BUFFALO, N.Y. — Video games. Sports. The mall. Just hanging out with friends.  Some of the ways many kids spend their summers off from school.

But a pair of girls from Cheektowaga have been putting in the work to help restore one of Buffalo's most famous buildings.

Jayla Baldenegro, 14, and Natalie Horner, 12, have spent their summer volunteering at the iconic Shea's Performing Arts Center on Main Street.

"It's just something to do for me. It keeps me busy," Jayla said. "I just like the work of it. I like to accomplish things."

She moved from Arizona to Cheektowaga with her family last year.  Doris Collins, a family friend, who also happens to be the restoration consultant at Shea's, invited Jayla to join her.

"It's very different. Being from Arizona I've never seen anything like it. It's very original. It's just so cool," Jayla said.

Collins was impressed with Jayla's willingness to try something new.

"She really took to it. She put her hand to whatever I showed her almost immediately," Collins said.

This summer Jayla's had a hand from a friend and neighbor.

Natalie, an admitted perfectionist, joined the team. Three days a week for about six hours a day, the two take on a a series of jobs at Shea's, from stenciling in the theare, to re-painting the box office, even repair work on the walls in the 92-year-old theatre.

Natalie, a soon-to-be 8th grader at John F. Kennedy Middle School, never imagined this is how she'd use her summer break.

"We had to put in joint compound and make sure it had a texture so it could look like all of the other textured walls in here," she said.

While their summertime activities are certainly not typical, the lessons they have learned could go a long way for the pair even though they're yet to start high school.

"I think I want to be an interior designer. So this will help me along the way with that," said Jayla, who will attend John F. Kennedy High School this year.

Both young women have shown wisdom well beyond their years as they help preserve of one of Western New York's treasures.

"Keeping it up for my generation will look good for every other generation that comes in," Natalie said. "Fixing it and restoring it to the way it looked."