Carol Stream teacher honored with Presidential Award for Excellence in Math and Science Teaching

President Biden recently announced 336 teachers and mentors from around the nation as recipients of the Presidential Awards for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching (PAEMST) and the Presidential Awards for Excellence in Science, Mathematics, and Engineering Mentoring (PAESMEM).

These awards honor the vital role that America’s teachers and mentors play in shaping the next generation of technical leaders, including scientists, engineers, explorers, and innovators.

Anita F. Debarlaben of Carol Stream became a PAEMST finalist while teaching computer science at Loyola Academy in Wilmette.

It was a tough year with COVID still lingering but she pressed on with teaching with half the students in the classroom and half the students on Zoom. It took a lot of creativity and it was challenging but nothing could stand in the way of her passion and drive.

After five months of videotaping her class, examining her own teaching style and writing on five different dimensions, she submitted her application on April 1, 2021.

Each state submits up to three winners in math and three winners in science to the White House. She was one of the state finalists chosen out of hundreds of entries to represent the state of Illinois at the national level. Other Illinois recipients of the Presidential Award for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching include: Nina Hike, John O’Malley IV, Kelly Pelak, and Marianna Ruggerio.

Debarlaben will receive a certificate signed by the President, a trip to the White House, and a check for $10,000. She had hundreds of students, friends and family member supporting her but her biggest supporters were her husband, Jeffery Allen Brown, and her mentor David Sladkey of Naperville, Illinois.

To read the White House news release, go to www.whitehouse.gov.