Leigh Rubin, creator of Rubes comic strip, speaks at Cubberley's promotion ceremony

Leigh Rubin stood before hundreds of parents and students at Cubberley K-8 School in Long Beach’s Plaza neighborhood thinking of his formative years on the campus decades before.

Rubin, creator of the Rubes comic strip, attended Cubberley from kindergarten through the majority of his third grade year before moving in March 1967 to Northridge. He was asked to be the featured speaker at Thursday moing’s eighth grade promotion ceremony.

For Rubin, driving nearly five hours from his current home in Nipomo, Califoia to give a 10-minute speech was a small way to give back to the school and to his former third grade teacher, Joy Mullen, who he says helped set the foundation for his career as a cartoonist.

Up on the stage, Rubin pointed to a replica of his first drawing — a giant with its body on one sheet of poster board and head on another sheet. The drawing eaed laughs and smiles from his parents and kindergarten teacher, he said.

The pivotal moment, however, came while working on an art project in Mullen’s third grade class.

“It was one of those typical elementary school construction paper projects in which we were to cut out various shapes and glue them down with that gritty, white glue,” Rubin said. “So I’m cutting and pasting all sorts of shapes and circles and curlicues and it was all pretty abstract and when I was done, I proudly presented my masterpiece to Mrs. Mullen. She just gave me a lot of high praise for that creativity ... and that really meant the world to me, to have your teacher praise you for your art. If I’ve leaed one thing from my time at Cubberley, it’s never to underestimate the positive influence of a teacher.”

Rubin credits this early encouragement for helping kick off his career. Though his time at Cubberley had its downtus — getting busted for kicking sand in the sand box, forgetting the kickball on the playground after lunch during his short stint as ball monitor and twice throwing up in the school library — he says he always carried Mullen’s encouragement with him.

Mullen, whose grandson Jackson Alexander was among the 135 students being promoted Thursday moing, was all smiles.

“I’m just thrilled,” she said.