Faculty Directory

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. Brian Bernhardt, Humanities & Theology

    Mr. Brian Bernhardt is originally from Bloomington, Illinois, and is the youngest of four siblings. He discerned religious life in college before receiving his Bachelor of Arts degree in Philosophy from Franciscan University of Steubenville. After college, Mr. Bernhardt and his wife, Courtney, served as FOCUS missionaries for two years, before going into teaching for the past three years. Mr. Bernhardt recently completed a Master of Arts degree in Theology from the Augustine Institute. Mr. and Mrs. Bernhardt will be married for five years in August and are blessed with their daughter, Thérèse. Mr. Bernhardt loves soccer and all sports, being outside in any form, and a good night of Euchre or board games.

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • Mrs. Mary Beth Knott, Fine Arts

    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.

  • Mr. Paul Rupert, Humanities, Latin, Science

    Mr. Paul Rupert is native to the Diocese of Peoria and attended St. Vincent de Paul school, Seton Home Study, and Chesterton Academy of the Sacred Heart. Mr. Rupert received the bachelor's degree in philosophy from Immaculate Heart of Mary Seminary at St. Mary’s University of Minnesota as a diocesan seminarian before exiting formation. Mr. Rupert has been teaching at St. Mark's School in Peoria, where he has assisted in the revitalization of the science program. Mr. Rupert and his family are parishioners at Sacred Heart Church in downtown Peoria. Mr. Rupert is very excited to return to the school that helped launch his forays into philosophy and encouraged his faith.

  • Miss Taryn Watkins, Fine Arts

    Taryn Watkins is a Consecrated Virgin for the Diocese of Peoria, an ancient spousal vocation to Jesus Christ as lived by the Saints Lucy, Agnes, Cecilia, Agatha and others. She has walked about 2000 miles while on pilgrimage, but is still intent on the real pilgrimage toward the heavenly Jerusalem. While on her first pilgrimage in college and going to Adoration, she first understood the reality and Presence of Jesus in the Eucharist. Since then it has been one adventure after another. She is currently an artist and a teacher of art at St. Philomena and Chesterton Academy in Peoria.