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Author: Danny Rubin
Progress Report: Changes Big and Small to Propel
In summer 2025, the Rubin team is working feverishly to prepare our Propel email etiquette tool for the 25-26 academic year.
Before we dove into product updates, we held a series of focus groups with teachers and students who used Propel in the 24-25 academic year. The students gave us starkly honest advice about what they like and don’t like from the tool, which is designed to teach professional email writing skills.
Here is a current list of changes we have implemented. The school year starts anew in six weeks so time is of the essence!
- After hitting “Reanalyze” score lightbulbs now work
- Discarding email now properly removes all popups related to Propel
- Emails completed label moved to the upper right corner of the initial popup
- Steps in the writing process changed to percentages
- Suggestions for addressing now static
- Added a simple bell curve to show how students’ scores compare with classmates
- Language for top shown error changed
- Domain label removed from dashboard
- Properly positioned user name on Propel completed certificate
- Add color coding to user score and make it out of 100
- Add badge symbol to show whether complete or not and
- Add label below telling them they need 20 emails to receive and make Propel optional
- Remove extension icon from Compose window
Propel gives the student an etiquette score, and the student can work to improve the score by making corrections. 
Propel provides the students with deeper data like how their email writing compares with classmates. Rounding into shape.
Readying for 25-26: Rubin Products Get Refresh in Summer
When the students break for summer vacation, the Rubin team rolls up our sleeves.
Now is the ideal time to make modifications and upgrades to our products for employability skills training.
Here are the highlights so far:
- In Rubin Emerge (employability activities), we have new financial literacy activities like how to write a check and understand credit card interest,
- Also in Emerge, now teachers can apply a direct grade rather than use our rubric. Teachers told us the rubric can be too time consuming.
- Significant improvements to our Propel email etiquette tool, including:
- Scoring system that gives every student email a score out of 100
- Ability to create a dynamic writing experience based on the nature of your message (ex: email your teacher about homework)
- Deeper data like how your email writing scores compare with classmates
We are excited to roll out these changes and many more ahead of the 25-26 academic year. Book a meeting with our team during the summer, and we will show you around.
Rubin Propel now gives a score based on the quality of the student’s professional skills. As students correct mistakes, the score improves. What’s your email etiquette score?
At State Conference, Rubin Team Introduces Products to the Homeschool Community
For Rubin, this year is all about exploring new markets for our employability and career exploration products. June 2025 offered an ideal opportunity to say “Hello!” to the homeschool community.
From June 5-7, members of the Rubin team attended the Home Educators Association of Virginia (HEAV) annual convention in the state capital of Richmond. At the HEAV convention, we spoke with dozens of home school parents and received positive feedback on our instructional materials. Over and again, homeschool parents told us “There are no current providers of career development resources in the homeschool community. But these skills are so needed.”
We also engaged with national homeschool educational suppliers as we seek valuable partners who can share our products with families across the country.
With any new audience segment, we need to find our place in unfamiliar territory. The first step is to get in the room, listen to the customers and find the right partners.
Then the process will take shape organically.
We look forward to serving the homeschool community and helping these students gain critical skills for college and career opportunities!
Rubin Director of Instruction Alexis Kruemcke explains our Aspire career exploration video library to a homeschool parent in the exhibit hall of the Home Educators Association of Virginia (HEAV) annual convention in Richmond. Rubin attended the HEAV convention from June 5-7, 2025 to make a formal introduction to the homeschool community and begin to assist families with employability skills training. New audience, new impact.
The School District of Philadelphia to Bring Rubin to All High Schools in 25-26 Academic Year
Starting in fall 2025, The School District of Philadelphia will incorporate Rubin Emerge into career and technical education (CTE) courses across all 31 high schools in the city.
