Doorstop Club Packet

Online: fix.school/doorstops/teacher-beef

Online, a student describes the problem and Doorstop sorts it into one of 17 types, then offers a script, a mentor and a practice conversation. Nothing typed there goes to the teacher or school. The scripts and email templates live in the online guide, so this page is the part you teach out loud: find the root issue, build the soft skills, and rehearse.

Find the root issue

A problem with a classmate, a friend, a parent or the cafeteria isn’t a teacher problem, and none of this fits it. Coaches, substitutes and teaching assistants do count as teachers. What a teacher teaches often comes from state standards, the district curriculum or a program like AP. If it’s out of their hands, that is a curriculum conversation, not a teacher one.

Soft skills for the conversation

• Lead with something nice. Start with something you actually like about the class or the teacher. It shows you’re not there to attack them.
• Make eye contact if you can. It shows you mean it. If that’s hard, looking near their face is fine.
• Don’t swear or cuss. Not even a little, and not to show how much it bugs you. It’s the fastest way to get a no.
• Keep it constructive. Nothing outright mean or negative. Instead of “your class is boring,” try “I learn best when we get to do hands-on stuff.”
• Be specific, and own your part. One real example beats “you’re unfair.” Say what you could do differently, too.
• Ask for something small, and offer something back. “Could we try it for a week?” is easier to say yes to than a permanent change.

Rehearse before you talk

Nobody says it well the first time. In the online roleplay a student practices with an AI teacher, by voice or typing, and picks one of four types. Pairs in your club can play the same four.

Build a positive connection first

• Find something to say thank you to them for.
• Ask a real question during class, if you’re usually quiet.
• Say hi and ask how they are when you walk in every day.
• Arrive a few minutes early, if you can, and ask how their day is going.

Once you’ve done those things enough times, you can bring up the hard thing.

Online: fix.school/doorstops/care

The five-finger test. Hold up one hand: five fingers. Thirteen questions follow. For some, a “no” puts a finger down. For others, a “yes” puts one down, or brings one back up. Be honest: nobody sees your answers but you. Pick one teacher and answer for that teacher only.

Part 1: The basics

Tick the box for yes. Leave it empty for no. Every empty box puts a finger down.

• Do they know your name?
• Do they get to class on time, with a planned-out lesson?
• Do they stay late after school, or talk to students after class?
• Do they show emotion? Do they ever smile?

Part 2: Red flags

Tick the box for yes. Every ticked box puts a finger down.

• They have CLEAR favorites, or only talk to the popular kids.
• They never make eye contact with you.
• They’ve never tried to talk to you or ask how you’re doing.
• They’re strict for no reason, or just plain mean.

Part 3: Green flags

Tick the box for yes. Every ticked box puts a finger up (bonus fingers count).

• They’re honest. They’ll tell you when the district is making them do something pointless.
• They show up with energy almost every day and never drag through class.
• They put teaching first. Phone on silent, no getting sidetracked.
• They handle tough moments without flinching, like quieting a disruptive kid without embarrassing them.
• They make an effort: they ask about the game or the musical, or run a Kahoot once in a while.

What your count means

Online: fix.school/doorstops/care

Rapport is made of small, real moments. Most students only talk to a teacher when something is wrong, which makes every conversation harder. This card is a week of tiny moves. Do them before you need to ask for anything.

Send the message early, keep it short, and say what you will do in return. Before anyone sends one, run it past a friend in pairs: read it aloud, and see how it sounds to the person on the other end.

Online: fix.school/skills/negotiating

Why it matters

You can negotiate for almost anything, and you’re going to have to. Getting a raise, buying a car, compromising with your significant other. School is your first opportunity. Anything can be a negotiation once you realize you have leverage.

A test date, a late-work policy, the seating chart, the phone rule, what happens the Friday before break: somebody decided each of those, and most of them can move. Teachers want an engaged class. Admins want fewer complaints. That’s your leverage.

Build stronger negotiating skills

Look for opportunities in class to negotiate. If you feel like you’ve been assigned too much homework, don’t just groan: propose a solution.

1. 01

   Find out what they want.

   A teacher worried that retakes reward cramming might say yes if students have to do test corrections first.

2. 02

   Bring an offer, not a complaint.

   “Could we move the test to Monday if we use Friday for a review game?” beats “this is too much.”

3. 03

   Know your fallback.

