The Ohio Valley truly is alive with the sound of music this time of the year, as area high and junior high school students are presenting, or have presented, their annual spring productions.
Each of the performances offers a great chance for area students to showcase their talents, and it's an opportunity for relatives, friends and area residents to support local school districts.
There always are a wide variety of presentations to choose from, and this year's schedule has been no different.
Already, for instance, students at Catholic Central High School presented "West Side Story," while Edison Junior High School put on "Mary Poppins Jr."
At Buckeye Local High School, this year's selection was "Aladdin Jr.," while the stage at Harrison Central came alive with "Grease!" and the Steubenvile High School auditorium offered a look back at 19th century France with "Les Miserables."
The Jefferson County Christian School presented an original musical, "The Prodigal Daughter: A Modern Parable," which was written and scored by Lisa Foster, a teacher at the school.
In the coming weeks, Brooke High School will present "Suessical" at 7 p.m. Friday and April 1 and at 3 p.m. April 2.
Indian Creek High School will present "Little Shop of Horrors." Performances are set for 7 p.m. Friday, April 1, April 6 and April 7 and 3 p.m. April 2 and April 8. It will be the first presentation in the auditorium at at the high school.
Toronto High School will present "The Wizard of Oz" at 7:30 p.m. April 14 and 15 and at 5:30 p.m. April 16.
And, Weirton Madonna will present "James and the Giant Peach" later this spring.
These productions represent the culmination of months and months of hard work and sweat from students who learned lines and songs, as well as dance routines.
The shows represent the patience and hard work of the teacher-directors, of support staff, including students and parents, alums and other teachers who get the stages ready and the sets prepared and the costumes just so.
It's a chance to laugh, to ponder and to simply enjoy a variety of talent that can be found in our area high schools. If you doubt that today's youth are capable of much beyond video games, erase those concerns by attending one of these productions.
You'll see talent on display from young people dedicated enough to have put in the time it takes to perform in a production.
It is a credit to these schools, these instructors and, especially, these students.
And when the lights come up and the applause rises, we hope it's full houses that the performers see.