PULSE Partners: Chaminade Julienne High School

On this Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe, PULSE is happy to welcome Greg Mueller, Assistant Principal at Chaminade Julienne High School, as our guest blogger this week. Chaminade Julienne is a third year non-profit partner with PULSE and has proven to be a placement in which PULSE volunteers have been blessed to learn and grow in many different aspects of Catholic high school ministry, including campus ministry, tutoring and mentoring, retreats, and more. MP3 Volunteer, Alex, is CJ's PULSE volunteer for the current school year.

On Friday, May 25, 2018, Chaminade Julienne was ready to welcome a visitor – our newly selected Marianist PULSE educator, Alex Moellering. Little did we know that we were not welcoming just one visitor that day, but Alex was coming with his entire extended family for a visit and a tour of CJ! At that moment I realized we would be in good hands this year with our PULSE volunteer. 

Alex has been a wonderful addition to our CJ community and a perfect fit within our Marianist family spirit. From the first day he stepped foot on our campus, Alex has been charged with co-creating a new academic support program, the Literacy Lab. His openness to accept a challenge and "do whatever he tells you" has blossomed into a new support program that is helping twelve first-years catch up in their reading and writing

skills. Alex has woven an online reading program, online vocabulary program, and an online grammar program into a daily class where students in his Literacy Lab receive intensive skill-building experiences. He also incorporates small group reading circles to encourage literacy growth.

Coming from Saint Louis with a background in philosophy and religion, Alex has now turned himself into a competent educator of language arts in just a few short months. One highlight of the first quarter at CJ has been the data analysis report that he prepared for the CJ board to demonstrate his students' growth in their reading lexile levels. 

In addition to the Literacy Lab, Alex is also helping this year with our Little Sibs program where CJ students prepare mini-lessons and then visit local elementary schools to work with students in a mentoring capacity. Finally, Alex has jumped in to help support our Ministry and Service office in numerous ways, specifically by chaperoning school retreats. 

We are blessed and excited to have Alex as part of our CJ family this school year. I look forward to what new ideas and energy he will bring to our school and students into the second semester. And if his family ever wants another visit and tour of our campus, they are always welcome!