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  • Austin Makohon Joins Rubin as Software Developer

    Austin Makohon Joins Rubin as Software Developer

    We are excited to welcome Austin Makohon to the Rubin team!

    Austin will work on software updates and maintenance to our Emerge curriculum.

    Emerge provides a library of videos, activities and quizzes for business communication skills (ex: email etiquette).

    A native of the Peninsula, Makohon received his bachelor’s degree from Christopher Newport University.

    Makohon had previously worked in IT at the Peninsula Agency on Aging in Newport News.

    “As a provider of a web-based learning curriculum, we often receive excellent feedback from customers on ways to make the program more engaging,” said Danny Rubin, the founder of Rubin. “Austin will play a big role in delivering a stronger product semester over semester to our school partners nationwide.”

    Rubin Emerge integrates into common learning management systems like Google Classroom, Canvas, Schoology, Moodle, Blackboard, D2L and Sakai. Whenever possible, we provide “single sign-on” access so students can work on Emerge lessons without the need for an additional username or password.

    Want to explore Emerge for yourself? Click here for a 30-day free trial!

    Rubin is a leader in online curriculum for business communication. The company provides a robust digital learning platform called “Emerge” to middle schools, high schools, colleges/universities and adult education programs. Emerge teaches in-demand skills like email etiquette, phone etiquette and how to hold meaningful conversations for college and career. Rubin is based in Virginia Beach, VA and, through Emerge, reaches tens of thousands of students in Virginia and 30+ other states. Rubin is founded by Danny Rubin, a former TV news journalist and national news consultant. Our motto: “Write well, open doors!”

    Ready to help your students thrive.

  • Kansas CTE Students in Grades 6-12 Explore Emerge to Learn Life Skills

    Kansas CTE Students in Grades 6-12 Explore Emerge to Learn Life Skills

    At Deerfield USD 216 in southwest Kansas, students in grades 6-12 sit at tables to practice cursive signatures and how to address an envelope — and then pop up to shake hands with classmates with steady eye contact and firm grasps.

    What’s going on?

    Each week, CTE Coordinator Jennifer Wieberg dives into the Rubin Emerge curriculum, an online library of practical lessons for employability, and then delivers each lesson to her students in middle and high school.

    Emerge is designed as a comprehensive resource to help students become stronger writers and speakers as they pursue college and career opportunities.

    “Last year, I was up late many nights scouring Pinterest for career resources and even paying for curricula out of my own pocket,” said Wieberg. “Emerge has everything I need in one place with activities, lesson plans and discussion questions for critical life and career skills. I love it.”

    Check out scenes from Wieberg’s classroom!

    Hands shakes, mailing letters and so much more

  • Fairfax County, Nation’s 7th Largest School Division, to Implement Rubin Emerge District Wide

    Fairfax County, Nation’s 7th Largest School Division, to Implement Rubin Emerge District Wide

    Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS), the nation’s 7th largest school division, will implement the Rubin Emerge curriculum division wide for all high school career and technical education (CTE) students in the 2021-2022 academic year.

    FCPS, which is also the biggest school system in Virginia, plans to incorporate Emerge lessons on email etiquette, LinkedIn, networking, entrepreneurship and others within various CTE classes spanning 9th to 12th grades. FCPS has 27 high schools and 57,000 students in CTE classes each year.

    As well, FCPS will integrate Rubin Emerge into its learning platform, Schoology, through single sign-on so students can complete Emerge assignments without the need to leave Schoology or enter a username/password.

    The decision to roll out Emerge division wide comes amid increased demand from colleges and employers for writing, speaking and other “employability” skills.

    “We are proud and humbled at the opportunity to provide Emerge to every high school within Fairfax County,” said Danny Rubin, the founder of Rubin. “We know administrators within Fairfax County have wonderful ideas for how to use our content, and the partnership shows the broader educational community that Rubin is a premier provider of online instruction for business communication skills.”

    A major step forward in Virginia and nationwide.

  • NJIT Engineering Students Give Rave Reviews About Emerge Curriculum

    NJIT Engineering Students Give Rave Reviews About Emerge Curriculum

    In spring 2020, nearly 100 freshmen engineering students at New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT) used our Emerge curriculum to learn essential professional skills like email writing, LinkedIn profiles and resume construction.

    The lead instructor of the First-Year Seminar course, Ryan Baldwin, oversaw a pre- and post-assessment of the students to gauge the effectiveness of Emerge.

    Survey questions included:

    • I confidently place phone calls to speak with others
    • I have a professional email signature created
    • I am comfortable introducing myself to professors

    From the NJIT report on the assessment data:

    “Virtually every item the students ranked saw an increase in agreement, and confidence reported by the students who participated in this pilot program. More than half of the items ranked saw an increase in rank of at least 0.75 on the 5-point scale.”

    See the full report and then request a 30-day free trial of Emerge to see how the material can benefit your freshmen engineering students.

    The post-assessment data says it all.

