OVERVIEW
The McMahon Scholars Program was founded by West Springfield High School alumni Jim and Derek McMahon to help WSHS students achieve their academic and long term career goals. Each year Jim and Derek will focus the award on a department within WSHS that had a meaningful impact on their lives.
THE FOUNDERS
Jim graduated from West Springfield in 2012, completed his undergraduate degree in Finance at George Mason University, and finished his MS in Data Analytics Engineering at George Mason in December 2022. He is currently the Lead Cost Analyst for a United States Army IT program.
While at West Springfield, Jim played football, basketball, and was an editor for the school newspaper. Jim married his wife McKenna in 2020 and is working to visit every National Park with her. In his free time, Jim plays video games, tinkers with Excel, hikes local trails, and works on his house in Lorton, VA.
Derek graduated from West Springfield in 2014 and completed his undergraduate degree in Computer Science at The University of Virginia. He is currently a Software Engineer for Google.
Derek has a long history of academic excellence. He finished at the top of his class at West Springfield, graduated from UVA in three years, and has received numerous merit-based recognitions. In his free time, Derek works on side programming projects, travels, lifts weights, and tries to keep up with Jim in various multiplayer video games.
The Path Forward
The McMahon Scholars Program awarded its fifth and sixth scholarships in May of 2024. Moving forward, Jim and Derek would like to see the program grow through corporate sponsorship with the goal of expanding to larger or additional awards.
In addition to expanding the financial side of the program, the team plans to rotate the award to different departments at West Springfield High School. In 2024, the award was focused on the English department.
McMahon Scholars Program 