ENDICOTT, NY — A senior from Union-Endicott High School is being honored for her interest in Italian and her academic performance.

Congresswoman Donna Lupardo presented Sheridan Ballard with a three thousand dollar scholarship for his performances inside and outside of school.

The scholarship is sponsored by the New York Conference of Italian-American State Legislators.

Only four New York State students are selected for this scholarship each year. two reward athletic achievement and the other two are academic awards.

Ballard will attend Boston College in the fall and study Mathematical Sciences with a minor in Italian.

Sheridan Ballard, scholarship recipient, says, “I have been studying Italian for almost six years now, and having an Italian teacher who is from Italy has been a really interesting and rewarding experience. And especially living in Endicott, it has been very interesting to learn more about the roots here, in addition to the Italian language.”

Interestingly enough, Ballard has no Italian heritage, but that’s not a prerequisite for the award. She is a member of the Italian Club, Girl Scouts, Key Club, Irish Dancing, YES Safe Choices and EU Orchestra. Ballard says she aims to enter the civil service and become a government statistician.

This is the third year in a row that an EU student has received this scholarship from Italian-American state legislators.