Westheimer Prize
Each year, Park School sophomores and juniors are invited to apply for the Westheimer Prize. This award provides students – who could otherwise not afford the opportunity – with financial support for work, study, or service abroad during the summer. Prize winners are randomly selected from a pool of accepted applicants each January. Upon their return, Prize recipients share their experiences with the Upper School student body at a special assembly.
Since 2006, the Westheimer Prize has been made available by alumna Pat Westheimer ’61. Pat created this prize out of her deep conviction that spending time overseas is a valuable component of a well-rounded education.
After graduating from Goucher College, Pat returned to Park and taught English in the Upper School for three years before moving to California, where she continued teaching English. In 1991, Pat moved to Lisbon, Portugal, where the former Postscript editor wrote a regular column and feature articles for The Portugal News, the largest English language newspaper in the country, and editorials for her hometown Boletim Municipal Cascais. She also trained international students in writing skills and coached them for the SAT and TOEFL examinations. Pat passed away in 2016.
In order to ensure that the Westheimer Prize would continue to impact the lives of Park students even after Pat herself could not be here to shepherd the program, she made a bequest to permanently endow a fund for the Westheimer Prize.
We are deeply thankful for Pat’s vision, foresight, and generosity. She has ensured that the Westheimer Prize will be broadening minds and shaping global citizens for generations to come.
2024 Westheimer Prize Application
Past Westheimer Recipients
Summer 2023
Nathan Makowka ’24 • Poland
Nate Seligson ’24 • Peru
Summer 2022
Darryl France ’22 • Accra, Ghana
Margot Kohn ’24 • South Africa
Skyler Redmond-Hoel ’24 • Galapagos Islands
Summer 2021
Aidan Connors ’22 • Northern Ireland
Summer 2020
Cheo Lichtenstein ’21 • Belize
Summer 2019
Mora Perl ’20 • Costa Rica
Summer 2018
Rachael Devecka ’19 • Mexico
Sam Cochran ’20 • Peru
Summer 2017
Anna Connors ’19 • South Africa
Luke Pound ’18 • Argentina
Summer 2016
Michaela Hawley ’18 • Prague
Yifei He ’18 • Italy and Switzerland
Summer 2015
Clare Chalkley ’16 • Ireland
Tyler Johnson ’17 • Paris
Summer 2014
Zoe Feldman ’15 • Portugal
Magdalen Wulf ’15 • El Camino de Santiago
Summer 2013
Lorenza Ramirez ’14 • Italy
Eva Schneiderman ’15 • Peru
Summer 2012
Jewel Chiosi ’14 • Thailand
Alicia Hecner ’14 • Ukraine
Summer 2011
RJ Gitter ’12 • Brazil
Jordan Williams ’12 • France
Summer 2010
Alex Marion ’12 • Galapagos and Ecuador
Becca Lane ’12 • Peru
Summer 2009
Christina Cubera ’10 • Ghana
Julia Schneiderman ’11 • England
Summer 2008
Becca Althauser ’09 • Thailand
Bradley Williams ’09 • Japan
Summer 2007
Claire Ellwanger ’08 • Mozambique
Shomari Rose ’08 • Spain
