Lincoln Tech student awarded a scholarship

As long as she can remember, Heather Wilkerson, 18, has watched her father work on cars. By the age of four, she said she was hooked.
On Monday, December 4, Wilkerson was awarded a $7,000 scholarship for her outstanding performance thus far at the recently opened Lincoln Technical Institute in Whitestone to pursue her passion for cars.
The scholarship, a Joseph J. Sanchez Memorial Fund grant given by the National Automobile Dealers Charitable Foundation (NADCF), was presented to the Greater New York Automobile Dealers Association (GNYADA), which in turn selected Lincoln Tech, which picked Wilkerson.
Established in 1985 by the National Automobile Dealers Association (NADA), NADCF hands out one Joseph J. Sanchez scholarship per year in each of the four regions where NADA is located, but a student from New York has not been given the award in several years since recipients are selected from alternating states. The award was named in memory of Sanchez, who served as the Vice President and General Manager of the Oldsmobile Division of General Motors and the first President of the Saturn Corporation.
&#8220On behalf of the Board of Trustees, it is my great pleasure to present this gift to Lincoln Technical Institute and see it given to Heather; a most worthy recipient,” said Robert P. Mallon, Chair of the NADCF.
&#8220[Wilkerson] She is one of a growing number of young women training to enter the automotive industry,” said Sheila Meyer, Chair of the GNYADA. &#8220We know she'll be an enormous asset to any dealership when she graduates.”
Since starting at Lincoln Tech in August 2006, Wilkerson has maintained a nearly perfect (3.9) grade point average, as well as a nearly perfect attendance record.
&#8220Heather Wilkerson describes herself as a perfectionist,” said Mike Mahoney, Director of Education for Lincoln Tech. &#8220We would all have to agree that she's right.”
A Kentucky transplant, who moved with her parents and sister to Bellerose Manor when she was younger, Heather began to help her dad with car repairs in their garage by the time she was 13. Now the father-daughter duo is rebuilding an old Chevy truck and a Fiat convertible, of which Wilkerson keeps photos in her flip cell phone.
&#8220I'd like to thank my dad for showing me what a wrench was,” Wilkerson said, as she accepted a $7,000 check.
&#8220Right now, I believe she is a better mechanic than I am,” her father, Todd, said proudly.
During a short speech, Heather also acknowledged her mother, Heidi, for pushing her to continue her education, and her grandfather, Charles, whose love of cars ignited the same passion in both his son and granddaughter.