Rubican Recognized
By State as Counselor
of the Year
Karen Rubican with Michael
Daniels, superintendent Canon-
McMillan School District.
K
aren Rubican was recognized as the Secondary School
Counselor of the Year by the Pennsylvania School Counselors
Association at its annual conference in November in Hershey.
Rubican is a counselor at Canon-McMillan High School. In
addition to working with a student caseload of more than 430
students, she currently serves as the college and career counselor
and coordinates SSD accommodations, fee waivers for SAT/ACT,
and scholarships for the high school. Previously, she served as AP
Coordinator when the high school was recognized as being on the
AP District Honor Roll.
She was the recipient of the multi-level College and Career
Counseling program award, also from the Pennsylvania School
Counselors Association, prior to her employment at Canon-
McMillan.
In 2018, she was a finalist for the National Superintendent’s
Association Women in School Leaders Award.
In addition to her work at Canon-McMillan High School,
Rubican is a past president of the Washington Fayette Greene
County Counselors Association, served as a Unit Rep for IU 1 for
PSCA, and holds memberships in the American School Counselor
Association, the Pennsylvania Association of College Admissions
Counselors, and the National Association of College Admissions
Counselors. She gave presentations at PSCA and at PACAC in 2018.
Rubican was also recently awarded an Imagine Grant, which
provides financial support to attend the NCAC conference in fall
2019.
Rubican has a BA in Psychology from California University of
PA, a Master of Science in Education in Community Counseling
Services, as well as a second Master of Science in Education in K-12
Educational Administration, both from Duquesne University.
She is a National Board Certified Counselor, and holds
professional certification from the Pennsylvania Department of
Education in Counseling and Educational Administration, as well
as a Certificate of Advanced Graduate Studies from Duquesne
University.
Fourth Graders at Muse Elementary School in the Canon-McMillan
School District Received a Grant to Plant the Muse Butterfly Garden
The students
began learning
about the
functions of a
living organism
by observing the
life cycle of monarch butterflies from the
egg stage found on local milkweed.
Over several weeks they learned
about the importance of pollinators,
such as butterflies and honeybees to our
environment. The class also discussed
why the numbers of monarch butterflies
and other pollinators have declined;
because of habitat loss, disease, and
pesticides.
Throughout the discussions, students
began working together to plan a
garden, doing parts to help the monarch
population grow.
With the help of Bedner’s Farm
and Greenhouse, students learned
about different types of plants that
would attract, feed, and provide a safe
environment for monarchs to lay their
eggs.
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CANON-MAC
In early September, the process
began when students planted asclepias
tuberosa (butterfly milkweed), asclepias
incarnata (swamp milkweed), Joe Pye
weed, Aster plants, coneflowers, and
common milkweed.
The students happily found within
days, that the butterflies had found
their garden and made it their home.
As the students worked to water the
plants, many of the butterflies greeted
them, some even landed on a few of the
students.
Near the end of the month, the
classroom butterflies were ready to be
released on their migration south to
Mexico.
The students were thrilled to be able
to release them outside to their garden
where they could feast on the many
flowers they had planted.
When spring weather returns, the
fourth graders will plant wildflower
seeds to attract the returning monarchs
and other pollinators to their beautiful
garden.
The students look forward to their
garden being enjoyed by their fellow
students and community members, as
well as the monarch butterflies, for many
years to come.