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  • Check Out the Revamped Rubin Propel

    Check Out the Revamped Rubin Propel

    After several months of retooling, Rubin Propel is back in action with improved features!

    Most notably, Propel is:

    1. Mandatory
    2. A game!

    That’s right. Students now must use Propel and achieve a score of 85/100 a total of 20 times. Once they reach the “20” threshold, Propel becomes optional. Until that time, students must engage with Propel to learn critical lessons like:

    1. How to write a subject line (that doesn’t look like a text)
    2. How to address an adult appropriately
    3. How to leave a closing line and sign your name

    Check out the updated Propel and let us know what you think!

    Improves student writing immediately.

  • Rubin Leads District-Wide CTE Training in Philadelphia

    Rubin Leads District-Wide CTE Training in Philadelphia

    It was nothing but (brotherly) love on Tuesday, August 19 in Philadelphia.

    That’s because the Rubin team attended a back-to-school CTE training day at Kensington High School in downtown Philly to train teachers on our Emerge curriculum for employability skills.

    The training, which occurred in the school cafeteria, was fast paced and energetic. Teachers dove into our instruction — which integrates to Google Classroom — and popped up to ask questions and shout out activities they liked (How to notsend an email like a text message).

    We also had the chance to speak with Superintendent Dr. Tony B. Watlington, Sr. and explain the Rubin resources his teachers will use in the 25-26 academic year.

    We are grateful and excited to roll out Emerge across The School District of Philadelphia. Below are photos and videos from the day.

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    Philadelphia automotive teacher Ben Starcheski reviews a Rubin Emerge activity during a training on August 19, 2025.
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    Rubin Founder Danny Rubin smiles with The School District of Philadelphia Superintendent Dr. Tony B. Watlington, Sr. 
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    Philadelphia CTE teacher with her Rubin poster!
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    Rubin Founder Danny Rubin with several CTE teachers in Philadelphia who hold their new Rubin posters!

    Rubin + City of Brotherly Love

  • Rubin Team Kicks Off School Year in Miami, NOVA

    Rubin Team Kicks Off School Year in Miami, NOVA

    The Rubin team was on the move the week of August 11 at back-to-school events with CTE teams in Miami-Dade, Florida and Prince William County, Virginia.

    Within each school district, we engaged with admins, showed teachers how to access Rubin Emerge and Aspire resources and, of course, passed out Rubin posters!

    Here is a selection of photos from the trip.

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    Rubin Founder Danny Rubin smiles with Miami-Dade County Public Schools CTE Director Dr. Lupe Diaz.
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    Miami-Dade CTE teachers discuss ways to use Rubin’s Emerge and Aspire products at the Opening of Schools event.
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    Rubin Founder Danny Rubin poses with Prince William County CTE teachers after his workshop on using Rubin products in Canvas.

    Up and down the East Coast.

  • Rubin Partners with Largest Online Website for Homeschool Community

    Rubin Partners with Largest Online Website for Homeschool Community

    Rubin has partnered with Rainbow Resource Center, the nation’s largest provider of educational materials to homeschool families.

    Homeschool families can now purchase Rubin’s Emerge employability skills curriculum and Aspire career exploration platform on the Rainbow Resource website. The product pages feature descriptions, screenshots, demonstration videos and reviews written by Rainbow Resource “consultants,” a team of educators who help homeschool families identify learning materials.

    The Rubin team met representatives from Rainbow Resource Center at the 2025 convention of the Homeschool Educators Association of Virginia. There is a known “gap” for career development resources in the homeschool community, and Rubin hopes to fill that need with high-quality instruction for skills like email/phone etiquette, resume writing, job interview prep and career exploration videos.

    There are an estimated three million homeschool students in America as of the 25-26 academic year.

    “We set a goal in 2025 to expand to new audiences outside of the traditional public school setting,” said Rubin Founder Danny Rubin. “Until now, homeschool families did not have a comprehensive resource for career development, and we are excited to share our instruction with families across the country.”

    Rainbow Resource Center will feature Rubin on its homepage from August 12-18 to introduce Emerge and Aspire to the homeschool community.

    “The Walmart of homeschool products”

  • Rubin Connects with Friends, Customers at VATIE 2025

    Rubin Connects with Friends, Customers at VATIE 2025

    We had a wonderful time visiting with friends and customers on July 23 at the VATIE (Virginia Association of Trade and Industrial Educators) conference in Norfolk, Virginia. The annual event gathers CTE teachers from pathways like manufacturing and criminal justice.

    Rubin is proud to be a sponsor for the conference.

    Here are a few photos from the day!

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    Fairfax County teacher Danny Ewell, VATIE President Tanya Rogers, Loudoun County CTE Specialist Arnaz Dotivala and Rubin Founder Danny Rubin smile during the 2025 VATIE Conference in Norfolk, Virginia.
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    We are proud to be a VATIE conference sponsor!
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    Fairfax County criminal justice teacher Danny Ewell reviews Rubin Emerge topics he can incorporate into his Schoology courses. Fairfax County provides Rubin Emerge to CTE teachers district wide.

    Fun day in Norfolk, VA.

  • Progress Report: Changes Big and Small to Propel

    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
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    Propel gives the student an etiquette score, and the student can work to improve the score by making corrections.
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    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

    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.

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    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

    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!

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    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.

  • Rubin Visits National Corporate Training Conference, Sees Future of AI

    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.

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    Rubin founder Danny Rubin at ATD2025, the leading national conference for corporate training and development.

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    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

    300+ BPA Advisors Request End-of-Year Activities from Rubin

    BPA logo

    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.