  • Rubin Co-Publishes Engineering Academic Paper with Michigan State

    Rubin Co-Publishes Engineering Academic Paper with Michigan State

    Rubin is proud to release an academic paper with the mechanical engineering department at Michigan State called “Creating a Communications Curriculum for the Modern Engineer.”

    Rubin and Michigan State began a pilot program in fall 2019 to incorporate communication skill lessons (ex: email etiquette) into engineering classes like design courses, labs and a senior capstone.

    The innovative collaboration continued into the 2020-2021 academic year, and now the partnership is on full display as an academic paper published by the American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE).

    From the paper’s abstract:

    The paper outlines the development of a multi-course syllabus and leveraging an existing communications education solution. Careful work is done to integrate communication education into the course objectives and curriculum rather than treating it as an add-on. Evidence of successfully achieving student outcomes is measured with student surveys and questionnaires.

    See the full abstract and download the paper here!

    The Rubin-MSU collaboration is official.

  • “Rubin” Students in CA Earn 1st Place in National Human Resources Competition

    “Rubin” Students in CA Earn 1st Place in National Human Resources Competition

    In the image above, Chinazo Okey-Dike (left) and Lindsey Hardin from Stockdale High School in Bakersfield, CA learn they won first place nationwide in a human resources competition from Virtual Enterprises International.

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    We are delighted to share that two high school students at Stockdale High School in Bakersfield, CA who learn from the Rubin Emerge curriculum have taken first place in a national human resources competition.

    Congratulations to Chinazo Okey-Dike and Lindsey Hardin — along with their teacher, Brian Devitt — for the top prize at the recent national human resources competition hosted by Virtual Enterprises International (VE).

    VE is an educational nonprofit that allows students to create and manage their own businesses and gain entrepreneurial and managerial skills throughout the experience.

    Okey-Dike and Hardin worked together on a presentation for how to onboard new employees at their team’s clothing line, Arachne Apparel. Over the course of four competition rounds, the duo took first place out of 192 participating schools.

    Throughout the 2020-2021 school year, Devitt integrated lessons from Emerge into his Canvas courses. Okey-Dike, Hardin and their classmates learned important skills like email etiquette, LinkedIn communication, job interview preparation and more.

    Emerge stresses a communication style that’s brief and to the point yet friendly and approachable.

    Congrats to Okey-Dike and Hardin for the national honors. At Rubin, we believe when you write and speak well, you open new doors.

    The tandem in Bakersfield is proof!

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    In the image above, you see a slide from the human resources presentation led by high school students Chinazo Okey-Dike and Lindsey Hardin. The two-person team explained the onboarding process for their company, Arachne Apparel, and then won first prize in the HR competition out of 192 schools.

    Speak well, win the day!

  • McKenzie Dowd Joins Rubin as Training & Implementation Specialist

    McKenzie Dowd Joins Rubin as Training & Implementation Specialist

    We are excited to welcome McKenzie Dowd to the Rubin team!

    McKenzie, who also goes by “Mac,” will assist with onboarding teachers into our Emerge curriculum.

    Emerge provides a library of videos, activities and quizzes for business communication skills (ex: email etiquette).

    A native of New York (Long Island), Dowd received her bachelor’s degree and MBA from Virginia Wesleyan University in Virginia Beach.

    Dowd had previously worked for a payroll and HR services company in Virginia Beach.

    “McKenzie will be a terrific addition to our company and help us continue to grow within K-12 and higher education,” said Danny Rubin, the founder of Rubin. “Training and onboarding new educators is one of the most important tasks we do, and we know McKenzie will be a great fit for that responsibility.”

    Rubin Emerge integrates into common learning management systems like Google Classroom, Canvas, Schoology, Moodle, Blackboard, D2L and Sakai. Whenever possible, we provide “single sign-on” access so students can work on Emerge lessons without the need for an additional username or password.

    Want to explore Emerge for yourself? Click here for a 30-day free trial!

    Rubin is a leader in online curriculum for business communication. The company provides a robust digital learning platform called “Emerge” to middle schools, high schools, colleges/universities and adult education programs. Emerge teaches in-demand skills like email etiquette, phone etiquette and how to hold meaningful conversations for college and career. Rubin is based in Virginia Beach, VA and, through Emerge, reaches tens of thousands of students in Virginia and 30+ other states. Rubin is founded by Danny Rubin, a former TV news journalist and national news consultant. Our motto: “Write well, open doors!”

    Ready to help your students thrive.

  • At NYC College Internship Program, 25% of Students Who Used Rubin Land Jobs within One Month

    At NYC College Internship Program, 25% of Students Who Used Rubin Land Jobs within One Month

    In July 2020, Hunter Hillel (a Jewish student leadership and education organization at Hunter College) in New York City employed Rubin Emerge, our signature learning platform.

    The initiative, dubbed a “self-authored internship,” has provided 30 students with staff mentorship, professional support and career skills to ensure students are competitive in the job market upon graduation. The internship program occurred in separate eight-week cohorts in July-August 2020 and October-December of 2020.

