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