Emerge, the company’s signature curriculum for employability skills, is a broad library of videos, activities and assessments for topics like email/phone etiquette, conversation skills and interview prep.Rubin and The School District of Philadelphia, the largest school system in Pennsylvania, piloted Emerge in the 24-25 academic year within selected classrooms. After positive feedback from the initial group of teachers, the CTE department elected to give Emerge to all CTE teachers. The School District of Philadelphia uses Google Classroom as its learning management system (LMS).
Rubin delivers Emerge, as well as our Aspire career exploration video library, to Google Classroom through a single sign-on connection. In that way, teachers and students don’t use traditional passwords to access the Emerge platform.
The CTE program in Philadelphia provides hands-on instruction in multiple pathways, including health science, agriculture, automotive and digital technology. Emerge topics (ex: How to leave a voicemail) will be incorporated into the various career courses.
“We are privileged to work with The School District of Philadelphia, one of the nation’s largest school systems,” said Danny Rubin, founder of Rubin. “We worked hard to build a relationship with city leadership and prove the merits of our instructional content. Now we have an opportunity to help thousands of students across Philadelphia gain the skills and confidence to pursue new opportunities.”
Rubin Founder Danny Rubin stands with Michella Lora, director of CTE operations for The School District of Philadelphia. The Rubin company will deliver its Emerge employability skills curriculum to all 31 high schools in the 25-26 academic year. Brotherly Love + Rubin = Magic
Rubin Adds 8 New School Partners, Enhances Propel with Scoring System
During the second half of May, Rubin started to work with eight new school districts or tech centers for our employability skills products. The initial users will be advisors of the student group Business Professionals of America (BPA).
The BPA advisors experienced a free sample of Rubin Emerge and Aspire and then decided to purchase the full version for their students in the 25-26 academic year.
The new customers:
1. Vanguard Tech Center in Fremont, Ohio
2. Four County Career Center in Archbold, Ohio
3. West Central Area School District in Barrett, Minnesota
4. Metropolitan District of North Posey County in North Posey, Indiana
5. Moscow School District #281 in Moscow, Idaho
6. Pioneer Technology & Arts Academy in Dallas, Texas
7. Wichita Public Schools in Wichita, Kansas
8. Ovid-Elsie Area Schools in Elsie, Michigan
We look forward to kicking off the relationship in the new school year!
Coming in fall 2025: Scoring system for student emails
Students have written emails for decades, but have they ever received a grade in Gmail for the quality of their emails?
Starting this fall, our Propel email etiquette tool will provide students with a score out of 100 based on their professionalism (see image below).
So when a CTE admin tells you, “Student communication skills are so bad these days,” you can turn around and say, “We have a solution!”
Stat of the week
27.9 points
The nationwide increase in score between Rubin pre- and post-tests for Rubin Emerge units like Email Etiquette-Beginner, Networking Mastery and Job Interview Prep.
The national average pre-test score in Emerge is a 62 (out of 100). The national average post-test score is a 90.
Growth in multiple directions.
Rubin Visits National Corporate Training Conference, Sees Future of AI
In the world of secondary education, administrators approach AI with significant caution to protect student privacy and data.
In corporate America, however, the flood gates to AI are wide open. That’s the main takeaway after a day roaming the expansive exhibit call at the annual conference for ATD, a leading association for corporate training and development.
Companies who support many of the nation’s largest companies (ex: Starbucks, Walmart, Amazon) have found creative ways to leverage AI to enhance their tools that train and upskill employees.
We attended ATD with an overarching goal of developing partnerships in the corporate space to license Rubin instructional items. A couple hours into the day, it became clear that the purpose was to observe the different AI use cases and integrations, particularly around using AI for simulated role plays.
We hope to incorporate more AI features into Rubin products in the next 6-12 months, always in a way that’s intentional, adds value and requires students to do.the.work.
Rubin founder Danny Rubin at ATD2025, the leading national conference for corporate training and development. 
Danny dons a VR headset and assumes the role of airline ticket counter employee who assists an angry traveler with a canceled flight. The best of corporate into the classroom.
300+ BPA Advisors Request End-of-Year Activities from Rubin
As they say, timing is everything.