   Ask for Friday, be ready to take Thursday night.

4. 04

   Get it in writing.

   Send a two-line email that closes the loop.

5. 05

   Treat “no” as information.

   Ask, “What would need to be true for this to work?” and come back with that.

Activity: The pizza negotiation

A negotiation game with real pizza. Pairs get one slice and a secret card. The first round is about style: how you negotiate changes what you get, and how it feels. The second is you, as yourself: what do you actually want from the slice, and can the two of you agree? The optional third is a real school issue. Everyone eats at the end.

1. 01

   Pair up and set the rule (2 minutes).

   Each pair gets a plate with one slice. Nobody eats until both of you say yes out loud. If there is no deal in four minutes, the slice goes back in the box.

2. 02

   Round 1, style (5 minutes).

   Each player gets a style card. Read it, keep it secret, and negotiate how to split the slice in that style. Be pushy if your card says so, but never mean: no insults, and nobody touches the pizza before the deal. Afterward, guess your partner’s style and say how it felt.

3. 03

   Round 2, as yourself (5 minutes).

   New partner, new slice, no cards. Play yourself. Decide what you actually want from the slice (the cheesy middle, the crust, a few bites, most of it) and see if the two of you can agree. Ask what your partner wants before you propose anything.

4. 04

   Round 3, optional (5 minutes).

   A real school issue instead of pizza: the date of a test. One of you plays the student and the other plays the teacher, using the Round 3 cards. Can you agree on a date? Swap roles and try again if there is time.

5. 05

   Debrief (8 minutes), then eat.

   Use the questions on the last page.

Online: fix.school/skills/email

Why it matters

Email is how adults get things done. Extensions, meetings with the principal, recommendation letters, summer jobs: they usually start with an email.

The basics

1. 01

   Write a subject line that says what and why.

   “Question about Friday’s lab report,” not “hi” or “URGENT!!!” Keep it under about 60 characters so it doesn’t get cut off.

2. 02

   Get the greeting right.

   Anyone who works for the school or district (teachers, counselors, principals, board members) gets a title and last name. People outside the school system, like a reporter, an alum, or a local business owner, get their first name.

3. 03

   Match the formality.

   Full sentences, no slang, no emoji, and never “hey” to an administrator. Sign off with “Thank you,” or “Best,” plus your full name.

4. 04

   Get to the point.

   Your first sentence says why you’re writing. Then go line by line and ask: does cutting this remove meaning? If not, cut it.

5. 05

   Use short paragraphs, one idea each.

   Nobody reads a wall of text on a phone.

6. 06

   Make one clear ask, and make it easy to answer.

   Yes-or-no questions and specific times (“I’m free to meet Tuesday or Thursday after school”) get faster replies.

7. 07

   Follow up politely.

   Wait two or three school days (a week for busy admins), then reply in the same thread: “Just bumping this in case it got buried!”

8. 08

   Proofread once.

   Read it aloud, check their name, check the attachment. Send.

Don’t reread it a dozen times. Send.

A sample email to a teacher

Activity: Email speed-edit

Pairs rewrite messy emails using the checklist from the email guide, then trade rewrites with another pair, who play the recipient. The test is simple: can they answer in one line?

1. 01

   Warm-up (3 minutes).

   Take this 31-word first line down to about 10 words: “I’m writing to you today because I was hoping that maybe you might be able to help me with the lab report that we have due on Friday, if that’s okay.” (One answer: “Could you help me with the lab report due Friday?”)

2. 02

   Rewrite (4 minutes each).

   Pairs get one bad email at a time. Rewrite it on a laptop or on paper. Fix as many checklist items as you can, and aim for a first line of 15 words or fewer.

3. 03

   Reply test (2 minutes each).

   Trade rewrites with another pair. Read it as the recipient and answer in one line, or say, “I’m not sure what you want.” If the reply is confused, the writers fix it and try again.

4. 04

   Debrief (5 minutes).

   Which fix saved the most words? Which one changed how the email felt? What would you change in your own last email?

Five bad emails

Online: fix.school/skills/coldemail

Why it matters

Every email to someone new can turn into something: advice, feedback, a friend, a summer job, or the name of who to email next. Everybody has an email address and checks it religiously. A spot in their inbox is free.

