Chesterton Academy
Vision Dinner 2026
Leading souls to Christ, One student at a time
Dear Chesterton Academy families, students, faculty, volunteers, and friends,
With grateful hearts we write to share joyful news: our Annual Vision Dinner was a true blessing and a tremendous success. God’s goodness and your faithful generosity filled the evening with hope, friendship, and purpose.
Thank you to those that attended and to all the students and families that have helped spread the word about Chesterton Academy in our community. Thank you to our volunteers whose service made the evening run smoothly. Above all, thank you to our teachers — your leadership, witness of faith, and love for our students are the foundation of everything we do.
We are thrilled to report that we raised over $140,000 that night, and additional checks and commitments are still coming in. These gifts will directly support our mission and strengthen the gift of a classical, faith-centered education for our students.
Special gratitude to our Board of Directors for their guidance and support. Thank you to Matthew Brito for your heartfelt and inspiring ministry in action report. Thank you to Archbishop Wester, Monsignor Voorhies and Fr Simeon for their faithful blessings and inspiring words. Thank you Mr. Woodbury for your hard work and the Junior/Senior choir for their beautiful performance. Hannah Taylor and Claire Lyle shared their musical talent and words of love for our Lord and for Chesterton Academy, WELL DONE!
Dr Marcus Goodloe showed us all how excited we can be for our Lord and for helping Chesterton Academy!!
Heartfelt thanks to Diana and Stephen Teeters, and to Adela Brito — your help (and rescues during moments of chaos!) were invaluable. And thank you to Kelly Aldrich for generously lending her exceptional photography skills to capture the beauty and joy of the evening. Thank you
We celebrate this success as a community united in faith and purpose. Please continue to pray for Chesterton Academy — for our students, our teachers, our leaders, and for the fruit these efforts will bear in the years to come. If you, or someone you know, would like to join in supporting our mission, please reach out to the school office or myself.
With gratitude and joy,
Mark Ballard
Executive Director
Chesterton Academy
Vision Dinner 2027
Mark your calendars for our next
Vision Dinner
APRIL 10, 2027
Our Guest Speaker
Dale Ahlquist
Dale Ahlquist is a pioneer in the area of classical Catholic education. He serves as the President of the Society of Gilbert Keith Chesterton, creator and host of the EWTN series "G.K. Chesterton: The Apostle of Common Sense," and publisher of Gilbert Magazine. The author of five books and editor of twelve, Dale has been called "probably the greatest living authority on the life and work of G.K. Chesterton." An internationally renowned speaker, Dale has given more than 700 lectures at universities, conferences, and other institutions, including Yale, Columbia, Cornell, Notre Dame, Oxford, the Vatican Forum in Rome, and the House of Lords in London. He is also the co-founder of the original Chesterton Academy, a classical high school in Hopkins, Minnesota, which is the flagship of the Chesterton Schools Network, which now includes over 50 high schools worldwide. In 2020, he received a Presidential appointment to serve on the National Board of Education Sciences.