In early May, Rubin offered a digital pack of 10 free employability activities to advisors of the national student group, Business Professionals of America (BPA).
Business Professionals of America is the premier CTSO (Career and Technical Student Organization) for students pursuing careers in business management, information technology, finance, office administration, health administration and other related career fields.
The free offer went out to the BPA advisors on May 6 and, within hours, 300+ advisors requested the resources. It’s often a challenge for teachers to fill class time at the end of the school year, and Rubin is right there to provide high-quality instruction.
Topics from the end-of-year activity packet include:
– How to understand the difference between a text message and an email
– How to write work experience professionally on a resume
– How to email your teacher politely for a reference letter
We are always happy to be a just-in-time resource for teachers and advisors around the country. And we are grateful for our ongoing partnership with BPA.
Timing is everything.
Rubin Attends NAWDP, Builds Connections with Workforce Development
On Monday, May 5, Rubin Founder Danny Rubin attended the annual conference for the National Association of Workforce Development Professionals (NAWDP).
Would you believe it…the national event happened right in our home base of Virginia Beach!
We want to provide our employability skills resources to workforce development agencies in addition to school districts we already serve. The NAWDP conference is the ideal place to meet with vendors already support workforce boards at a national level. Our goal for 2025 and beyond is partnerships.
In addition to workforce development, the NAWDP community reaches people in correctional institutions who want to gain job skills. These are important audiences where we believe our instruction can be helpful.
We hope to share more news in the coming months from the world of workforce development. The NAWDP conference is the beginning.
Rubin Founder Danny Rubin poses by a lifeguard stand at the annual conference of the National Association of Workforce Development Professionals (NAWDP). The conference, hosted in our hometown of Virginia Beach, is the perfect way to develop relationships with vendors who already support workforce boards at a national level. Branching out to a new audience.
NBA Executive Shares Insights with Intern Contest National Winner
America’s Next Great Intern? Meet America’s premier executive for media licensing and partnerships.
On Tuesday, April 29, Rakshana Damodaran, a 9th grader from Fairfax County Public Schools in Virginia, held a one-on-one conversation with Scott Kaufman-Ross, executive vice president of Media Distribution & Partnerships at the National Basketball Association (NBA).
As the overall national winner of our 3rd annual America’s Next Great Intern contest, Damodaran chatted live with Kaufman-Ross and learned about his fascinating career in professional sports.
Kaufman-Ross discussed his career journey, how high school students can intern with sports organizations and how he became a subject matter expert on sports betting and fantasy sports.
In short, the NBA needed someone on the business team to become proficient in the world of sports betting, and Kaufman-Ross raised his hand as if to say, “I’ll do it.”
A decade later, Kaufman-Ross’s willingness to step out of his comfort zone and learn a new industry has put him at the forefront of media licensing deals for the entire basketball league.
We appreciate Kaufman-Ross and the time he spent with Damodaran. Bookmark our contest page and stay tuned for the 2026 edition — a new top prize forthcoming!
In the image above, NBA executive Scott Kaufman-Ross (bottom left) speaks on April 29 with 9th grader Rakshana Damodaran (bottom right, winner of the 2025 America’s Next Great Intern contest). A sign language interpreter (standard practice for all Rubin webinar conversations) is in the upper left while Rubin founder Danny Rubin (upper right) guides the discussion. Tips from the top of the game.
Dream Job Ep. 87: TV News Journalist
Join Danny Rubin, founder of Rubin, as he talks with Kathy Park, NBC News correspondent, and Domonique Benn, an anchor at KSLA News 12 in Shreveport, Louisiana.
Kathy and Domonique share their respective journeys in the world of TV journalism, why curiosity is a critical skill on the job, how students can enter the field in high school and much more.
ASL provided.Worksheets coming soon
Join Danny Rubin, founder of Rubin, as he talks with Kathy Park, NBC News correspondent, and Domoniq…