2026 Sacco Award Recap

Witness the academic achievement celebrated at the 2026 Sacco Awards

William J. Sacco Foundation

Dr. William J. Sacco was a pioneer in trauma registry research as the Co-developer of the Trauma and Injury Severity Score. He also served as the chief research consultant for the American College of Surgeons Major Trauma Outcome Study and honorary fellow of the American Association for the Surgery of Trauma. In his lifetime, Dr. Sacco published over 15 books and 200 papers papers, solidifying his reputation as one of the greatest experts in the trauma field. 

The William J. Sacco Critical Thinking Foundation was established in July 2011 to honor and continue the life’s work of Dr. William J. Sacco. The Foundation was organized by Sacco protégé, Dr. John F. Kutcher with the support of a legion of Bill’s long-time friends, colleagues, and proteges including executive board members Ron Dove and Mark Stega. In 2004, the foundation would award two William J. Sacco Awards to a student at Bel Air High School and C. Milton Wright High School as an annual scholarship to graduating seniors who demonstrated excellence in the areas of applied mathematics and critical thinking. Since then, the foundation has grown significantly and students and teachers from every high school in Harford Country, Maryland are now eligible to receive awards. In 2012 the foundation held their first ever Sacco Banquet and it has been an annual tradition ever since! As of now, the Sacco Foundation has awarded over $150,000 in scholarships to students and over $14,000 to educators. 

Awards

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Excellence in Applied Mathematics

The William J. Sacco Award for Excellence in Applied Mathematics aims to recognize students with high aptitude in mathematics and critical thinking. High school seniors in any Harford County public school are eligible to apply and up to 13 are chosen. Each school selects one student as their institutions Math Student of the Year. All 13 of those students are then considered for the overall Math Student of the Year Award with one eventually being chosen by the Sacco association and awarded a $1,500 scholarship.

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Community Award

The Community Award recognizes students who demonstrate leadership and initiative in advancing mathematics in their schools and communities. The award focuses on students who help others in the classroom, found a math club, or demonstrate dedication to tutoring and sharing knowledge. Eligible students include seniors from any high school in Harford County with one student being awarded the $750 scholarship. The Community Award is sponsored by The Society of Italian American Businessmen, pictured on the left and right. 

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Mike Franklin Computing Award

The Mike Franklin Computing Award was created with the goal of recognize and reward outstanding students and educators in the field of computer programming in honor of the late Mike Franklin. Mike Franklin was an accomplished software engineer who was given his first computer programming opportunity as a teenager working on software systems. Throughout his 15-year career, Mike would continue to advance in the field, eventually becoming a lead software engineer on his company’s flagship products. The Computing Award aims to inspire youth to reach their full potential as well as recognize the educators who guide them in their computing endeavors. Both seniors and educators from any Harford County public high school are eligible. Each year, one educator is rewarded a $250 prize and one student is chosen and rewarded with a scholarship of $500. 

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Mathematics Educator Award

The William J. Sacco Mathematics Educator Award recognizes noteworthy mathematics teachers carrying on Dr. Sacco’s legacy of creative teaching and passion for mentoring students. Any high school mathematics teacher currently in a Harford County high school is eligible for the award, with a winner being chosen from each school. This year, all of the winning teachers received a $100 gift card for their hard work. An overall winner is chosen and awarded the title of Math Teacher of the Year with a prize of $500. 

Event Recap

The Atmosphere

The Banquet brought together close to 100 students, educators, and other members of the community to honor excellence in mathematics, computer science, and critical thinking. Upon arrival the guests were warmly welcomed by one of the hosts of the night, Sue Kutcher. They were then greeted with their name tags and a program for the nights events before being directed towards the events central location where they could have a seat with their friends and families. In addition to the award ceremony, the Sacco Banquet included a sensational Italian dinner with the choice of pasta, meatballs, salad, dip, and a variety of drink options for the attendees. After getting food the guests were able to sit down and socialize with the other guests at tables around the room, creating a warm and welcoming start to the evening. This atmosphere was accompanied by live music performed by a talented guitarist. 

Entertainment

While socializing, the guests had the option to partake in several activities set up around the room. The first of these activities included a math themed sip and solve crossword puzzle and a photo booth with a variety of accessories. The sip and solve offered an engaging collaborative activity for some of Harford County's brightest, guests repeatedly visited the table throughout the evening to see how much progress had been made. Prior to the award ceremony portion of the evening, the guests were instructed to form teams for the next activity: Sacco Olympiad. The Sacco Olympiad gave teams two math problems to solve within 20 minutes. The guests were incredibly engaged in the activity as they worked together to find the best solution while not revealing their answers to nearby teams. The activity was a remarkable demonstration of the mathematical and critical thinking skills the banquet was celebrating. 

Award Ceremony

The evening came to an end with the award ceremony which brought the guests together to celebrate the exemplary achievements of their fellow guests. All of the student and educator winners were adequately celebrated before the celebration shifted to the individual award winners. Highlights of the ceremony included Nara Anusonti-Inthra from the Science and Mathematics Academy being named Mathematics Student of the Year with Tammy Webber from Aberdeen High School being awarded the educator equivalent. Emma Shook of Bel Air High School was awarded the Community Award while Seth Blood and Robert Scott from Havre de Grace High School were respectively awarded the student and educator Mike Franklin Computing Awards. John Kutcher encourages all the winners to give back, use their skills, and be leaders, pushing themselves in life even though they can coast. 