Worst case? No reply. Best case, a school board member, a local reporter, or an alum doing your dream job is a few sentences away. Along the way you learn to pitch yourself, write better, and find out that almost anyone is reachable.

This guide is about who to email and how to make them care. For subject lines, greetings, short paragraphs and proofreading, start with “Writing Great Emails.”

Practice with five emails

Do these in order. Each one is a little scarier than the last.

1. 01

   Pitch yourself.

   Email yourself about what cold email could do for you: goals, questions, people you’d love to meet. Give it a subject that shares the gist and a reason to click, built around a verb: “Asking about the late-start proposal.” The point is getting comfortable hitting send.

2. 02

   Email a friend.

   Something low stakes you’d normally text. Formality matches context, so write it the way you’d talk to them. Try making your first line as short as it can be without losing meaning.

3. 03

   Send something you care about.

   Still to a friend, but now it matters to you: a proposal, a poem, a problem at school that bugs you. Notice how your feelings show up in the words you pick.

4. 04

   Ask a stranger a question.

   Your first real cold email. Find a local reporter’s article about your district and ask them something about it. Introduce yourself, show you read it and cared, ask your question. Value your ideas more than two minutes of their time. If you’re not sure how to greet someone you don’t know: outside the school system, “Hi Dana,”; teachers, principals and board members, “Hi Ms. Reyes,”. If they sign off with their first name, you can follow their lead.

5. 05

   Take the plunge.

   Something personal: a small ask, a story, a shot in the dark. An alum, a school board member, the author of a study your teacher assigned.

You won’t hear back from everyone. Trust your value and keep going. A few emails a week beats twenty in one night.

Find the person

There’s an email behind almost everything you read or watch. The district website lists board members. The local paper lists its reporters. Your counselor knows alumni. Authors and researchers usually list a contact, and a creator’s manager usually has one too.

When you have a name but no address, search in this order: their own website, then a public profile, then an email-finder tool as a last resort.

A worked example

When our founder Ben was building a writing course, he wanted a climate writer (call him Steve) to record a short video for students. Finding Steve’s address took three minutes: Steve’s own site first, then a public profile where he’d listed it.

Cut until it hurts

Ben’s draft opened with “I’m emailing because.” It said nothing, so it went. Do the same to your own first line: for each phrase, ask whether cutting it loses any meaning. If not, cut it.

Don’t reread it a dozen times. Send.

Make them care

People don’t have short attention spans. They have short decision spans. The first few sentences decide whether they keep reading.

• Passion first. Be personal and open right away. Why does this matter to you?
• Signal credibility. A project, a survey, your role (“student council treasurer”). Link to it instead of pasting it in. A school email address helps.
• Ask, don’t assume. Not “I’d love to meet,” but “Would you be free to meet?” Offer a few times so replying takes one line.
• Effort shows. A one-page plan or a short slide deck can turn a cold email into a meeting, and sometimes a mentor.

Skip anything that sounds spammy (“free,” “buy now”), pandering, or demanding.

Getting to someone important

Want the superintendent, the mayor, or a state legislator? One cold email can work. A path usually works better.

• Map the circles. Who makes the decision, and who do they listen to?
• Talk to two or three people who know them: a teacher, the PTA president, a board member. They can tell you what the person cares about, and some will offer to introduce you.
• Mention who you’ve already talked to (“I spoke with Mr. Lopez, who thought…”). It shows you’re serious.
• Pitch what they personally care about, not just what their office does.
• Watch for competing interests. The person you get handed off to might not want extra work, so make yes easy for them too.

Here’s that in action. Ms. Alvarez is on the school board. Maya, a junior, watched her speak at a board meeting.

Emailing at scale

Sometimes you need a lot of people, like 100 alumni for a scholarship fund. Ben would still rather send 10 targeted emails backed by real work than 100 generic ones. Going broad only beats going targeted when you don’t have much work to show yet.

Make it a habit

Don’t expect most strangers to reply. A few good replies is a win. After your first five, pick a focus for the next five: a summer job, advice on a career, feedback on a proposal. Then teach a friend. For extra credit, rewrite one email four ways (passive-aggressive, enraged, impassioned, despondent) and notice what changes, word by word.

Activity: The 30-minute outreach sprint

This worksheet walks through the mentor and internship guides as a timed sprint. Keep the guides open next to it for the templates and the one-sentence pitch. Done means sent.

