Meet the CGS Catechists
Cherie Rifenberg
CGS Level I Catechist
St. Patrick's - Onalaska
Cherie grew up in rural northern Wisconsin with two sisters and a brother and has lived in five different states. She has degrees in English, history, and law. Cherie was received into the Catholic Church in 2011 and has been active in various areas of local Church life since then, including (at her previous parish) serving on the Pastoral Council, assisting with RCIA, planning social events, and singing in the choir here at the Cathedral. She enjoys reading, hiking, and spending time with family, especially her 11 nieces and nephews. She and her husband John are members of Cathedral parish.
Erin Miller
CGS Level I & II Catechist
St. Patrick's - Onalaska
Erin Miller has been married for 14 years to her husband Matt and has 5 children (ages 16-3). Erin has been a catechist for CCD programs at St Patrick's in Onalaska on and off since 2006. Erin has done many programs to help support her work in Religious formation programs. It wasn't until she completed the training for Catechesis of the Good Shepherd that she found something that not only inspired children but also helped support her relationship with God. In her free time, Erin enjoys learning about the faith, exploring the world God has created, while spending time with her family.
Sarah Scarlet
CGS Level I Catechist
Mary, Mother of the Church - La Crosse
Sarah has a BA in Liberal Arts-Teaching & Learning from California State University Channel Islands. She had spent 6 years working as the assistant to the Children’s Librarian at a city library (leading programming and collection development), and briefly as a Preschool teacher at her parish school. Upon moving to La Crosse with her husband Jeremy in 2019 and giving birth to their oldest child, they started using a Montessori inspired method of parenting. The following year Sarah was introduced to CGS through a friend, and a whole new adventure opened up! With support from her pastor at Mary, Mother of the Church parish, she opened a Level I atrium in 2022. When not at the parish, she can be found exploring God’s creation with her family, listening to movie scores, or reading her latest stack of books from the library.
Amy Greylak
CGS Level I, II, & III Catechist
St. Patrick's - Onalaska
Amy moved to La Crosse in 2008 where she received an Associate's degree in Information Technology. She married her husband Thomas in 2014 and worked in IT for seven years before staying home with her children. Interests include philosophy in general and Aristotelian-Thomism in particular, social sciences, women's health, child development, and anything written by Joseph Ratzinger/Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI.
Allie Sauppé
CGS Level I Catechist
Allie Sauppé has been interested in CGS for the past several years, and finally had the opportunity to begin training as a level 1 catechist in 2021. She is looking forward to working with (and even learning from!) the children of the greater La Crosse area to encounter Jesus through age-appropriate contemplation of scripture. Outside of CGS, Allie and her husband Jason both work as computer science professors at UWL while raising their three lively boys.