Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Teen wins trip and a spot on magazine cover

- By Kathleen Ganster Kathleen Ganster, freelance writer: suburbanli­ving@post-gazette.com.

Thirteen-year-old Jane Fusco of Ross is determined. When she was too young to sing at a school production, she entered a contest sponsored by the Pittsburgh Pirates to sing the national anthem.

“She was up against all sorts of people, including adults, and she won,” said Jane’s mother, Cindy Fusco. “We try to temper her expectatio­ns but also want her to be confident.”

At the age of 10, Jane sang the national anthem to a crowd of 33,000 on July 3, 2013, at PNC Park.

It was that same goalorient­ed, determined personalit­y that landed Jane on the cover of the April/ May issue of Discovery Girls, a national bimonthly magazine for girls ages 8 to 12. Jane, a seventh-grader at North Hills Middle School, has been reading it for four years.

“It is a great magazine and features real-life girls. It has advice columns and features girls in real-life situations,” Jane said.

The magazine also holds a Leadership Summit. It selects 36 girls ages 8-12 from around the country to attend the conference in California, where the magazine is based, and be featured in the publicatio­n.

“The first time I saw it, I thought, ‘I don’t stand a chance,’ but then last year, I thought, ‘Why not try?’” Jane said.

Jane had to answer 10 questions about herself, her activities and other aspects of her life. She worked for hours on her applicatio­n, her mother said.

While her parents were supportive of her effort, they also were cautious.

After all, over 8,000 girls apply and the magazine selects 36.

“We didn’t want to get her hopes up,” Mrs. Fusco said.

When the magazine notified the family that it had exciting news for them, the Fuscos still were cautious.

“We were told to call the next day, and we thought maybe Jane was one of the finalists or something like that,” her mother said.

It turned out she was one of the 36 girls selected. Jane traveled with her parents to California last summer for the conference, where the participan­ts attended work-shops, presentati­ons and games designed not only for them to get to know each other but also to build their leadership skills and confidence.

Jane also formed some friendship­s.

“We have a group chat and have group emails, plus we will have a reunion,” she said.

In addition to attending the conference, Jane is featured on the cover of the magazine.

Her story and the stories of the girls who attended the Leadership Summit are told in the publicatio­n.

“I think that other girls can relate to me,” Jane said. “I hope that I can inspire younger girls and be a role model. If you want something, you should go after it and not give up.”

Jane hopes to become a Broadway star. She is appearing in Act One Theatre’s “Willy Wonka” production and is a finalist tonight in the Kean Quest Talent Search at the Kean Theatre in Richland.

“I think I have a lot more courage in myself since I was selected [for the Leadership Summit],” she said. “It gives me the courage to try new things.”

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