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Category: High School

  • HS Student Uses Propel to Write Powerful Email, Stay Eligible for Basketball Season

    HS Student Uses Propel to Write Powerful Email, Stay Eligible for Basketball Season

    Rubin Propel, our company’s newest product that teaches young people to write professional emails, has the chance to impact outcomes nationwide.

    Not one week into our Early Access initiative where select teachers and students pilot the tool, we already have proof of what Propel can do as a Chrome extension or Outlook add-in.

    See brief demonstration of Propel here.

    In early November 2023, we provided Propel to teacher Tracy Turney-Smith at Butler Tech, a technical high school in Ohio. A day later, a student of Turney-Smith came into her classroom on the verge of tears.

    The young man said an issue over a grade in another class threatened his chances of being eligible for the school’s basketball team. He now needed to write a courteous, professional email to the teacher in question to demonstrate he deserves a second chance.

    Turney-Smith knew what to do. She had the student use Propel in Gmail to craft the essential parts of an email (ex: subject line, introductory line) and refine the message (ex: capitalize the first word of each sentence, limit exclamation marks and ALL CAPS).

    Thanks to Propel, the student’s email was “fabulous” and “changed the teacher’s mind about the grade” said Turney-Smith.

    Now the student is able to rejoin the basketball team this winter. And who knows? Perhaps the student can then seek a scholarship for basketball, attend college, graduate college and embark on a career.

    Anything is possible because of the use of Propel on November 2, 2023.

    We are excited at the potential of Propel to impact and uplift students everywhere. Request your free pilot of Propel today!

     

    One tool. Endless possibilities.

  • Educators Give High Marks for Rubin Emerge in Spring 2023 Survey

    Educators Give High Marks for Rubin Emerge in Spring 2023 Survey

    The results are in, and educators are pleased with their experience using the Rubin Emerge curriculum during the 2022-2023 academic year.

    Emerge is a digital library of activities, videos and assessments that help students with skills like email/phone etiquette, networking, team dynamics, entrepreneurship communication, leadership communication and more.

    In a survey administered in April 2023, a random sampling of 32 “Rubin” educators across middle school, high school and college feel strongly about Emerge as a key resource to teach employability skills.

    A selection of courses taught by the respondents:

    • Business communications
    • Transition
    • Culinary arts
    • Workplace readiness
    • Work-based learning (WBL)
    • Family and consumer sciences (FACS)
    • Engineering
    • Middle school career exploration

    Among the survey results:

    • 91% of respondents believe the Rubin team provides prompt, dependable customer service.
    • 88% of respondents feel Rubin Emerge content is relevant and up-to-date.
    • 85% of respondents would recommend Rubin to colleagues.
    • 73% of respondents think Rubin Emerge improved students’ face-to-face interactions.

    The respondents also shared positive feedback in writing, for example:

    • “Very appealing and user-friendly. We love it. Helping us structure our workplace readiness skills for sure!”
    • “Your support is excellent, and my questions are answered in a timely manner.”
    • “Everything I utilized with Emerge was great to supplement and add to my courses at my school.”

    Want to explore Emerge for yourself? Check out our new, full-color catalog and then request a 30-day free trial.

    90% would recommend to colleagues

  • Bezawit Abate from Potomac Senior High School Takes First Place in America’s Next Great Intern Contest

    Bezawit Abate from Potomac Senior High School Takes First Place in America’s Next Great Intern Contest

    Virginia Beach, VA (April 13, 2023) – Northern Virginia’s own Bezawit Abate is America’s Next Great Intern. The sophomore at Potomac Senior High School, who moved to the United States from Ethiopia only seven months ago, was one of 16 finalists selected to showcase top-tier communication skills essential in an internship.

    Nearly 200 students competed in the contest, and from that group Rubin selected 16 national finalists.

    Abate wins a stipend for professional clothing, a professional headshot and a paid virtual internship. Her teacher, Ms. Eula Tillar, receives a $250 cash bonus to support her classroom.

    Second place: Lucy Hansen from Boone High School in Boone, Iowa
    Third place: Rosemary Ruan from Northwest Guilford High School in Greensboro, North Carolina

    Rubin, the leader in online curriculum for employability and workplace readiness skills, hosted the competition.

    Demand for intern and job applicants with “soft skills” is a top priority across all industry sectors. According to a 2022 survey of employers by the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE), 76% of respondents want to hire young people who can work on a team, 73% want ones with strong written communication skills and 58% seek new hires who can speak well.

    The submission period for the America’s Next Great Intern contest ran throughout February 2023, 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 (Rubin team members, industry professionals and staff from the Association for Career and Technical Education) assessed the students across five areas.

