Category: High School

In the photo, Rubin Software Developer Austin Makohon shows Virginia Beach high school students proposed updates to Emerge, our online curriculum, to gain their feedback.

With every Zoom “raised hand” and comment in the chat, Rubin efforts to strengthen our Emerge employability skills curriculum came into better focus.

Thanks to feedback on April 6 from high school students within Virginia Beach City Public Schools, the Rubin team gained new ideas for:

• a smarter, more intuitive site navigational structure
• simpler instructions for classroom assignments
• easier way to see what lessons they have already completed

The Rubin team, alongside a group of software developers based in Serbia, takes the student insights into account as we build “version 2.0” of Emerge to be ready by the start of the 2022-2023 academic year.

“We are proud of the impact Emerge has on thousands of students nationwide for college and career readiness,” said Danny Rubin, the founder of Rubin. “Still, we are determined to take Emerge to the next level, smooth out user experience issues and make our platform the best it can be.”

Other planned changed to Emerge include:

• a fresh design for the log-in screen
• the addition of QR codes for Emerge digital badges (so people like employers can snap the QR code and find information about the skills obtained through the badge)
• enhanced middle school curriculum for email etiquette and interview skills

More to come in the months ahead!

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.”

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!

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.

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

The employer scans an applicant’s resume.

Words, words, words, words and more words.

But suddenly, something catches the employer’s eye. It’s a visual — bright blue and yellow with the words “Email Etiquette” emblazoned across the middle.

The employer is intrigued.

This young person has email skills. Fantastic. We need that in our office.

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Emerge, our signature online platform for business communication skills, has “digital badges” built into the core of our instruction.

When students learn a new skill (ex: write an email, speak on the phone to advance your career), they earn badges (or icons) to affix to a resume, LinkedIn profile or digital portfolio.

In spring 2020 at Dinwiddie High School in Central Virginia, a young woman (whose name we removed for privacy reasons) elected to add the Emerge “Email Etiquette” digital badge to her resume.

See the resume at the bottom of the page. Do you notice the blue and yellow achievement right away?

Dawn Cater, instructional specialist for career readiness within Dinwiddie County Public Schools, used Emerge throughout the year in an independent study course and felt the material gave her students a competitive edge.

“Emerge teaches real-life skills our students can apply as they look for college and and career opportunities,” Cater said. “The digital badges are proof positive of what the students learned and the colorful images jump off the page.”

Emerge offers 12 digital badges. They are:

• Email Etiquette
• Advanced Email Etiquette
• Advanced Networking Skills
• Client Relations
• Crowdfunding
• Grant Writing
• Interoffice Communication
• Phone Etiquette
• Advanced Public Relations
• Advanced Social Media Networking
• Sales Writing
• Website Copywriting

Here’s the Dinwiddie High School resume with the Emerge “Email Etiquette” digital badge.

We removed the student’s name and any sensitive information. But the digital badge stands proudly.

The moment Coronavirus sent Lowndes County students home for distance learning, Jason Van Nus had a plan.

As the work-based learning (WBL) coordinator for the county, Lowndes has spent the past school year using Emerge, our online curriculum for communication skills, in his workshops and classroom instruction for nearly 200 students.

Van Nus even helped a student, Kellylynn Lofton, secure a competitive job opportunity at the region’s biggest employer.

Now that students must learn from home, Van Nus again looked to Emerge for appropriate learning materials for students who can use online tools and those who can’t.

“I can incorporate the content from Emerge any way I need to,” says Van Nus. “It’s flexible for my students with internet access and it easily becomes a printed packet for those who don’t have internet or a device in which to access the internet.”

Van Nus prepared online and printed exercises from Emerge that cover three main topics:

• Handwritten notes to tell people thanks for their assistance
• “Storytelling” cover letter, a signature Rubin method that helps students share an example of their work ethic
• Phone etiquette skills

Van Nus coupled the activities with templates and guides from the Rubin book, Wait, How Do I Write This Email?, which is provided to teachers and students inside Emerge as an ebook.

For the students with internet and appropriate devices, Van Nus posted the assignments in Google Classroom.

And for the students without digital access, Van Nus put the information in a printed packet that students obtained from the school site closest to their homes.

“In particular, the handwritten note lessons in Emerge are perfect right now,” says Van Nus. “My students without internet access or digital devices can use paper and pen to complete the assignment — and they learn a valuable life skill at the same time.”

Even in a crisis, Rubin comes through.

How can Emerge help your school? Contact us to start the conversation.