Yankees Great Bernie Williams Boosts a Connecticut School's Music Program

New York Yankees legend, guitarist and Latin Grammy nominee Bernie Williams presented an $8,000 National Association of Music Merchants (NAMM) Foundation grant to Tisdale School in Bridgeport, Connecticut, earlier this week.

The money will go toward the music program in the school, which Williams recently “adopted” as part of the national Turnaround Arts program.

“The arts and music made me who I am today,” the guitarist told the Bridgeport Daily Voice.

It just so happens that the former centerfielder has returned to the Manhattan School of Music and will graduate soon with a degree in jazz performance.

“I realized without my education I was not going to go as far as I wanted to go,” he told the Tisdale students.

Nationwide, 49 schools participate in the program, which also provides schools with access to art supplies and resources.

Tisdale Principal Charmaine Worthy said Williams is an inspiration for the students, partly because he's back in school himself.

“(He) tells our students to work hard in school every day,” Worthy told ctpost.com.

Below, check out a clip of Williams jamming with Tisdale students.