John Carroll Math Teacher Jean Willan, Student Claire Zurkowski Honored with William J. Sacco Awards

From The John Carroll School:

On March 10, 2013, John Carroll School Mathematics teacher Mrs. Jean Willan and student Claire Zurkowski, ‘13 were honored with awards presented by The William J. Sacco Critical Thinking Foundation.

At a dinner hosted by Dr. John Kutcher, President and CEO of Digital Innovations, and others from the Foundation, Mrs. Willan received by The William J. Sacco Mathematics Educator Award, “presented to an outstanding high school mathematics educator who demonstrates exceptional mentoring skills, creative teaching methods, and success in incorporating real-world applications into the classroom.” Established in 2012, the award honors Dr. Sacco’s life and work by recognizing outstanding mathematics teachers in Harford County.

Following the teacher honors, a student from each Harford County high school was awarded a $500 scholarship for demonstrating “Excellence in Applied Mathematics.” The final award of the evening went to the “2013 William J. Sacco Mathematics Student of the Year,” an award which included a $3000 scholarship to the college of choice. John Carroll Senior Claire Zurkowski won not only the $500 scholarship, but also the top award “in recognition of her mastery of mathematics, demonstrated leadership, innovation and creativity in the classroom, and dedication to life-long learning.”

Dr. William Sacco was a pioneer in trauma registry research, making key contributions to the development of trauma severity scores with applications to patient triage, tracking, and outcomes evaluation, from the earliest days of trauma registries. Dr. Sacco was a co-developer of TRISS, a chief research consultant for the American College of Surgeons Major Trauma Outcome Study, and a prolific author, writing over fifteen books and two hundred papers in the fields of trauma analysis, research, and applied mathematics. The William J. Sacco Critical Thinking Foundation was established in July 2011 to honor and continue forward the life’s work of Dr. William J. Sacco.