1. 01

   Pick a path (2 minutes)

   • Internship: a company near you, or one from the Y Combinator list at ycombinator.com/companies.
   • Mentor: someone you read online, or a person from the alumni search in the mentor guide.
   • Research: a postdoc, searched with “[college name] [topic] postdoctoral researcher.”
2. 02

   Find a target (6 minutes)

   Write the name and one reason you picked them. ________________________________________

3. 03

   Do the homework (6 minutes)

   • Internship: try their product and write three things you would improve, in your own area of interest.
   • Mentor or research: read an article or an abstract and write one honest sentence, such as what you understood and what surprised you.
4. 04

   Find the email (3 minutes)

   • Search for “[person’s name] email” and look around their site.
   • At a company, find anyone’s email there. They usually share a format, like firstinitial.lastname@company.com.
5. 05

   Draft (8 minutes)

   • Use the template that fits your path in the guides. Fill every blank.
   • Add your one-sentence pitch with real hours in it.
   • Offer a narrow time window and a wide one, like “Mondays and Tuesdays after 3pm and any time Fridays.”
6. 06

   Swap and test (3 minutes)

   Your partner reads it against the checklist below.

7. 07

   Send (2 minutes)

   Hit send, then write it in the log below.

Online: fix.school/skills/smallasks

Big ask vs. small ask

Small asks to steal

Easy to say yes to, easy to send. Try one this week.

Online: fix.school/doorstops/mentor

Mentors save you time because they have done exactly what you are about to do. They help the way a coach or a friendly older sibling does. They tell you about their terrible life choices, from career chats to the ice cream they ate for lunch every day before they realized they were lactose intolerant. They put you in touch with other smart people, and they vouch for you. Growth. Emotional support. Free food.

Start with what you want

Choosing a mentor

Your ideal mentor is a confident college junior or senior, or a recent grad working in an industry you are curious about. Start by asking your teacher whether they know anyone in that industry. Teachers are adults and have adult friends who can help.

Even better, pick someone you read about online. It could be a journalist who wrote something you like, or a video editor who works for a YouTuber you follow. If you are not sure where to start, search “youth mentorship [my city],” or try an online program: ADPList or Matriculate.

Want to do research? Email postdocs, not professors

Professors are busy and overloaded. Postdocs need to mentor people for their own career progress: their CVs get stronger when they list “last author” publications, where they advise the “first author,” the person driving the research. You can be that first author. Search “[college name] research labs” or “[college name] [topic] postdoctoral researcher,” find their emails, and write.

Read papers the postdoc has published, even just the abstract if the content is confusing, and mention one in your email. Here is the same compliment three ways, about a paper on cystic fibrosis mucus and gene therapy:

Write an amazing one-sentence self-pitch

Allison is a college sophomore. She has worked in a lab for a year but feels like she has not achieved much: no papers, nothing flashy. She loves the work and gives it a lot of time. Here is her one-sentence pitch:

Allison is a UC Berkeley sophomore with 300 hours in an imaging systems lab; 50 hours in 1:1 conversation with biomed PIs, professors, and founders; and 100+ iterations of nanoparticle synthesis.

She focused on what she has done the most of, and readers realize that is a lot of hours for a sophomore. For cool phrases, look at the back of books and borrow from reviewers talking about the author. That is where Allison found a line in her longer bio: “When energy levels are low, she is a one-woman defibrillator.”

Say you want to do cancer research and you have only taken one chemistry class. Phrase it like this:

Or do a little math:

Can’t find their email?

1. Google “[person’s name] email” and poke around.
2. If you get results from a site like Apollo or Rocketreach, it is fine to make a free account to see emails. Those sites are legit.
3. If they work at a company, find someone’s email there. All the emails will follow the same format, like firstinitial.lastname@company.com.

Not sure what careers interest you? The Doorstop guide on finding careers is still being built, so for now use the “not sure” path above and ask a teacher what they would try.

Online: fix.school/doorstops/intern

1. 01

   Choose a company near you, or one you like online.

   Try the Y Combinator list of companies (ycombinator.com/companies). You can filter by industry, and a lot of them would take high school interns because they are new: they need smart people who are happy to help, and they do not care whether you have a college degree.

2. 02

   Find three things you would improve.

   This is how you impress them. Try out their product: what was annoying, boring, or a missed opportunity? Think about how they make money: what else could they do? Give suggestions on what you are interested in, whether that is design, marketing or video.

