Earning a Presidential Award would mean that I have achieved a level of recognition and respect for the hard work and dedication that I and others have given to the education field. It also would speak volumes to the support, trust, and confidence that others have placed in me. I am humbled and grateful to those who believed in me and encouraged me to pursue such a prestigious award, one that millions of teachers deserve to receive, but only a few will achieve.

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 current 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 diverse speakers with an array of skills to show her students real-life applications for CS and mathematics. She was also active in afterschool programs, including coaching Robotics and Women in STEAM club. She has earned several awards, including the Advanced Placement Computer Science Female Diversity Award, for increasing female enrollment in her CS classes from 10% to almost 50%. Anita is the Vice President for the Suburban Chicago Computer Science Teaching Association (CSTA). She was chosen as a CSTA equity fellow in 2021, which is a year-long program designed to develop leadership in equitable teaching practices and advocacy. 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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