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Virginia 9th Grader Wins America’s Next Great Intern
Fairfax County’s own Rakshana Damodaran is America’s Next Great Intern. The 9th grader at Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology was one of 13 finalists selected to showcase top-tier communication skills essential to an internship.
Second place: Shannon Jenkins, 12th grade at Boone High School in Boone, Iowa
Third place: Jordan Blair, 12th grade at Blaine High School in Anoka, Minnesota
Rakshana’s teacher, Jane Iyengar, receives a $250 cash prize to support her classroom.
Rubin, the leader in online curriculum for employability and workplace readiness skills, hosted the competition.
The submission period for the America’s Next Great Intern contest ran throughout February 2025, which is National Career and Technical Education (CTE) Month. All middle school, high school and post-secondary CTE students were eligible.
The instructions were drawn from Rubin’s Emerge curriculum, a broad library of online exercises for employability skills like email/phone etiquette, job interview prep, LinkedIn communication and more. Rubin provides Emerge to CTE programs nationwide.
A panel of judges from the Rubin team assessed the students across three areas:
- Email Etiquette: Demonstrate a professional-grade email based on fictional, work-related scenario.
- Research and Critical Thinking: Learn to develop meaningful questions ahead of a fictitious internship interview.
- Ethical Dilemma: Provide a response to a tricky ethical situation you might face as an intern.
“Employers often lament that students don’t possess the ‘soft skills’ necessary to engage in an office setting or on the job site,” says Danny Rubin, founder of Rubin. “We hope the contest shows that, yes, there are motivated young people coast to coast who will add value to any business or organization.”
For more information or to set up an interview, please contact Danny Rubin at danny@rubineducation.com.
About Rubin:
Rubin is the leader in online instruction for employability and work readiness skills. The company, based in Virginia Beach, Virginia, provides Emerge, a digital curriculum that teaches effective writing and speaking skills, to thousands of students in middle school, high school and higher education. Rubin also has a soft-skill notification tool for email writing called Propel.
Founded in 2017 by Danny Rubin, a former CBS television news reporter and consultant to NBC’s “Meet the Press,” Rubin teaches students nationwide critical lessons for email/phone etiquette, networking, team communication, leadership communication and more. Our motto: “Write well, open doors!”
Fairfax County’s own Rakshana Damodaran is America’s Next Great Intern. The 9th grader at Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology was one of 13 finalists selected to showcase top-tier communication skills essential to an internship.
Second place: Shannon Jenkins, 12th grade at Boone High School in Boone, Iowa
Third place: Jordan Blair, 12th grade at Blaine High School in Anoka, Minnesota
Rakshana’s teacher, Jane Iyengar, receives a $250 cash prize to support her classroom.
Rubin, the leader in online curriculum for employability and workplace readiness skills, hosted the competition.
The submission period for the America’s Next Great Intern contest ran throughout February 2025, which is National Career and Technical Education (CTE) Month. All middle school, high school and post-secondary CTE students were eligible.
The instructions were drawn from Rubin’s Emerge curriculum, a broad library of online exercises for employability skills like email/phone etiquette, job interview prep, LinkedIn communication and more. Rubin provides Emerge to CTE programs nationwide.
A panel of judges from the Rubin team assessed the students across three areas:
- Email Etiquette: Demonstrate a professional-grade email based on fictional, work-related scenario.
- Research and Critical Thinking: Learn to develop meaningful questions ahead of a fictitious internship interview.
- Ethical Dilemma: Provide a response to a tricky ethical situation you might face as an intern.
“Employers often lament that students don’t possess the ‘soft skills’ necessary to engage in an office setting or on the job site,” says Danny Rubin, founder of Rubin. “We hope the contest shows that, yes, there are motivated young people coast to coast who will add value to any business or organization.”
For more information or to set up an interview, please contact Danny Rubin at danny@rubineducation.com.
About Rubin:
Rubin is the leader in online instruction for employability and work readiness skills. The company, based in Virginia Beach, Virginia, provides Emerge, a digital curriculum that teaches effective writing and speaking skills, to thousands of students in middle school, high school and higher education. Rubin also has a soft-skill notification tool for email writing called Propel.
Founded in 2017 by Danny Rubin, a former CBS television news reporter and consultant to NBC’s “Meet the Press,” Rubin teaches students nationwide critical lessons for email/phone etiquette, networking, team communication, leadership communication and more. Our motto: “Write well, open doors!”
