Teachers
You ran out of bracelets on your cart, said you would come back with more, and then forgot.
Prevention: write down everything and check your notes when you're done visiting classes
De-escalation: apologize to the teacher and students, offer a special party if teacher seems upset
Solution: bring the missing bracelets as soon as possible
A parent stops you at end of the day high fives to ask what Apex is.
Stop what you're doing and explain
we're working with the PTA to raise money for (funds for) and we get to visit the classes every day this week and next week to teach leadership, and the event will be on (date)
your student will also have a pledge badge you can log in with by taking a picture
A student breaks their foam dart and asks for a new one.
prevention: tell students in class before you hand them out that they will only get one and to keep it in their backpack
de-escalation: hear them out, "aw, I break things too sometimes" "I don't like when things break either"
solution: take it by situation, if they're 11 and broke it at recess, they don't need a new one. If they're 5 and their dog ate it, give a new one directly to the teacher, not to the student.
A floater put away all the pep rally prizes for you, but in all the wrong boxes.
prevention: give floaters specific instructions so they don't pick a random way to help and do it wrong
de-escalation: thank them for their help and work with them to fix it (it won't take that long)
solution: let them know for next time that the boxes are labeled so they don't do it again next time they are a floater
The PTA wants to know if Apex can come to the school's Halloween Carnival.
Let them know that you'll check with the team. Ask Trevor and Ron/Christina. Almost always, we can go to fun school events, we just need to make sure a team member is available.
You show up on Team Day 2 and the teacher still hasn't filled in the poster, even though they said they would do it themselves.
Prevention: fill in empty posters Team Day 1, bring a pre-filled poster to offer
De-escalation: "No problem, we can choose something right now.. (offer three choices) which do you like for the first one?"
Solution: fill in the poster for them in class in front of the students, offer to take the poster and do it for them or to come during recess/lunch to help
Parent donated $20 per lap, then yells at you when you call to confirm, and tells you that the company is a scam because you're trying to take all their money.
Prevention: start call with "we don't want to over charge you on accident, so we're calling to confirm..."
De-escalation: use your best friend-I'm on your side voice, not your customer service you're a number on a list voice.
Solution: Agree with them-I'm happy to change it to $20 flat, I'm glad you let me know
Kindergartener is crying because they logged in but didn't get a prize.
prevention: have the students repeat back every day that prizes come from the share wizard or from money
de-escalation: hype up that they helped their team by logging in and how cool the shirt will be
solution: explain they did a great job on the first step, next they can use the share wizard for free
A teammate shows up 30 minutes late to pep rally day, with a donut and no texts
prevention: confirm arrival time the day before and the day of
de-escalation: get done what you can without them, and have a job ready for them when they arrive, don't waste time on being upset, deal with it when the work is done
solution: after the pep rally, remind the teammate to tell trevor that they were late and that you had to do their work without them and didn't know where they were without a text (don't tell them it was okay, because it's not)
An adult you don't recognize comes up to you during the fun run to talk to you, and acts like you've met, but you don't remember who they are.
You are memorable because you're wearing bright orange, but you're not going to remember everyone you meet.
Make a judgment call: you can either ask them for their name again, or continue the conversation and pretend that you remember them and ask your teammate later who it was.
The teacher brought all the students out to the Fun Run five minutes late and without any water bottles.
Prevention: intercom reminder the morning of the Fun Run to bring water bottles to the run. Offer to help TK/Kinder teachers with shirt/wristband distribution at the run if they come early
De-escalation: act like they've done nothing wrong, welcome them in and continue.
Solution: give a volunteer the roster and ask them to start labeling cups with student names. Start the chants without them, and have a team member ready to show them where to go when they arrrive.
86 year old grandma calls the school and asks how to make a donation to the jog-a-thon.
Prevention: leave an FAQ with the front office
De-escalation: I'm so glad you called, thank you for donating
Solution: do you want to donate online or with cash/check? give instructions...
A fifth grader tells all his friends that Apex is a scam because we take half the money.
prevention: explain to older students on day 1 that $30 for a slap bracelet is crazy right? That's because $30 is for field trips, STEM, and assemblies, and to help your school and just a little bit goes to the slap bracelet
de-escalation: why would your school invite us if we were here to hurt your school?
solution: explain to students in class that the money goes directly to the PTA for (whatever they're raising money for) and some of the money helps pay for the prizes, the shirts, and the leadership program
You get caught in traffic and will be 10 minutes late.