    1. Greeting: Video recording of the student engaging in a professional handshake
    2. Phone Skills: Video recording of the student leaving a mock voicemail and answering the phone at a place of business
    3. Team Communication: Email in which the student updates a teacher or employer on the status of classwork or a project at an internship/job
    4. Resiliency & Determination: Written example of a time in which the student demonstrated resiliency in the face of a challenge on a class/club project, volunteer opportunity or internship task
    5. Research & Critical Thinking: Questions the student prepares to better explore a company where the student would like to 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.”

    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!”

    We have a winner!

  • America’s Next Great Intern Contest Featured on NBC Newscast

    America’s Next Great Intern Contest Featured on NBC Newscast

    As the voting period continues through April 7, 2023 for the first-ever America’s Next Great Intern contest, we are grateful for news coverage from WAVY, the NBC affiliate for Norfolk/Va Beach.

    On March 28, reporter Bianca Holman aired a story that highlights Clara Sanchez-Lapitan, a Virginia Beach high school senior and national finalist in the contest.

    Clara’s teacher, Ms. Anna-Lisa Wanack, appears in the story along with Mr. Michael Taylor, the principal at Clara’s school, the Advanced Technology Center.

    Watch the story here!

    And here’s a flyer Virginia Beach Schools created to promote the vote.

     

    Spotlight on Clara Sanchez-Lapitan

  • Rubin Announces National Finalists in First-Ever America’s Next Great Intern Contest

    Rubin Announces National Finalists in First-Ever America’s Next Great Intern Contest

    Virginia Beach, VA (March 10, 2023) – A student will soon be named America’s Next Great Intern. After reviewing nearly 200 submissions from across the country, Rubin has chosen 16 finalists who showcase top-tier communication skills essential in an internship.

    Prizes include a stipend for professional clothing, a professional headshot, a paid virtual internship, a cash bonus for the teacher of the winning student and more.

    Rubin, the leader in online curriculum for employability and workplace readiness skills, hosts the competition.

    Demand for intern and job applicants with “soft skills” is a top priority across all industry sectors. According to a 2022 survey of employers by the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE), 76% of respondents want to hire young people who can work on a team, 73% want ones with strong written communication skills and 58% seek new hires who can speak well.

    The submission period for the America’s Next Great Intern contest ran throughout February 2023, 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 (Rubin team members, industry professionals and staff from the Association for Career and Technical Education) assessed the students across five areas.

    1. Greeting: Video recording of the student engaging in a professional handshake
    2. Phone Skills: Video recording of the student leaving a mock voicemail and answering the phone at a place of business
    3. Team Communication: Email in which the student updates a teacher or employer on the status of classwork or a project at an internship/job
    4. Resiliency & Determination: Written example of a time in which the student demonstrated resiliency in the face of a challenge on a class/club project, volunteer opportunity or internship task
    5. Research & Critical Thinking: Questions the student prepares to better explore a company where the student would like to intern

    Rubin encourages the public to vote here on the national finalists through April 7, 2023. The Rubin team will announce 1st, 2nd and 3rd place winners on April 12, 2023.

    “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.”

    2023 America’s Next Great Intern National Finalists

    Bezawit Abate, 10th Grade

    Potomac Senior High School

    Prince William County Schools

    Dumfries, VA

    Teacher: Ms. Eula Tillar

     

    Tucker Brookman, 12th Grade

    Lord Botetourt High School

    Botetourt County Public Schools

    Daleville, VA

    Teacher: Ms. Katrina Kish

     

    Ivory Carney, 12th Grade

    Allen Village School

    Kansas City, Missouri

    Teacher: Dr. Terri Redden

     

    Sameer Eppanapally, 12th grade

    Stockdale High School

    Kern High School District

    Bakersfield, California

    Teacher: Mr. Brian Devitt

     

    Violet Gude, 10th Grade

    Las Vegas Academy of the Arts

    Clark County School District

    Las Vegas, Nevada

    Teacher: Ms. Elizabeth Strehl

     

    Lucy Hansen, 11th Grade

    Boone High School

    Boone Community School District

    Boone, Iowa

    Teachers: Ms. Lindsey Hyman and Ms. Amy Bossard

     

    Madison Hansen, 12th Grade

    Littleton Health Sciences

    Littleton Public Schools

    Littleton, Colorado

    Teacher: Ms. Heidi Mahn

     

    Laurengail Lorenz, 12th Grade

    Elk River Senior High School

    Independent School District 728

    Elk River, Minnesota

    Teacher: Mr. Matt Stueber

     

    Bryleena Patterson, 12th Grade

    Central High School

    Phenix City Schools

    Phenix City, Alabama

    Teacher: Mrs. Valerie Thornton

     

