Allison Marie Redden, daughter of Jennifer Blau Redden and Mark Redden and Justin Robert Peluso, son of Christopher and Angela Peluso, both students of Demossville, have been selected as the recipients of the 2021 Phillip Sharp Family Scholarship and the Class of 1962 Scholarship.
Allison Redden, as the recipient of the Sharp Family Scholarship, has excelled academically, and she has placed an emphasis on math and science with sixteen honors, dual credit and advanced placement/college classes. She is well rounded in both extra-curricular organizations and athletics which include membership on the track and field, soccer and tennis teams; serving as a Student Council officer organizing Red Ribbon Week, planning blood drives and Homecoming festivities, serving as president of the CATfish Scuba Club, participating in the Kentucky United Nations Assembly, serving on the yearbook staff as editor, Teen Court, Academic Team, and working on many community projects through her leadership in National Honor Society. Allison also capably planned and implemented a local town hall meeting. She currently works part-time as a student reporter for The Falmouth Outlook and does babysitting. Allison is one of five children, ages 13-17, in the Redden Family.
One of Allison’s teachers commented, “Taking advantage of every learning opportunity both inside and outside of the classroom, Allison possesses an incredible work ethic and dedication. I am confident she will use these assets to succeed at the next level.”
In her personal essay, Allison shared her interest in becoming a dentist and working to correct the economic and geographical inequalities that rural areas face in bringing health care professionals to their community. She hopes to enroll in Smile and Dentists without Borders as she pursues a career in Public Health Sciences, Pre-Dental. Her goal is to work in a small-town practice, administering quality dental care to those in need. She has been accepted as a finalist in the University of Louisville ULEAD program, which guarantees acceptance to dental school after undergraduate school. In addition, she has applied at several other prestigious universities.
The recipient of the Sharp Class of 1962 Scholarship, Justin Peluso, has maintained a top GPA which includes fifteen honors, advanced placement and dual credit college classes. He has excelled outside the classroom with a variety of activities which include Student Council, first chair/section leader of the Pendleton High School Band, Select Band, candidate for All-State Band, National Honor Society, volunteering at River Valley Nursing Home and St. Francis Xavier Church. Justin has volunteered at A Kid Again and the Down Syndrome Association of Greater Cincinnati. Since 2019, Justin has been employed at the Walton Kroger Marketplace where he has been a clerk and is presently a manager and dedicated member of the Promise Team. During the pandemic, he maintained a perfect attendance work schedule and was part of a select team who revamped the entire grocery pick up system.
One of his teachers commented, “He is a pleasure to have in class, coming each day with a positive attitude, ready to learn, making sure he understands the difficult material. He is an outstanding young man with a bright future.”
In a personal essay, Justin shared that he has been surrounded by medicine his entire life. Justin is a twin and a member of a family of eight. He has a sister with Down’s Syndrome and leukemia and through many doctor’s visits with her, he realized the need for specialists and the importance of improving existing medical practices. Wanting to give back to families in his local area, Justin plans to major in biology with a cellular/molecular track at Northern Kentucky University and later attend medical school, specializing in anesthesiology.
The Sharp Scholarships, established in 2011 by Dr. and Mrs. Phillip Sharp, aid Pendleton High School students who attend a four-year resident college or university and major in science, mathematics, engineering, medicine or a related major. The scholarships, managed by the Pendleton County Education Foundation, are valued at $6,000 per year for a total commitment of $24,000. Dr. Sharp, a Pendleton County native, was the recipient of the 1993 Nobel Prize in Physiology/Medicine. Currently an Institute Professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, MA, he is known as a world leader of research in molecular biology and biochemistry. As of 2021, twenty-one Pendleton County students have been recipients of Sharp Scholarships.
Redden and Peluso selected for 2021 Sharp scholarships
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