Teacher at Washington, D.C. Charter School “Honored” by National Organization
Receives $5,000 award and story by renowned journalist and author
WASHINGTON, DC - June 1, 2018
Julie Moeller, a high school placement advisor and teacher at one of D.C.’s top public charter middle schools, has been selected by Honored to receive a national award for her work. As part of her award, Moeller received a $5,000 cash award and a $1,000 DonorsChoose.org gift card. Award-winning journalist and author Peter Bergen, a contributor to CNN and Vice President at New America, wrote the profile of Moeller for her Honored award.
At DC Prep public charter school, Moeller teaches a High School Placement Prep class as well as advising each individual student and their family. In that role, Moeller has been instrumental in ensuring that DC Prep students go on to high-performing high schools: while eighty percent of the school’s students live in poverty and half are deemed “at risk” because they are in foster care or are homeless, or their families are on welfare, DC Prep’s test scores are among the highest in the city, and an astonishing seventy percent of the students at DC Prep go on to study at selective public schools or independent day and boarding schools. It is time-intensive, high-touch work, and Moeller’s days are often long; DC Prep parents know that they can always reach her after she puts her own kids to bed at 8:30 p.m.
Moeller began working in high school placement by “pure coincidence,” she says. “The original person hired to start the program went out on emergency medical leave and I offered to help. I loved it from the start – particularly the opportunity to work with parents as well as students. All parents want what is best for their children, and it’s rewarding to work with them to navigate their child’s future.”
Moeller is being honored in particular for her work with Calvin Carmichael, who was an energetic if unfocused student when he began DC Prep in elementary school. With the support of his devoted mother, Pat, and the teachers at DC Prep, Calvin matured into a brilliant and studious young man. During his 8th grade year, Julie drove him and his mother across the East Coast to look at prep schools; Calvin ultimately applied and was accepted to Choate Rosemary Hall, one of the nation’s most prestigious boarding schools, where he thrived. In the fall, Calvin will live his dream to attend college at the University of Southern California.
For Moeller, helping students like Calvin find their paths to high school and beyond is an extension of the values she herself learned in school: “I believe in the value of every person,” says Moeller.
Read the full story of Julie Moeller and her student, Calvin Carmichael, at www.honored.org/honoree/julie-moeller.
About Honored
Honored is a nonprofit organization dedicated to keeping great teachers in the classroom and to inspiring a new generation of talent to pursue teaching. Each month, Honored shines a spotlight on a teacher who has changed the life of a single student. The Honoree receives a $5,000 cash award, and Honored partners with a world-class writer to tell their story. Honorees are selected from K-12 teachers of all subjects at public, private and charter schools across the country. Honored’s National Advisory Board includes luminaries such as the internationally best-selling author Michael Lewis, DonorsChoose.org founder Charles Best, Teach For America founder Wendy Kopp, and FEED cofounder Lauren Bush Lauren.
For more information about Honored, visit honored.org. For regular updates on Honored and our monthly Honorees, follow and like us on facebook.com/Honored.org, twitter.com/honored and instagram.com/honored.
Honored Press Contact
Katherine Boone[email protected]
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