    Rosemary Ruan, 10th Grade

    Northwest Guilford High School

    Guilford County Schools

    Greensboro, North Carolina

    Teacher: Mrs. Chandra James

     

    Clara Sanchez-Lapitan, 12th Grade

    Advanced Technology Center

    Virginia Beach City Public Schools

    Virginia Beach, Virginia

    Teacher: Ms. Anna-Lisa Wanack

     

    Yug Sarin, 9th Grade

    Fuquay-Varina High School IT Academy

    Wake County Public School System

    Cary, North Carolina

    Career Academy Coordinator: Ms. Rhonda Lusher

     

    Alondra Sanjurjo-Mercado, 11th Grade

    Colonial Heights High School

    Colonial Heights Public Schools

    Colonial Heights, Virginia

    Teacher: Ms. Susannah Oates

     

    Mickala Tenn, 12th Grade

    Putnam City North High School

    Putnam City Schools

    Oklahoma City, Oklahoma

    Teacher: Ms. Amanda Davis

     

    Ana Vaeao, 11th Grade

    Oceanside High School

    Oceanside Unified School District

    Oceanside, California

    Teacher: Ms. Kim Roy

     

    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!”

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    Get your votes in now!

  • Only Two Weeks Left to Submit to Rubin’s “Great Intern” Contest

    Only Two Weeks Left to Submit to Rubin’s “Great Intern” Contest

    With two weeks remaining in the first-ever America’s Next Great Intern contest, the Rubin team continues to review stellar submissions from CTE students around the country.

    Now through March 3, 2023, students are encouraged to showcase their employability skills in the fun, free competition.

    Educators can register their class or school here. A panel of judges (Rubin team members, industry professionals and staff from the Association for Career and Technical Education) will assess the students across five areas.

    1. Greeting: Video recording of the student engaging in a professional handshake
    2. Phone Skills: Video recording of the student leaving a mock voicemail and answering the phone at a place of business
    3. Team Communication: Email in which the student updates a teacher or employer on the status of classwork or a project at an internship/job
    4. Resiliency & Determination: Written example of a time in which the student demonstrated resiliency in the face of a challenge on a class/club project, volunteer opportunity or task at an internship
    5. Research & Critical Thinking: Questions the student prepares to better explore a company where the student would like to intern

    The instructions are 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.

    Questions! Email support@rubineducation.com

    The clock is ticking — submit today!

    Clock is ticking!

  • Rubin Adds New Ethics Unit to Emerge Curriculum

    Rubin Adds New Ethics Unit to Emerge Curriculum

    In fall 2022, the Rubin team developed a new series focused on ethical discussions as they relate to employability skills.

    As the leader in online resources for employability and work readiness, we built an 11-part series that challenges students to think, “What would I do?” across several real-world scenarios.

    Alexis Kruemcke, an implementation specialist at Rubin and former classroom teacher, led the project.

    All eleven ethical scenarios are now inside our Emerge curriculum, a robust library of activities, videos, readings and assessments for employability skills.

    The ethical scenarios align with existing units in Emerge and are as follows:

    • Email etiquette
    • Phone and video etiquette
    • Networking
    • “Storytelling” cover letters
    • Internships
    • Job interviews
    • Resumes
    • Student leadership
    • Report writing
    • Writing to clients
    • LinkedIn outreach

    See a sample ethical discussion below. Want to view all 11 scenarios and our full Emerge library of 200+ instructional items?

    Request a 30-day free trial today, and our team will be in touch to set up the trial!

    Ethical discussion for resumes: What would you do?

     

    Scenario:

    Over the summer, you were an intern at an environmental non-profit. One of the main projects was a river clean-up outside of the city. Your supervisor was the project manager, but he put you in charge of most aspects of the project.

    Your tasks included:

    • Create a schedule for the clean-up process
    • Assign roles for the project
    • Coordinate with city officials
    • Obtain and manage supplies

    On your resume, you decide to list yourself as the project manager even though the title is technically your supervisor’s role. However, you did most of the work and feel “project manager” title is more appropriate than “intern.”

    Discuss the scenario with your classmates and answer the following question:

    Is it fair and truthful to say you were the project manager because your supervisor put you in charge of the project? Why or why not?

    What would you do?

  • Remote Community in Alaska Teaches Rubin Lessons in One-Room School

    Remote Community in Alaska Teaches Rubin Lessons in One-Room School

    Megan Gatlin is a principal teacher.

    That’s right. She’s the principal. And the teacher.

    The only teacher.

    In False Pass, a town of 40 people in the Aleutian Islands of Alaska (200 total during the “busy” summer season), Gatlin has only nine students between grades 1 and 11. Everyone learns in the same room, and most of the students are cousins to each other. Many people in False Pass work in the fishing industry or at the local grocery.