Prevention: plan for traffic and leave way earlier than what seems necessary.
De-escalation: text your team and Trevor to let them know you will be late
Solution: use a map app to show you the best route around traffic
In the PTA room, the parents start talking about the upcoming election.
Prevention: be too busy working to participate
De-escalation: leave and go play with the kids at P.E.
Solution: avoid talking politics at school
Teacher is mad that you didn't respond to their 5:00pm email until 5:00am the next day.
Prevention: Remind teachers that you check your emails during school hours (they don't always listen)
De-escalation: apologize and answer their questions
Solution: talk with the principal/PTA and let them know who is upset and why, some teachers are just really irritable.
A parent comes to the front office and wants to donate, but only speaks Russian.
Google Translate is your friend! Use speech-to-text to help answer their questions. We also have a digital version of the pledge kit in Russian, Arabic, Korean, Mandarin, Vietnamese, and Spanish.
You told a student you would play basketball at lunch then got busy and missed it.
prevention: never make a promise, super emphasizes that you will do your best, but you might not be able to come
de-escalation: tell the student that you were wrong and apologize
solution: play basketball at the next recess/lunch even if it's fun run day. Give the student an apology gift (leftover SP from the previous year) if they are being incredibly polite/kind/understanding
A teacher stops you in the hallway and asks if their Apex person will be coming soon, they were supposed to be there five minutes ago.
Don't blame your teammate, solve the problem and talk to them later, maybe they're sick, or their whole cart fell over and spilled, or their last class had an emergency and they had to stay a little longer.
Start the class visit without their regular Apex person. Let the class know that the other Apex person is running behind but you're so excited that you get to visit and get started right away.
Text/tell your teammate that you did the class visit for them and that they'll need to explain to the teacher later what happened.
Only 3 volunteers show up to the sixth grade Fun Run.
Prevention: talk with volunteers from the younger grades and see if anyone can stay. Warn teachers that we might need their help if we don't get enough volunteers
De-escalation: jump in right away to help with volunteer positions
Solution: ask all available adults to step in and help (and maybe bring the teachers a special thank you gift the next day for stepping in to help last minute. donuts are a great one)
Teacher is upset that you will not be able to come to their water balloon party that they earned the day before the Fun Run and scheduled for Follow Up Day. (They were told twice in emails that Wednesday before Fun Run is the last day for Apex to do class parties).
Prevention: tell teachers in front of students that Wednesday is the last day we can do class parties. Tell them on monday tuesday and wednesday of week 2
De-escalation: talk with PTA/principal to see if they know more about why the teacher is upset (examples: that teacher just complains about everything, they never read their emails, they had knee surgery and can't help the kids with the water balloons) then talk privately with teacher (listening!)
Solution: Apologize, offer an easier alternative, or offer to fill the balloons for them.
A parent yells at you for playing dodgeball with a class, after the principal and teacher both approved it, and the kids had lots of fun.
Prevention: call it a "Foam ball" not a dodgeball, play the version where you never get out, you help your team from the outside
De-escalation: listen to why they are upset (kids could get hurt, encourages bullying) and respond to that (don't say, well the principal said it was okay)
Solution: explain that we use foam dodgeballs and play the team version where students can help their team even when they are out, students do not pick their own teams. explain the part they are upset about
A TK student with special needs screams the entire time you visit class every day and distracts the other students from the visit.
prevention: talk with teachers before your first class about any accommodations their students might need and how they would like to participate in the Apex program
de-escalation: move yourself to the opposite part of the room so students are looking your way, not at the upset student
solution: talk with the teachers who know them best during lunch/recess about how they would like to proceed.
Your teammate smells (very) bad every day after recess and doesn't know it.
Prevention: Keep deodorant in your bag and reapply on your break whether or not you think you smell.
De-escalation: make it clear it's not a personal attack, you're here to help because you care about them.
Solution: You have to tell them because the smell is unprofessional, and will reflect badly on the team.
The Principal and PTA don't get along, and put you in the middle.
Prevention: go back on what your school has done previously
De-escalation: make a pro-con list to help them see
Solution: ultimately, the principal decision is the final decision.