WTHS Senior Kayla Webster Awarded the Princeton Prize in Race Relations
Washington Township High School senior Kayla Webster has been named the 2019 Princeton Prize in Race Relations Award Winner for Central and Southern New Jersey. The Princeton Prize, a program sponsored by Princeton University, honors students in grade 9-12 who are doing outstanding work in their schools to advance the cause of race relations. Webster was nominated for the award by WTHS English teacher Melissa Leskie.
The Princeton Prize includes:
- A $1,000 cash award;
- An invitation to an all-expenses paid trip to Princeton University to attend the Princeton Prize National Symposium on Race that will be held during the weekend of April 26, 2019;
- Recognition by the Central /Southern NJ Committee at the official local ceremony during the first week of May.
“We are so incredibly proud of the leadership that Kayla Webster has demonstrated time and again at Washington Township High School,” WTHS principal Jonathan Strout said. “I can say that I personally rely on Kayla regularly to provide me feedback on how we can make our school a better place for all of our students, and she never lets me down. In addition to formal leadership roles she’s earned by helping to formulate the WTHS NAACP chapter and her election to serve as President of our African-American Culture Club, Kayla also has been a critical member of our Student Leadership Team and our No Place for Hate Committee at the high school. Kayla Webster is precisely the kind of young lady that I hope my own daughters grow up to be just like.”
“I nominated Kayla for this honor because of all that I have learned about her character these past two years,” Leskie, a building leader in equity awareness, said. “Kayla believes that she is here to use her voice and give rise to voices that have not been represented in the past. She believes she is here to change the status quo and spark dialogue that fosters change. She believes she has been given the opportunity to create a legacy of diversity and equity - leaving our high school better than how she found it. Kayla personifies the service-minded principles that race relations are built on and has demonstrated her ability as an impactful leader who will most certainly blaze new paths. This nomination was my way of showing her how proud I am and how honored I am to have been a small part of her journey.”
Webster hopes to pursue a degree in biomedical engineering and is awaiting acceptance notifications before making her final college choice.
WTHS senior Kayla Webster (left), the 2019 Princeton Prize in Race Relations Award Winner for Central and Southern New Jersey, poses with English teacher Melissa Leskie, who nominated Kayla for the recognition.