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For the first time in Osceola County, a public-school theatre production will be casted and crewed entirely by students.

Tickets for “School of Rock” the first All-County theatre production, are now available. It’s based on Andrew Lloyd Webber’s musical based on the Paramount movie by Mike White and the novel by Julian Fellowes.

The show runs Thursday Aug. 31 and Friday Sept. 1 at 7 p.m. and Saturday, Sept. 2 at 1:30 p.m and 7 p.m. at Osceola Arts.

While the show is directed by the School District of Osceola County Arts’ Joseph D’Ambrosi, the music is directed by SDOC Arts’ Fine and Performing Arts Resource Specialist Chris Burns and the choreography is by Amber Nadelkov, everything else is the work of middle and high school students from across the county.

Because of the time and funding required, it hadn’t been done before in Osceola. The School District funded the production this year, but future years will be funded by ticket sales, Burns said.

“A few other counties have done it but, yeah, it’s the first time for us,” Burns said. “It’s not done a lot because of the time and effort needed. Now we have programs in enough schools — theatre programs in all of our middle and high schools — so we though it was one of those things that it was time to try.”

And with just days until opening night, Burns said he, the cast and crew are, “Stressed but excited.”

“It’s definitely crunch time. But the kids are killing it,” he said. “They’re rehearsing in time outside of our rehearsals. The kids have just been consummate pros. It’s gonna be an incredible show.”

For ticket information, go to Tickets at: https:// tinyurl.com/SDOCROCKS

Home Instead delivers the ‘Power of a Knock’ — and food

On Monday, the Osceola Council on Aging and its Meals on Wheels Osceola program teamed up with Home Instead’s “Power of a Knock” program through meal delivery.

In addition to dropping off daily meals, Home Instead provided safety checks on seniors’ homes, even providing suggestions to make them safer against slips, falls and other accidents while delivering the meals.

In addition, Home Instead donated $15,000 to Osceola Meals on Wheels to help support and provide healthy meals to our seniors.

Meals on Wheels America’s Power of a Knock campaign, thrives on what occurs when a Meals on Wheels volunteer knocks on the door of a homebound older adult’s home, changing their life through companionship. A knock at the door might not seem like a big deal to many, but to an aging adult served by Meals on Wheels, it brings hope, health, and the nutrition and connection that will make their day. For more information, visit https://www. mealsonwheelsamerica.org/ the-power-of-a-knock.