contact@pndhs.org (309) 691-8741
j.donnelly@pndhs.org
309-691-8741 ext. 3380

John Donnelly

World Language Teacher / Theology Teacher

Favorite Quote: “The really important kind of freedom involves attention and awareness and discipline, and being able truly to care about other people and to sacrifice for them over and over in myriad petty, unsexy ways every day. That is real freedom. That is being educated, and understanding how to think. The alternative is unconsciousness, the default setting, the rat race, the constant gnawing sense of having had, and lost, some infinite thing.” – David Foster Wallace, commencement speech, Kenyon College, 2005

Biography

Mr. Donnelly, a 1999 graduate of PND, enjoys learning from his students. He says that his favorite things about the school are the students, his coworkers, and” getting to talk with students on a regular basis about the most important things in life.” Discussing fundamental human truths is something he is well qualified for, as Mr. Donnelly was a student in Notre Dame’s Great Book Seminars. The students must enjoy this, too, because his film classes are in high demand. One part of PND that he has really come to appreciate is the adoration chapel in the center of the school. He is also “very impressed and inspired by the work the students do in service to others.” Fun fact: Mr. Donnelly lived outside the United States for a couple of years!

Education

  • Masters of Arts, English, Bradley University
  • Bachelor of Arts, Liberal Studies, University of Notre Dame

About Mr. Donnelly

  • Employed at PND in 2006
  • Peoria Notre Dame Class of 1999
  • Parishioner at St. Thomas & St. Anthony Catholic Church