Faculty & Staff Directory
Steven Barmore | Headmaster Literature, Philosophy, History, & Greek
Mr. Barmore is from Houston, but has called Fort Worth home since 2015. He has degrees in Philosophy from Sam Houston State University and Holy Apostles College and Seminary, and multiple publications. He has eleven years of teaching experience in both Catholic and public high schools, and is co-founder of the Chesterton Academy of Fort Worth.
A convert from atheism, he was received into the Catholic Church in 2010. He and his wife, Linky, have three wonderful daughters and attend St. Benedict Catholic Church.
In his free time, Mr. Barmore likes to study languages, read, and play cello with his family.
sbarmore@chestertonacademyfw.org
Linky Barmore | Choir & Development Director
Mrs. Barmore was born in Dallas, Texas and grew up in Edinburgh, Scotland and Austin, Texas. She spent her early childhood attending the Anglican Church and, after more than twenty years as an agnostic, was received into the Catholic Church in 2013. Mrs. Barmore has performed and recorded as a multi-instrumentalist and vocalist with various ensembles for the past twenty years and continues to compose and release original music. In 2012, she earned a Bachelor of Music in music therapy with a minor in percussion from Sam Houston State University. She has run a music therapy private practice for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities and mental health diagnoses since 2013. She has taught music in homeschool co-ops for pre-k-8th graders and is passionate about nurturing the God-given talents of all of her students. She attends St. Benedict Parish (FSSP) and joyfully sings in their schola. She attended the 36th Annual Sacred Music Colloquium at the St. John Newman Center at University of Illinois Champaign-Urbana and completed UNC Chapel Hill’s Conducting Ensemble intensive this summer.
lbarmore@chestertonacademyfw.org
Catherine Crimmins | Science, Math, History, Health, & P.E.
Ms. Crimmins grew up in the Arlington and Fort Worth area, and attended Catholic school from second through twelfth grade. She earned her bachelor's degree from Texas A&M University, where she studied psychology and assisted in research labs. Inspired by her love of science and the beauty of anatomy and physiology, she pursued a Master of Science in Human Nutrition and Functional Medicine. She was blessed to serve as a functional nutritionist for nearly 3 years, but is now transitioning to teaching. She’s overjoyed to be joining Chesterton Academy.
She enjoys spending most of her free time with family, especially her niece and nephews. She also loves traveling, playing board games, trying new recipes, and getting lost in a good book.
ccrimmins@chestertonacademyfw.org
Sam Esparza
Math, Science, & History
Mr. Esparza hails from the deserts of El Paso, Tx. Growing up in a largely Catholic environment, the faith was something that he often took for granted even in his Catholic school upbringing. For College, Mr. Esparza attended Baylor University where, for the first time he encountered a culture with a faith tradition that was largely different from his own and, in a few cases, even hostile. This, along with the forming of wonderful Catholic friendships, spurred him into exploring the faith he had so long let fall to the wayside and dive back in to the beliefs and traditions that he grew up with.
During his time at Baylor Mr. Esparza majored in Physics and minored in Great Texts of the Western Tradition, as a way to explore the universe that God had created, the philosophy behind what it all means, and how we can approach God through His creation.
In his career Mr. Esparza has worn many hats, working in bartending, sales, teaching, fundraising, and development. In his free time Mr. Esparza loves exploring the DFW metroplex with his family and finding the most delicious cuisine from all parts of the world, playing well crafted video games with his wife, watching movies and going to the park with his kids, and reading one of the many unfinished books that line his bookshelf.
Some of his favorite Catholic scientists and thinkers are: St. Thomas Aquinas, Fr. George Lemaitre, Fr. Robert Spitzer, G.K. Chesterton, and J.R.R. Tolkien.
sesparza@chestertonacademyfw.org
Megan Faries | Academic Dean Literature , Theology
Mrs. Faries grew up in a vibrant Catholic community in the Archdiocese of Kansas City in Kansas. A product of Catholic schooling, Mrs. Faries attended Catholic schools from Pre-K through college, and went on to teach for the Archdiocese and Diocese which formed her. After logging some years in the Fort Worth Independent School District, Mrs. Faries has returned to Catholic education in grateful service to the school that has made Catholic education accessible for her own children.
