CHESTERTON ACADEMY Founders and Faculty 

The one thing that is never taught by any chance in the atmosphere of public schools is this: that there is a whole truth of things, and that in knowing it and speaking it we are happy. —G.K. Chesterton

Thomas Bengtson – Co-Founder

Tom Bengtson is President of NFR Communications, a publishing company in Minneapolis. Founded in 1992, NFR Communications produces several publications, including the leading trade journal for the banking industry in the Upper Midwest. Tom has written two books: Emerging Son, a memoir published in 2004, and The GEO Principle, a book about living one’s faith in the workplace, scheduled for publication this summer. He serves on the board of directors of the Couple to Couple League for Natural Family Planning, and on the advisory board for Holy Family Academy grade school. Tom has a B.A. from the University of Minnesota and is a 2005 Fellow to the Stonier Graduate School of Banking at Georgetown University. He and his wife Susan have four children; they are members of Holy Family Church in St. Louis Park.

Dale Ahlquist – Co-Founder

Dale Ahlquist is President of the American Chesterton Society, host of the EWTN series “G.K. Chesterton: The Apostle of Common Sense,” and Publisher of Gilbert Magazine. He has written two books on Chesterton, edited three more, and is the Associate Editor of the Collected Works of Chesterton for Ignatius Press. He has been called “one of the most respected Chesterton scholars in the world.” He has lectured at major colleges and universities and other venues, including Yale, Columbia, NYU, Cornell, Rice, the Vatican Forum in Rome, the Thomas More Centre in Melbourne, and at the House of Lords in London. He is a graduate of Carleton College (B.A.) in Northfield, Minnesota, and Hamline University (M.A.) in St. Paul, Minnesota. He and his wife Laura have six children and are members of Holy Family Church in St. Louis Park.

John M. DeJak - Headmaster

John DeJak is the founding Headmaster of the Chesterton Academy.  He is a graduate of Loyola University Chicago where he received a B.A. in Classics.  He received his J.D. from Ave Maria School of Law where he had the privilege of studying under one of the foremost proponents of natural law jurisprudence, Notre Dame Professor Charles E. Rice.  John was a commissioned officer and practiced law in the US Army with the 10th Mountain Division (Light Infantry).  Prior to law school and military service, John taught theology and Latin at Catholic high schools in Chicago and Cleveland.  He credits his love for the classics, Thomas Aquinas, and G.K. Chesterton to his Jesuit professors. John and his wife, Ann, have five children and are members of St. Agnes Church in St. Paul.

CHESTERTON ACADEMY FACULTY

Laura Ahlquist

Laura Ahlquist was born in Treviso, Italy, and grew up in Mexico City. During her youth, she traveled extensively throughout Europe and is proficient in Italian, Spanish, English and French. She received her B.A. from Carleton College where she majored in Music (piano, choir, music history and music theory). She has taught Spanish and Italian with a company specializing in translation and the training of corporate executives doing business in foreign countries. She studied ballet and choreography with a veteran member of the Bolshoi Ballet, which gave her the opportunity to spend ten years teaching and performing Russian Classical Ballet. She has also taught piano. She and her husband Dale have six children and are members of Holy Family Church in St. Louis Park.

Alyssa Bormes

Alyssa Bormes is a popular teacher, speaker, and retreat leader.  She received her B.A. in Psychology from the University of Minnesota.  Under the direction of the late Bishop Paul Dudley, Alyssa received an M.A. in Catholic Studies from the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul Minnesota.  She also studied at the Pontifical University of St. Thomas (The Angelicum) in Rome, Italy.  Her graduate thesis was entitled, “Is Frozen Embryo Adoption Morally Permissible According to Catholic Teaching?” A sought-after speaker on topics of theology and the spiritual life, her gift for analogy reaches people of all ages in unexpected ways. She is completing her first book, The Catechism of Hockey.  Alyssa served as the Director of Religious Education at the Church of St. Peter in North St. Paul.  She is a member of Holy Family Church in St. Louis Park. 

Ann DeJak

Ann DeJak is a wife and homeschooling mother of five.  She earned her B.A. in Liberal Arts from Magdalen College.  She also received a Catechetical Certificate with the approbation of the Sacred Congregation for the Clergy, Rome.  During her undergraduate years, Ann took a one year break from her studies and worked full-time as a member of Collegians Activated to Liberate Life, a pro-life apostolate based in Madison, Wisconsin.  She has taught inner-city youth in Chicago at Metro Achievement Center, a nonprofit educational organization under the direction of the Prelature of Opus Dei.  She also taught theology and was the school choir director at St. Benedict High School in Chicago.  Ann was also a member and later director of a schola cantorum in Ann Arbor, Michigan.  Currently she sings in the Chamber Choir of St. Agnes Church.  She and her family are members of St. Agnes Church in St. Paul.

 

Jean Matheny

Jean Sherlock Matheny began drawing and painting in oils at a very early age. Her work first appeared in publications while she was in her early teens, and she produced a number of highly successful limited-edition art prints while still in high school. She received private instruction from nationally acclaimed artist Ron VanGilder during these years, and afterwards continued her education at Atelier Prohl, a traditional studio-school of drawing and painting. There she studied classical life drawing in pencil and charcoal, plaster cast drawing, and still life.  Jean and her husband Dave (happily married since 1986) are active members of the Twin Cities Chesterton Society. They live in Ramsey, a northern suburb of the Twin Cities, along with one hawk, two cats, and three chickens. Jean's interests include falconry, gardening, and reading. She and Dave have been known to jump out of perfectly good airplanes and regularly fly ultralight aircraft.  Jean's work can be found in collections around the world.  Jean and her husband are members of Holy Family Church in St. Louis Park.

James Mills

James Mills has many years of teaching experience in both formal and informal settings. He has taught at Trivium School in Lancaster, Massachusetts and at Holy Hill in Hubertus, Wisconsin.   He holds a B.A. in Liberal Arts from Thomas Aquinas College in California where he was also valedictorian.  His senior thesis, “On the Ptolemaic Account of the Double Anomaly,” has been included on the college’s list of recommended reference materials to be used by the faculty during the sophomore astronomy tutorial–the first such honor accorded a graduate’s thesis at the college.  An entrepreneur, he and his wife founded a medical transcription company, Bravo Transcription Service, five years ago.  In his spare time, Jim enjoys wood carving, furniture making and musical composition.  He is currently working on a Mass in honor of St. Raphael, a string quartet and a symphonic fanfare and choral entitled, “Christus Victor”. A Pennsylvania Dutch dowry chest he built from mahogany was on exhibit at the 1997 Northern Woods woodworking show in Minneapolis . He and his wife, Gretchen,  homeschool their daughter, Margaret.  The Mills family are members of  St. Augustine Church in South St. Paul.

Richard Vigilante

Richard Vigilante has spent most of his professional life in journalism and publishing, holding editorial positions at such publications as National Review, The American Spectator, The Washington Times, The Charleston Daily Mail, The City Journal (of the Manhattan Institute), Regnery Publishing, and Gilder Publishing as well as serving as a speechwriter and policy analyst in the Reagan Administration. He is currently Communications Director of Whitebox Advisors and Publisher of Richard Vigilante Books. He graduated with a B.A. in Philosophy from Yale in 1978. He and his wife, Susan, have a daughter, Sophia. The Vigilante family are members of Holy Family Church in St Louis Park.