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Teen of the Week: Lesher excels on stage at South to be able to excel in neurology

By Brett Dunlap 7 min read

PARKERSBURG - Being involved in theater at Parkersburg South High School has allowed senior Chloe Lesher to build a collaborative foundation she feels will help her excel in the field of Neurology.

The 17-year-old senior will be appearing this weekend in South's production of "Dracula" where she will be playing the part of Mina Harker.

"I am excited about that," Lesher said. "When she was in 8th grade she saw a stage production of `Beauty and the Beast' that South put on. I thought it was really good. I loved it. Some of my friends did theater and I just thought it would be so fun and I wanted to try it out."

Her freshman year she auditioned for a role in "A Christmas Story" which she got to do and has done every show since.

"Dracula" is the 10th show she has been a part of since her freshman year. She has played Chudney Windome, the antagonist, in "Legally Blonde" and Kaa the snake in "The Jungle Book."

She hasn't always acted as she has been involved with the stage crew behind the scenes for the South productions of "Momma Mia," "The Little Shop of Horrors" and more.

"I have done a lot of things," Lesher said.

Last year, she got to direct a once-act play for the West Virginia Thespian Festival where they won the Outstanding One-Act Play Award for the comedy "Um...I think the Psych Teacher is Dead."

"Theater is an opportunity to be able to work as a community," Lesher said. "There are so many parts that we have to work together as students.

"There are a lot of opportunities to be a leader to do what you can to help things move smoothly along. I just feel drawn to leadership positions. It is something that I am passionate about."

Through working together with other people, contributing and being open to new ideas and then having it all come together on stage.

"It is something when we get a show pulled together, it opens and everyone goes `It was so good,'" she said. "You feel like you did your part to make it happen."

Mina Harker is Lesher's first big main role.

"It is new to me with a lot of lines to learn," she said. "I think her character is an interesting exploration of what it means to accept yourself for what you truly are and not repress parts of yourself just to please other people."

The chance to direct a one-act play last year was very thrilling for her even though it was "a one and done" opportunity. She got to see everything come to life on stage.

"I got a hold of the script first and I got to read it," she said. "I got a vision of it in my mind of what it would look like."

Many of the actors in the production were already friends of hers and she became friends with the other actors as well while they were working on it.

"I was able to watch them make interesting choices and do things that I didn't initially think of, but that I thought was really good," she said. "It was very exciting and, not to sound corny, magical, to see everyone bring their own talent to the table."

In the grand scheme of things, she said she likes acting a lot as it is more fun.

"I think that is very interesting to me," Lesher said.

She is also part of the Mat Maids for South's Wrestling Team, a group of scorekeepers It was something that a friend asked her to be a part of , along with some other girls, but she ended up as the one to actually do it from her group.

"I thought it was so fun," Lesher said. "I feel like such a nerd because it is fun doing math. I like doing it and have kept doing it."

She ended up making friends with the other girls involved with it.

Lesher is also involved in the Senior Class Cabinet where she is expecting to be elected president. Each class has their own cabinet which picks the senior colors, chooses the senior motto, decides on a class flag and organizes other traditions like the class Christmas Tree, a Fall Bulletin Board detailing what the seniors are thankful for and more.

"We do things that are specific to our class," she said.

Lesher was recently accepted to West Virginia University to study neuroscience for her undergrad work. "I want to go there for medical school and become a neurologist," she said. "That is my plan."

WVU is doing research on substance abuse disorder and how it might be fixed neurologically.

"They are doing really advanced research on it and I really want to go and be a part of that," she said of people close to her who have been impacted by substance abuse. "I am drawn to that."

She is currently taking AP calculus, AP U.S. Government and Politics and AP Literature and Composition. She is also taking one dual credit course of Human Anatomy 108 through WVU-P.

Lesher was recently named as a semifinalist in the 72nd annual National Merit Scholarship Program where she is competing for one of about 6,700 scholarships worth approximately $24 million that will be offered next spring, according to a press release from the organization.

As with anything in life, Lesher needs other interests to keep her grounded and whole away from the usual demands of school.

The Mat Maids is something she does for fun.

"It is good to have some things that aren't super hard," she said. "My courses at school are a lot because I am doing pre-med.

"It is nice to be able to do something after school that brings me joy and isn't something that is a stressor."

She also likes to draw and do studio art. She really enjoys doing portraits of people. She won second-place for art at the 2025 Wood Whispers reception in Spring 2025

"It is something I have done for a hobby since I was a little kid," Lesher said. The summer after her sophomore year she went to the Governor's School for the Arts where she had a lot of fun there.

"It is something I do just for leisure," she said. "It brings me joy and it is a good way to be self-expressive."

Although she enjoys it a lot, she was not able to fit an art class into her schedule at school, but she has entered the school's art show and other art shows in the community.

"I do a lot of digital art on my iPad," Lesher said. "I like doing painting and oil pastels. I just like to draw."

Her time in theater is helping her to be able to work as part of a group and cooperate and collaborate with others to accomplish certain goals which she feels will help her as a neurologist doing research.

"With theater, we have all kinds of groups involved, the stage techs, costumers, makeup people and actors," she said. "To be able to work within those groups, be able to coordinate and make sure things get done efficiently is an important skill that theater helps me with.

"Working as a doctor, there is a whole team of people that you have to coordinate with and make decisions with as well as having to coordinate with different departments in hospitals."

Having interests outside of work helps keep her connected to the world around her.

"That is important in healthcare to compartmentalize," Lesher said. "It is important to separate work, home and having fun. You don't have to be wrapped up in your career all the time. You can get burnt out easily.

It is important to have different interests and to be able to do something just for yourself."

Lesher is the daughter of Stacey and Traci Lesher, sister to Marlee and two half-siblings Jarvis Starcher and Kirsten Starcher.

Contact Brett Dunlap at bdunlap@newsandsentinel.com

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