Mathematics Student of the Year

Click on a student's name for more information

Community Award Winner

Click on a student's name for more information

Mike Franklin Award Winners

Click on a student's name for more information
Seth Blood
Havre de Grace High School
Robert Scott
Havre de Grace High School

Mathematics Educator Award Winners

Stephan Bitel
Bel Air High School
Lisa Smith
C. Milton Wright High School
Tabitha Sauer
Edgewood High School
Patricia Meyer
Fallston High School
Megan Weber
Harford Technical High School
Colleen Christian
Havre de Grace High School
Teresa Pleiss
The John Carroll School
Emily Richards
Joppatowne High School
William Wardle
North Harford High School
Lucus Daniel
Patterson Mill High School

Mathematics Educator of the Year

Tammy Webber
Aberdeen High School

Sponsors

Learn more about the sponsors who made this event possible!

The Society of Italian American Businessmen

The Society of Italian American Businessmen believe the bonds of our heritage bring us together to be a part of something bigger than ourselves as individuals for the common cause of promoting Italian culture and raising money for other 501c3 organizations in Maryland. Their charitable giving focuses on the areas of education, family and child services, mental health, and addiction with hopes to expand their charitable initiatives around the world. 

The Kutcher Foundation

The Kutcher Foundation is a 501(c)(3) private operating foundation. They run a variety of innovative community charitable programs that promote youth development, mentoring, and making a difference in the world. The foundation also partners with other local and national charitable programs with shared operating objectives. The foundation facilitates its own programs within Harford County and Baltimore, Maryland to aid in their central mission. 

Lib's Catering

In 2022, Lib’s Grill and Liberatore’s merged to form Lib’s Catering. Lib's Catering prides themselves on being "Good People, Serving Good Food to Other Good People". They focus their efforts on unmatched hospitality in an effort to create lasting experiences. Their team  emphasizes chef inspired cuisines, opening their menu to a variety of inspirations to create the ultimate dining event. By expanding past our brick and mortar restaurants they have been able to broaden their community reach and truly entrench themselves throughout the Maryland area.

DICORP Inc.

DICORP is a family of generationally-controlled companies & nonprofits founded on a tradition of innovation & stewardship. DICORP works to combine deep technical expertise with a purpose-driven mission to create, sustain, and support ventures that strengthen organizations and expand human potential. Their central missions focus on technology, trauma, community, and education. 

Fallston High School

Fallston High School is the amalgamation of tradition, excellence, and community. At Fallston High School, their passionate teachers and remarkable students create an environment that inspires learning, leadership, and pride, setting the standard for success across Harford County.

Frank Hajek & Associates

Frank Hajek & Associates are a full service accounting firm dedicated to demonstrating professional excellence in fields of accounting, compilations, reviews, auditing, tax and business service. They focus on detail, accuracy while complying with standard accounting principles and tax law to provide superior service for all their clients. It is the mission of their firm to provide pro-active and prospective service in order to maximize their clienteles benefits. 

ZPD Solutions

ZPD Solutions was founded in 2019 as a technology and coordination services organization focused on mission-driven sectors. Over time, that work increasingly intersected with trauma data and the challenge of maintaining continuity with registry transitions and evolving reporting standards. At ZPD Solutions, they operate as a services & standards organization that stabilizes and strengthens the trauma data ecosystem. They hope to cultivate an ecosystem where every program regardless of registry vendor, data history, or internal resources—has continuous access to the insights, tools, and support to make data‑driven improvements and ultimately achieve Zero Preventable Deaths.

Anvilor

Anvilor is a software company that utilizes its advanced technology platform to provide organizations with digital fundraising and management solutions. They aim to provide a foundation for powerful solutions to fuel individual organizations.

Oliver & Grimsley, LLC

Lawyers at Oliver & Grimsley, LLC combine over 60 years of experience in corporate and business transactions, patent, copyright, trademark, licensing, internet, privacy, advertising, entertainment, corporate, entrepreneurship, investing, technology and related legal areas. They love helping their clients navigate legal issues and work well with their clients’ business teams. They have personally seen how inefficient allocation of lawyers can cause undue expense and pride themselves on eliminating that expense. 

Technology 4 Causes

The mission of Technology 4 Causes (T4C) is to support specialized assistance programs and charitable initiatives, expanding their positive impact through the multiplying powers of technology, networking, and collaboration. Technology 4 Causes aims to operate numerous Mentoring Programs, Technology Assistance Programs, Sports 4 Causes Programs, and Helping Hubs. The combination of these initiatives create a powerful multiplying effect for all T4C activities powered by a common technology platform and philanthropic infrastructure. 

Individual Sponsors

Learn more about the people who made this event possible!
Roger and Simone Farley
The White Family
The Dove Family
Bob and Gilly Babb
Chris and Jen Renner
Shane Schisler