Mrs. Faries and her husband, Richard, have four children, the eldest of whom is a current Chesterton sophomore. Their other three children are anxiously awaiting their future days as Chesterton Crusaders.
Mrs. Faries’s favorite hobbies include reading, dancing, and baking. “Faries” is Gaelic and is pronounced like Ferris wheel or Ferris Bueler, but all the Farieses still respond accordingly when referred to as fairies.
mfaries@chestertonacademyfw.org
Gabrielle Greenwald
Art
Mrs. Greenwald was born and raised in Seattle, Washington, but has been proud to call Texas her home since moving in 2019. She has spent the past two and a half years studying classical art with the Texas Academy of Figurative Art, and has logged close to 2,000 hours of studio work. Most of her time is spent painting and drawing. Mrs. Greenwald’s work has been featured in the Maker's Institute magazine, the Craighead Green Gallery, and the Texas State Fair, to name a few. When not working on some art project, Mrs. Greenwald enjoys working on anything that uses her hands, such as, but not limited to, cooking, knitting, and gardening.
ggreenwald@chestertonacademyfw.org
Samantha Lopez
School Operations Coordinator
Samantha Lopez is proud to be a Chesterton parent to Paulina Lopez and excited to be a member of the Chesterton team.
She hopes to use her experience to serve, support, inspire and care for the students at Chesterton this year. Go Crusaders!
admissions@chestertonacademyfw.org
Sean O’Connor, BA,MA, S.T.L.
Theology, Philosophy, History
Mr. O’Connor was born in the “Windy City” of Chicago, and lived for nine years in Ireland. From there, at the age of seventeen, he joined the US Army Infantry and was stationed at Fort Benning, GA, and Korea for his active duty service. He is an honorably discharged veteran. While he was in the Army, his family, in the meantime, moved back to the States to Colorado Springs. In 1991 Mr. O’Connor had a major conversion of heart and mind (metanoia) back to the sacraments of the Church at a Marian Conference in Pueblo, Colorado. For the next ten years he discerned vocations to the priesthood and religious life, spending a year as a Postulant with the Friars at EWTN, and was inspired by the holiness of Mother Angelica and Pope St. John Paul II (especially his encounter with the Pope at World Youth Day in Denver, 1993).
In the Great Jubilee Year 2000, Mr. O’Connor met his wife on his birthday, and attributed this to answered prayers and the intercession of Mother Angelica and St. JPII. During this time Mr. O’Connor heard a distinct call from Pope St. John Paul to “put out into the deep”--Duc in Altum! (Luke 5) for the “New Evangelization,” and felt called to go back to the University to study the Catholic, intellectual Tradition. The family moved to Franciscan University in Steubenville, OH, and Mr. O’Connor spent the next six years (and two more children) earning his BA and MA in Theology at the “Great Catholic University” of the US! He was called to further studies in Theology, in particular, the thought of the Angelic Doctor, St. Thomas Aquinas at the Dominican House of Studies in Washington, D.C. from 2009-2013. He graduated Cum Laude, with the S.T.L. in May, 2013.
Mr. O’Connor has over ten years of classroom teaching experience and several years of teaching at the Parish and diocesan level, education and catechesis. He has written Summer Bible courses and designed Theology courses, assisting in curriculum development at the High School level. He is an avid reader and writer, and is always looking to deepen his knowledge and wisdom in the transcendental categories of the Good, the True, and the Beautiful, which are fulfilled in the Person of Jesus Christ. When he is not following and visiting his two favorite people in the world who call him “Papa” (his grandchildren), he loves spending time with family, fixing things around the house, and helping others in any way he can. He is very excited about joining the CAFW team and is looking forward to an outstanding new school year!
soconnor@chestertonacademyfw.org
Ken Wright
Latin
Mr. Kenneth Wright grew up in the Texas Panhandle and received his B.A. and M.A. degrees from the University of Dallas. From 1986 to 2024 he taught Latin at R.L. Paschal High School in FWISD.
Reared an Episcopalian, Mr. Wright entered the Church in 1990 and is a parishioner at St. Andrew Catholic Church. He is very much looking forward to a new year at the Academy.
kwright@chestertonacademyfw.org