Catching up with LI's TeenNick HALO winner

On Aug. 26, TeenNick will begin airing an update on HALO Award recipient and 2010 Smithtown High School West graduate Leah Stoltz. This two-minute video will air intermittently between Aug. 26 and Sept. 26.

Stoltz was diagnosed with scoliosis - curvature of the spine - at the age of 11. For two years, she wore a corset-shaped hard plastic shell brace basically around the clock, and then she had surgery that's left her with two titanium rods and 22 screws in her back.

When Stoltz was 13 she started a support group on Long Island called "The Curvy Girls" to help affected girls feel less self-conscious. Stoltz was lauded in the inaugural TeenNick HALO Awards Show, a program that aired in December 2009 honoring four teens "Helping and Leading Others" across the country.