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Reminder Assistant Editor LONGMEADOW - Lights, camera, Leshine. Local teen Shelby Leshine took her place on camera and television screens across Western Massachusetts last week when she premiered as the co-host for the third season of WGBY's "Making it Here: Teenstyle" show. Her job is to do "hands-on" interviews of local teenagers who are doing extraordinary things while working toward big dreams. Fashion designers, horse trainers, videographers and cosmotologists are all part of this season's lineup. The show will air on WGBY on Monday nights at 7:30 p.m until June 18. "It's just great to know that there are kids out there doing stuff, whatever their goals might be, kids our age are out there doing it," Leshine said. "You can do it to, you've just got to realize that you can." Producer of the show, Dave Fraser, explained that the purpose of the program is to give teenagers an idea of what other teenagers are doing for jobs and internships and how to help others get a better idea as to what they want to do. "I think they would be surprised at what our local teens are doing, the jobs that they have and the responsibility that goes along with these jobs," Fraser said about why viewers might enjoy the program. "People are always saying that you never hear about the kids doing anything good now-a-days but this is a good example of that." And not unlike her subjects, Leshine already has an impressive resume for a 16-year-old. The sophomore at Longmeadow High School has been acting on stage since age five. With more than a dozen plays and musicals under her belt, Leshine's name is almost always printed on the playbills of the Majestic Theatre in West Springfield. "I've always been outgoing and loved to talk, so my parents said 'OK, lets make this a useful thing and not an annoying thing,'" Leshine said about acting in theatre productions beginning when she was just five years old. Though this show is far from the glitz and glamour of Broadway or Hollywood, where Leshine would eventually like to pursue her acting career, it has been a valuable experience. "I've only been in theatre before so this is new for me," Leshine said. "It is difficult to have to be myself but it has taught me a lot." Not only does Leshine now find herself without a script or lines, but she also has no props, costumes, makeup or hair stylists on this set. She said that prepping herself for the camera is as simple as fixing up what she looks like after school while in the van on her way to the studio. Elizabeth Leshine, mother of the star, admires that. "That, I think is what the charm of the show is," she said about the no-frills production of the program. "It shows that Shelby is just a regular kid." Also featured on "Making it Here: Teen Style," is a weekly performance by local teen-aged musicians, dancers and poets as well as "Business 411," a segment in which adult business leaders of the local community explain what they do and how they got there. For more information about "Making it Here: Teenstyle," log on to www.wgby.org/localprograms/mihteenstyle/. | ||||||
