Anita Debarlaben Wilmette, IL | 7-12, Mathematics, 2021

The official biography below was current at the time of the award.

Anita F. Debarlaben has been a second career educator for 14 years. She is currently an Adjunct Professor in Computer Science (CS) at the Illinois Institute of Technology. Prior to this, she taught high school CS at University of Chicago Laboratory Schools, high school mathematics and CS at Loyola Academy as a tenured teacher, and dual-credit CS at Sarah E. Goode STEM Academy. At the start of her career, Anita worked in high-need alternative education high schools, including the Academy of Scholastic Achievement, the Glenbard District 87 Directions, and Quad County Urban League. She helped design a mathematics bingo game to address mathematics skills deficiencies. The game led to an increase in enthusiasm and test scores. Each year in her high school classroom, she brought in speakers with an array of skills to show her students real-life applications for CS and mathematics. She was active in afterschool programs, including coaching Robotics Club. Anita is the Vice President for the Suburban Chicago Computer Science Teaching Association (CSTA). She wrote an article titled “Developing Mental Toughness for STEM Retention”, which the CSTA published. Anita earned a B.S. in electrical engineering from Ohio State University and an M.S. in computer science from Illinois Tech. She wrote software for over 18 years and then earned her teacher certificate for mathematics and CS from Benedictine University.

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