I think if you want to go into medicine and you want to see what medicine is for you, sports medicine is great because it reaches all parts of medicine. It doesn't just focus on sports," she said.

Families from all over apply to the high school. In 2025, 13,000 applications were received from over 90 feeder schools in Queens. It's one of the most diverse schools in the nation, students speak 45 different languages. 

The school has a little bit of everything with 34 athletic teams, 50 clubs and rigorous college-level academics. 

The school also boasts a graduation rate of 98%. 

This year it's celebrating its 90th anniversary.

CBS News New York's Chris Wragge is live Friday morning at Bayside High School in Queens, where students are showing their spirit!