Joining Parker’s array of teachers this year is Brianna Ifft, a former software engineer at Bank of America. Ifft, Parker’s new full-time computer science teacher, fills the vacancy left by former computer science teacher Aaron Lee.

Ifft, born in Forrest, IL., a small town in Central Illinois with a population of about 1,100, grew up on a farm. She attended Prairie Central High School in Fairbury, IL., where her passion for computer science was born.

When Ifft started high school she did not have any particular interest in computer science. “I think when I went into high school, my desired career was a neurosurgeon,” Ifft said. “I think I just watched medical shows, I was like, ‘Oh, that’s really cool.’” But after beginning high school, she discovered math and reconsidered becoming a surgeon.

Ifft attributes her interest in computer science to opportunities afforded to her in high school — an uncommon profession in her mostly agricultural small town. “The idea to me from going from that to … studying computer science in college, there’s a really big disconnect,” Ifft said. “What got me into it is that I got to take some classes in high school.”

She also credits her high school computer science teacher’s motivation and support for her computer science career. “My high school computer science teacher, she really encouraged me to keep pursuing it. She helped me find classes at the local community college to take when I ran out of classes in computer science to take at my high school,” Ifft said. 

After graduating high school, Ifft attended the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, where she received her B.S. in computer science. At a college job fair, Ifft was offered an internship at Bank of America.

“I ended up getting in line for Bank of America, because it was the shortest line. That’s literally why I got in that line,” Ifft said. “And they ended up offering me an interview the next day, and I interviewed with them, and then ended up interning with them that summer.”

After Ifft graduated, she went to work full-time for Bank of America as a software engineer. But, says Ifft, “that wasn’t like my dream going into college. It just kind of happened.”

While at Bank of America, Ifft began to discover her true passion, teaching and working with kids, while also learning about the industry. “While I did kind of just end up there, I learned so much there over the course of three years, and am so thankful for that chapter of my journey. I don’t think I would be the teacher I’m going to be without it,” Ifft said.

In college and after Ifft volunteered her time with a number of organizations. “I was really involved with Women in Computer Science, and I was on their board as the Outreach Chair,” Ifft said. “I also volunteered with Girls Who Code, another organization.” Ifft continued her outreach work with Girls Who Code through her full time job with Bank of America, who partners with the organization.

After three years as a software engineer at Bank of America, Ifft began to reconsider her career path. “As I was trying to decide, you know, if I wanted to leave my job, if I wanted to go into teaching, I kind of took a step back and looked at my journey, I guess, thus far,” Ifft said. “And the points that stuck out to me were all the times I got to educate those students, and coworkers at the Bank.”

Ifft looked back on her career up to that point, and reflected on what she appreciated most. “So I was considering, do I want to take this jump? It’s scary. My pay is gonna get cut by a lot. You know, all the things you have to consider. I kind of looked back and realized all the highlights that I really have enjoyed,” she said. “ … So I think it just became more and more clear — this is what I’m really passionate about. And this is what I want to do full time.”

When Ifft began searching for a teaching position in early spring, she was drawn to Parker’s goals for an “individualized education,” she said. “I think technology and computer science really lends itself to that … you give a student the tools they need to create something, and they can create something that’s really aligned to whatever they’re passionate about.”

According to ILIS department head Annette Lesak, Ifft will begin her first semester teaching two sections of Computer Programming 1, Physical Computing, and Robotics, followed by Computer Programming 1, Computer Programming 2, and Mobile App Development in the spring.

In addition to Ifft coming to Parker as a new computer science teacher, former Lower and Intermediate School Technology Assistant Seth Bacon is joining the high school as a full time teacher in a new position created this year, known as the Middle School and Upper School Technology and Innovation Teacher.

According to Lesak, the ILIS department had been asking for a second computer science teacher for a number of years, and the position is a “nice compromise.”

Previously, Bacon was “just the person in the computer lab,” as he put it, but as the role of technology in schools changed, Bacon began to work with Lower and Intermediate school teachers to integrate tech into their classes and curriculum.

“I’m going to be teaching a couple classes,” Bacon said, “and then with the rest of my time I’m going to be doing tech integration and working with Middle School and Upper School teachers. So in a way it’s a lot like doing the things that I would do in my old role. I’m just going to be doing it with older students, which I’m really excited about.”

Bacon will teach two sections of Computer Programming 1 to cut down on class sizes, which was an issue brought up by Lesak when the class was taught by Lee. He is also teaching a new class, Project Invent, a STEM-related club created last year, headed by Lesak, which she thought better suited the amount of time dedication a class can provide for students.

“I’ve always been really passionate about that and excited to kind of put that to use. And so it kind of slowly dawned on me that this is kind of my dream job with the dual roles, and the explicit programming component, which I’m really excited to get into,” Bacon said.

Ifft and Bacon each feel that they face different challenges coming into a new teaching role, one with years of experience working with young children, and one entering her first teaching job. “I think I have a lot to learn in terms of curriculum development and classroom management, and just making things run smoothly,” Ifft said. “As far as the skill set, I know the field fairly well. It’s just translating that into curriculum and effectively teaching students over the course of a semester.”

Bacon says the biggest challenge he faces is adjusting to being a high school teacher, coming from working with the youngest kids in the building. “Being a high school teacher is something I’m still trying to wrap my mind around as we go into the school year — in a good way,” Bacon said. Although, Bacon feels he has an advantage, as he has worked with a majority of the students currently in the high school during middle school or in after-school programs.

As for the curriculum planned for computer programming classes, Bacon and Ifft are looking to incorporate new ideas to excite students. “There’s obviously core concepts that they need to cover, but maybe … the projects will look different,” Lesak, who met with Ifft and Bacon at Parker in late July to discuss plans, said. “They were talking about things like using a student’s own datasets from Spotify playlists, or TikTok accounts — stuff that has APIs available that you can play with.”

Throughout the coming semester Lesak says she plans to act as a “facilitator” for Bacon and Ifft as they develop their own teaching methods and curriculum. “I have every faith in them,” Lesak said. “I think they’re both really astute and smart, so it’ll be great.”