High school students in teacher Shelley Roberts’s class in North Carolina have undergone a metamorphosis.

An email metamorphosis, if you will.

With the help of Propel, our groundbreaking email teaching tool, the 28 Johnston County students have learned to write high-quality messages instead of ones that resemble a casual text.

To understand the dramatic leap, here is a before & after from one of Roberts’s students.

James (11th grade)

Email before Propel

Subject line: [blank]

Email message: can u pull me for CT

The same email with the help of Propel (the “after”)

Subject line: Comet Time

Email message:

Hello Mrs. Roberts,

I wanted to ask you to pull me for Comet Time A on Thursday, November 8.

I would like to make corrections on my quiz if I am still allowed to do so.

Please let me know if it is a problem,

– James, 1st block

James’s “after” email might seem like it’s written by ChatGPT. But no, he composed the message on his own and wrote every word. Propel guided James to structure the email, use proper capitalization, include periods, remove slang (“u”) and more.

Watch a Propel demonstration to see how the tool works in Gmail and Outlook.

“Our initial pilot was extremely successful and had a positive impact on the email communication
skills of students,” said Johnston County CTE Workforce Development Specialist Kathryn Farrior. “Before and after examples demonstrate a noticeable improvement in student’s email formatting, grammar and overall email etiquette.”

Further, ninety percent of Roberts’s students said they would sometimes or always use Propel when writing
emails.

Try Propel for free in YOUR classroom. Click here to request access.