Donna Chmara

As an educator and author, Donna Chmara has turned her childhood experience of war into a lifetime quest for peace and respect for all human beings.  As a refugee, she found the public education system to be pivotal in helping her make the transition from war-torn Europe to her new country of America.  While attending the College of New Jersey, she was a one-year exchange student at the University of Saskatchewan in Canada.  After college, she taught English for two years as a Peace Corps volunteer in Turkey where she maintains many dear friendships.  In the United States, she has taught English and composition at the high school and college levels.  She has also taught English for shorter periods in places as varied as Poland and the country of Myanmar (Burma.)  

In addition to teaching, she has worked as a public school administrator, director of communications for a professional association of school administrators, and director of the State Board of Education Office.  She holds a Master of Arts degree in English with a major in medieval literature from Temple University in Philadelphia.  On a personal note, she participates in inter-religious and multi-cultural projects and loves to garden, dance, swim, and learn from other peoples’ wisdom.