    Merav Fine Braun, executive director of Hunter College Hillel, incorporated Emerge to teach students writing skills (ex: email etiquette), networking techniques, resumes, cover letters, job interview preparation and more.

    At the end of the fall semester, Braun reported that five of the 20 fall student participants had already secured jobs. Two students landed roles as consultants, two others as nurses and one as a technology engineer.

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    Merav Fine Braun, executive director of Hunter College Hillel

    “Rubin Emerge has been a tremendous resource for our students and our team,” said Braun, who also treated the self-authored internship as a learning community. “During the pandemic, our students, who primarily live with their families across New York City, and live in the hardest hit areas of the pandemic in NYC, were craving skills building opportunities at a time when they felt physically stuck.

    Emerge provides hands-on practice for critical life skills, and the 25% job placement rate one month after the semester ended proves that employers noticed our students right away. What’s more, our students feel empowered and emboldened to communicate and engage on a professional level regardless of their professional experience or year in college.”

    Wherever Emerge takes root, good things happen. A student at the University of Alabama used the program to secure an on-campus job with “ESPN College Gameday” football TV special. Another student, this time at Michigan State, relied on Emerge to excel at a summer internship in a manufacturing facility.

    Emerge teaches actionable strategies to look your best as you pursue opportunities. We want results for students as soon as possible, and that’s why we’re excited to see the job placement rate at Hunter College.

    How can Emerge make a difference for your students? Request a free trial today!

    We get results. Period.

  • Univ. of Alabama Senior Uses Rubin to Secure ESPN “College GameDay” Opportunity

    Univ. of Alabama Senior Uses Rubin to Secure ESPN “College GameDay” Opportunity

    To be part of ESPN College GameDay, Lexi Link knew she had to be a cut above.

    A senior at the University of Alabama, Link jumped at the opportunity in fall 2020 to be a “runner” for College GameDay when the TV program descended on the Tuscaloosa campus. GameDay is ESPN’s signature college football preview show broadcasted live from a different college campus each Saturday.

    “Runners” for GameDay handle a variety of tasks like securing food and beverage for the production crew and setting up/taking down equipment.

    The application process required a phone interview and follow-up emails, and that’s where the Rubin curriculum, called “Emerge,” gave Link an edge.

    Link used Emerge in JCM 484: Capstone Sports Portfolio within the Department of Journalism and Creative Media. The instructor, Dr. Michael Bruce, incorporates Emerge to give his students real-life practice for skills like email writing, networking and interviewing.

    Link, who majors in sports media, learned through Emerge how to demonstrate confidence in phone interviews and add a special touch in thank-you emails after the interview.

    “Emerge taught me to ask my own questions during interviews rather than just answer questions the employer asks me,” said Link, who is also working on a master’s in sports administration. “And in my thank-you email after the interview, I used the Emerge technique of showing how much I appreciate the career advice the person shared with me.”

    The woman who led the interview told Link to always remember the names of the people on your team. Link told the woman in the thank-you message that she found the “name” suggestion to be a great tip.

    In Emerge, students learn the smallest details always make the biggest impact.

    Listen to Alabama senior Lexi Link explain the value of Emerge for her career aspirations.

     

    “I find Emerge to be a straightforward curriculum with a lot of practical value for my students,” said Dr. Bruce. “Whether the opportunity is with ESPN or any other employer, we want to prepare our students to stand out from the competition by doing all the little things right. Emerge helps us do that.”

    Thanks to Link’s strong communication skills, the woman who selected the Alabama senior as a “runner” plans to stay in touch about future opportunities within ESPN.

    Link, who would love to work for ESPN one day, believes it’s all about honing her skills every day.

    “Emerge puts many of my ideas into motion with a format and structure that helps me look my best.”

    Ready to explore Emerge for your students? Request a 30-day free trial here!

    Curriculum to make every student a standout.

  • WBL Students in Mississippi Learn the Value of Email Etiquette

    WBL Students in Mississippi Learn the Value of Email Etiquette

    Only a few weeks into the school year at Petal High School in Petal, Mississippi, the students in teacher Paige Hutchinson’s work-based learning (WBL) class already understand what the real world expects of them.

    Ms. Hutchinson took her students through the “Email Etiquette — Beginner” module in Emerge, the online learning platform from Rubin. As curriculum provided inside Ms. Hutchinson’s Google Classroom “class,” students received instruction for topics like:

    • How to create a professional-looking email address
    • How to write an appropriate email subject line
    • How to create an email signature and more

    In doing so, students experienced how to compose emails and gain the respect of others (ex: classmates, teachers and employers) through their words.

     

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    Paige Hutchinson, WBL coordinator at Petal High School

    “I can already see a difference in my students’ writing skills and critical thinking about the messages they send,” said Hutchinson. “At the beginning of the Emerge unit, many students didn’t know what an email signature was, and now they each have a signature displayed proudly in their emails.”

    Emerge covers email writing along with topics like phone etiquette, networking, LinkedIn, resumes/cover letters and communicating as an entrepreneur and leader.

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    Explore Emerge for yourself! Request a 30-day free trial here!

    It all starts with a single message.