Dr. Joshua Russell
Headmaster
Dr. Joshua Russell has served as the Headmaster of Chesterton Academy of the Sacred Heart, in Peoria, Illinois since the school’s founding in 2017 and also holds the position of Academic Dean of the Chesterton Schools Network. In addition to previously serving nearly ten years as a university professor, Joshua performed as a pianist, organist, and conductor throughout the United States and Europe and conducted the world-renowned Petits Chanteurs Haitian boys' choir as a faculty member of the École Sainte Trinite Summer Music Camp for Haitian Youth in Leogane, Haiti. Dr. Russell has spoken at national conferences of the Society of Gilbert Keith Chesterton, the Music Teachers National Association, the College Music Society, and at the Chesterton Schools Network National Summit. His recordings, lectures, and interviews have been broadcast on radio and television stations throughout the United States. A passionate educator in multiple disciplines including music, history, literature, and aviation, Dr. Russell’s students have been prizewinners in national and international piano competitions, have held collegiate teaching positions, have held professional positions in the aviation industry, and have been accepted into prestigious universities throughout the world. Dr. Russell is a member of St. Philomena parish in Peoria, Illinois where he resides with his wife, Anna, and their nine children.
Mr. Patrick Deneen
Humanities & Athletics
Patrick C. Deneen teaches philosophy, history, Latin, PE, and debate at Chesterton Academy of the Sacred Heart as full-time humanities teacher. He also directs the forthcoming athletics program and leads the house system. He studied African American and Diaspora Studies at Vanderbilt University before beginning priestly formation for the Diocese of Peoria at Mount St. Mary's Seminary. There, he began working towards a Master's of the Arts in Philosophical Studies, but left in May to resume exploring and discerning religious life and intellectual apostolate. In his spare time, he enjoys exercising and playing sports, including hurling and Gaelic football, two traditional sports from Ireland, his mother's home country.
Mrs. Anna Ketterling
Latin & Humanities
Mrs. Ketterling is the daughter of a German father and Irish-American mother. Having heard English spoken by her mother and German from her father, she was raised bilingual. Homeschooled throughout her childhood, Anna graduated from the Seton Homeschool of Front Royal, Virginia in 2013. She graduated with her Bachelor's Degree from Bradley University in 2017 with a double major in English and History and a concentration in Creative Writing and received her Master's Degree in English at Bradley University in the spring of 2019. In 2014, Mrs. Ketterling self-published a 600-page fantasy novel about the legends of the Irish tradition called Antirion: The Forgotten Isle with Xlibris publishers and also had a short story accepted to the Santa Fe Writers Journal. In her spare time she enjoys training horses, reading, and honing her home-making skills: cooking, baking bread, knitting, sewing, candle making and soap making.
Dr. Aaron Goldsmith
Math & Science
Dr. Goldsmith earned his PhD in mathematics from Texas A&M in 2015, and recent data shows that he also gravitates toward science documentaries when he is able. He taught a variety of courses in the Departments of Math and Statistics at the University of Wisconsin - Madison, including History of Math and Intro Statistics. When not pondering the mysteries of God’s creation, one might find him playing board games, juggling boomerangs, or traveling by unicycle. He has a beautiful wife and daughter who have been instrumental in forming him into the man he is today.
Mr. Robert Pitts
Theology/Math
Robert Pitts serves as a theology instructor. He is a graduate from Bradley University and a convert to the faith. He teaches CCD and serves in a leadership role at Bradley’s Newman Center. He enjoys reading and playing guitar. He belongs to St. Mark Parish in Peoria, IL.
Mrs. Mary Beth Knott
Art
Mary Beth Knott received the Bachelor of Science in Education from Northern Illinois University with a major in art and a biology teaching minor. She has worked professionally doing brush lettering and commercial art layouts and has exhibited and sold paintings through juried shows, art fairs and private collections. Mrs. Knott formerly taught at Willowbrook High School, Metamora High School, and was a volunteer in the Art Form Program in conjunction with the Art Institute of Chicago. An advocate for classical drawing, her students have won numerous art awards throughout the years. Mrs. Knott incorporates knowledge of brain function into the learning process to allow all students to find the freedom to fulfill their creative potential. Mrs. Knott is a member of St. Luke Catholic Church in Eureka, IL, and utilizes St. Thomas Aquinas’ definition of beauty as “unity, harmony, and radiance” as inspiration in guiding students to create beautiful and meaningful art.
Fr. Hugh Mary
Spiritual Direction and Seminar
Br. Hugh-Mary Garnier de Falletans, born in 1961, is a religious priest, member of the Congregation of Saint-John. Maître in Theology (S.T.L.), he teaches at the novitiate house of the Congregation in Princeville, Illinois, since October 2015. He gives retreats and spiritual talks in the Catholic Diocese of Peoria and outside the state of Illinois. His previous apostolic assignments led br. Hugh-Mary to live in France, Belgium, Mexico and Philippines. He gave sessions and retreats on Religious life, Mariology, encyclicals, Trinitarian Theology, St. John’s Gospel, Book of Revelation, Ethics and First Philosophy. Teacher in philosophy and theology at John Paul II Institute (Studies on Marriage and Family), he taught classes of Natural Theology and Theology of Marriage. He prepared many young couples for the sacrament of Marriage.
Mrs. Erica Higgins
Administrative Assistant
Mrs. Erica Higgins joined Chesterton Academy of the Sacred Heart in August of 2019. Previously she was a full-time mom to her two wonderful children. Mrs. Higgins, a native Ohioan, moved to Peoria in 2017 after living near Minneapolis, Minnesota for about 6 years. In Minnesota Mrs. Higgins taught band and orchestra at Eagle Ridge Academy, another Classical Education school near the twin cities. She holds her bachelors and masters degrees in music education from the University of Toledo and the University of Akron, respectively. She deeply believes in Classical Education for the power it has to teach the whole child and is thrilled to be a small part of the growth of this great school. She and her husband enjoy spending time finding new adventures for their young children and enjoy traveling. Mrs. Higgins converted to the Catholic faith after meeting her husband. She and her family attend St. Jude church in Peoria where she also sings with the choir.