Monday letters: Student orchestra provided a little ray of sunshine

There is much wrong with the world, and we have the internet and cable to remind us of that each and every moment. But every once in a while, a ray of sunshine comes shining through to brighten our day.

My ray of sunshine was the Lexington Richland 5 District Orchestra recital. The hundreds — if not thousands — of hours of work transformed these young people from making noise that resembles the skinning of cats into an orchestra that would make any city proud.

We are blessed to live in an area that puts so much emphasis on our young people. High-quality academics, sports, music and the arts are at our disposal — with highly qualified, dedicated teachers, coaches, artists and administrators guiding them.

This is a shout out to all involved to make the recital possible — great work by the students, excellent guidance by the orchestra leaders Haley Calore, Joanne Mosquera, Andy Lynn, Vincent Washington, Colleen Marcou and Amy Reynolds, and leadership at the district level to make this available.

My hope is that all of our public school districts can provide the same.