    Originally from Utah, Gatlin and her husband moved to False Pass two years ago to live closer to nature and enjoy the strikingly beautiful terrain.

    At False Pass School, Gatlin teaches, well, everything. Subjects include chemistry, algebra II, language arts, food science, healthy living and whatever else the students would like to explore.

    And in the 2022-2023 academic year, Gatlin will share lessons from our Emerge curriculum for college and career opportunities like how to shake hands, write an email, hold a networking conversation and more.

    “My students may only leave False Pass a couple of times a year and many have never stepped foot out of Alaska,” Gatlin said. “The Rubin lessons will give them real-world practice on how to talk to new people and explore their own talents and interests.”

    Emerge is trusted by middle school, high school and college educators nationwide. The program is a blend of ebooks, self-paced assignments, videos and quizzes that give students age-appropriate instruction on how to write, speak and lead with confidence.

    Instructors and students can log onto a password-protected website or access the career readiness material through single sign-on on any device. Emerge integrates and syncs grades with common LMS like Canvas, Blackboard, D2L, Moodle, Sakai and Schoology. We also provide single sign-on with Google Classroom and Microsoft Teams.

    Rubin works with large school divisions like Philadelphia and Las Vegas, but we also take pride in delivering lessons to rural or remote communities.

    Everyone deserves the chance to learn important college and career (employability or work readiness) skills, from the bustling avenues of South Street Philly to the rambling roads of False Pass, a city just two miles wide nestled between the Pacific Ocean and Bering Strait.

    Thank you, Principal Teacher Gatlin, for the important work you do.

    9 students between grades 1 and 11

  • Rubin Leads Half-Day Training for Largest School System in North Carolina

    Rubin Leads Half-Day Training for Largest School System in North Carolina

    Usually we train teachers on the Rubin “Emerge” curriculum (email/phone etiquette) through Zoom. The goal is to provide high-quality materials for college and career readiness.

    But on Friday, August 19th we had the opportunity to lead a career and technical education (CTE) group in person.

    Three members of the Rubin team (Founder Danny Rubin and Implementation Specialists Mac Walsh and Alexis Kruemcke) drove from Va Beach, our headquarters, to Raleigh, the largest school system in North Carolina (also know as Wake County), to work with the career development coordinators in each of the city’s high schools.

    During the three-hour training, we guided the group through Rubin resources, which integrate to Canvas for single sign-on, and had everyone develop a lesson plan for implementation at the start of the year. We also sent people back to their classrooms with motivational posters.

    “The Rubin training was one of the best professional development sessions I have ever been a part of,” said Wake County Career Development Coordinator Carla Thomas. “I can’t wait to use it personally, as well as in the classroom.”

    On that note, let the new year begin!

    raleigh cte teachers

    All smiles after our three-hour, in-person training!

     

    Rubin Implementation Specialist Mac Walsh works with a teacher who added Emerge curriculum items to her Canvas course.

     

    A fresh poster for the wall!

     

     

    At Rubin, we believe when you write well, you open doors. This teacher’s students will soon understand that lesson.

     

    We preach the value of showing people you care through active listening and follow-up questions.

     

    Another Rubin ambassador!

     

    Rubin Founder Danny Rubin stands with (from left to right) Wake County School-to-Career Specialists Gail McDougal and Rosalynn Tennie as well as Wake County CTE Director Jo Honeycutt.

    Newfound fans in the state capital of Raleigh.

  • GA Student Wins $5,000 in Scholarships Using Rubin “Storytelling” Method

    GA Student Wins $5,000 in Scholarships Using Rubin “Storytelling” Method

    The ultimate goal at Rubin is to provide teachers with high quality resources for college and career readiness they can share with students.

    We have no better example of such a pursuit than Lamar County Schools in Georgia southwest of Atlanta.

    Ms. Sharonda Bostic, a CTAE (career, technical and agriculture education) teacher in Lamar County, employs the Rubin “storytelling” method for cover letters and job interviews.

    In short, the story approach encourages students to share an example of a time they overcame a challenge (ex: school project, part-time job) rather than use words like “hardworking” or “problem solver.”

    Shorter than that, it means: show me, don’t tell me.

    Ms. Bostic went further. She helped her own son use the narrative approach for college scholarship essays.

    Lo and behold, her son won big — to the tune of $5,000 across five different scholarships. He begins college in fall 2022.

    “What better proof do I need?” Bostic said. “Rubin’s techniques win, plain and simple.”

    At Rubin, we want teachers to embrace our methods and share them with students to achieve real-world results.

    All you need to know is $5,000 in scholarship money from a short story about work ethic.

    What’s your student’s story worth?

    Explore our robust Emerge curriculum (which includes our “storytelling” unit) and find out!

    One story = 5K