Press Release from Colton Campbell
Katie Rubino loves math. Need proof? She keeps a graphing calculator in her purse.
The Carrollton High School (CHS) senior is dual enrolled at the University of West Georgia for the last semester of her high school career, and she’s recently been named STAR student at her school, meaning she posted the highest SAT score in the class of 2018.
She has a passion for figuring out how the world works through the exactitude of numbers, and she wants to share it with others by becoming a mathematics professor one day.
Rubino just started taking dual enrollment courses at UWG in January, but she can already see the value the classes will bring to her life after high school and college.
“I was really interested in finding out how college works and experiencing the tougher course load before I start my college classes next fall,” Rubino said. “So far it’s been a great experience, and I think it will be a great transition from high school to college.”
The high school senior, who wants to major in mathematics at either Georgia Tech or the University of Georgia, is taking English and biology classes at UWG this semester, along with other classes at CHS. She’s also working at a tax office in her field of choice before she even graduates high school.
Rubino said there are “no sacrifices” associated with dual enrollment – just more flexibility.
“Dual enrollment really allows me to get the best of both worlds of high school and college,” Rubino said. “I get to attend all the activities associated with being a high school senior and see my friends all the time, but I also get the freedom of coming to UWG and attending these higher-level classes that I couldn’t get at high school.”
The biggest difference Rubino has seen in herself since starting college classes a month ago is an increase in confidence level.
“I don’t have to worry about the typical high school worries or insecurities like what I’m wearing to class or what people think of me,” Rubino said. “I get to be myself and do what I want to do, and that freedom has been so liberating already.”
When Rubino found out she’d been named the STAR student for the CHS class of 2018, and that she got to choose one teacher who has had the biggest effect on her education to be her STAR teacher, only one educator came to mind.
“I had Mrs. [Kim] Eason for math classes for a total of four years, from sixth grade through ninth grade,” Rubino said. “I had to choose her.”
Eason said she’s “honored” to have been chosen by Rubino to be her STAR teacher.
“It is especially humbling because I know what great teachers she has had in her years at Carrollton City Schools,” Eason said. “This recognition has special significance for me because Katie is a part of my last full cohort of Accelerated Math students at CJHS – a group that will always be special to me.”
The STAR student award is presented to the graduating senior who posts the highest SAT score of his or her cohort and is in the top 10 percent of the class. Rubino received an almost perfect score in math. She is the daughter of James and Terri Rubino (a 1996 graduate of UWG) of Villa Rica.
CUTLINE: Katie Rubino, a Carrollton High School student, is also dual enrolled at the University of West Georgia. A mathematics lover, Rubino was recently named the high school’s STAR student for the class of 2018, meaning she has the highest SAT score of all the students in her class.
###
UWG serves more than 13,500 students from across Georgia, 37 other states and 72 countries. Perennially ranked by U.S. News and World Report as a top national university, West Georgia offers 88 fields of study, including business, nursing, education, STEM, social sciences and the arts. It generates a regional economic impact of nearly $520 million and provides a safe, quality and affordable college experience that transforms lives.