3. 03

   Email them and ask for an internship.

   Use the template below. Offer a narrow time window and a wide one, like “Mondays and Tuesdays after 3pm and any time Fridays.” It makes it easy to say yes.

Too ambitious? Play it cool

Start with a small ask. Anyone you find in a career you are interested in will probably be open to a 30-minute conversation, an informational interview, and you can wrap one up by asking if they know anyone looking for interns.

Online: fix.school/doorstops/college/insider

Get research opportunities by emailing postdocs, not professors

Professors are old, tired, and bored. Postdocs need to give mentorship for their career progress. Their CVs get much stronger when they list “last author” publications, or publications where they advise the “first author,” the person driving the research. You can be that first author! Read scientific papers in your field, look for authors who are postdocs (usually, if you’re doing a search on Google Scholar for journal articles, postdocs are first or second authors), find their emails, and reach out! They’ll be much more responsive than professors.

Look at a college’s common data set to see what factors it considers

Search for “[college] common data set” and you’ll see a table of what they look for, usually on page seven or eight. This information can help you focus your energy on what your top schools care about.

If you don’t have a top choice, apply to a target school EA

If the schools you’re most interested in don’t consider demonstrated interest as a factor, this will save you time. Why send your first application, your first attempt at something new and challenging, to one of your top choices if they won’t even give you preference for applying early? Get some practice writing essays first. Apply to a school in the upper-middle part of your list (with a generous financial aid track record if that’s important to you). That way, if you get in, you won’t have to waste time applying to schools you’re less excited about.

Don’t waste your activities list

You only have 150 characters to talk about the ten things you spend the most time on. Minimize the space you spend writing anything that isn’t unique to you. Don’t waste it saying “organized, publicized, and ran club meetings” when your title of Club President already implies that. Focus on specific achievements that most other club presidents have not achieved and humanize your activities: don’t be afraid to share a personal touch.

Be very careful talking about mental health in essays

The topic is not completely off limits, but it must be handled with extreme care. Read the case against mental health in essays first. Then read the case for writing about trauma and other sensitive topics, as well as mental health if you’re really feeling bold. If you do choose to write about difficult subjects, understand that the topic is not straightforward.

Two more rules of thumb

• Hedge risky bets.
• Don’t use crazy, essay-spanning metaphors, but do have a theme.

Online: fix.school/doorstops/college/support

Your recommenders will be the only non-you humans present in your application. They will give a fair perspective on who you are and what motivates you. It won’t seriously harm your application if your recommendation letter sounds like every other student’s, but it will be a wasted opportunity.

Besides working hard and smart in class, here’s how to stand out: ask for help, be early, and bring your best self to at least two classes.

Start with a few honest questions

Ask yourself, do you ask for help when you need it? Do you help others when they need it? Are you on time, or early? Are you listening attentively? Do you ask questions that make class more interesting? Do you care about class, and does it spark your curiosity? If your intuitive answer is no, here’s the best reason to change your mind: you have to sit through class anyway, so wouldn’t it be rewarding to try making it interesting?

Bring your best self to two classes

Going above and beyond in classrooms, whether that’s asking for help on a topic you’re struggling with or asking for extra material on a topic you’re excited about, is the best way to develop curiosity, open-mindedness, and psychological flexibility. Make a conscious effort to bring your best self to at least two classes, but don’t force it. Your intention shouldn’t be getting the recommendation. Not only will your teacher see through any excessive sucking up, here’s the juicy bit: give this experience a genuine effort, with the goal of helping others, of being flexible, kind, curious.

You don’t build teacher friendships by acting all tough and smart and network-y. You do it by being vulnerable: by asking for help on small things, by opening up, by respecting yourself and others, and, if you can, by being irreverently kind. Doing these things is not “hard” like solving a tricky math problem is. They’re scary but straightforward. Don’t force yourself to develop every quality, but think about a few you’d want to try.

• Ask a teacher when you’re unsure on what, why, or how to do something. Ask after class if you’re uncomfortable at first. Even this requires vulnerability: send the question in an email if all else fails.
• Think about topics the class doesn’t have time to cover. If a teacher opens class with, “Today… X, Y, and Z,” ask after class about what X, Y, and Z were like 50 years ago, or what reading you could do to learn more about their past.
• Try showing up to a class 10 minutes early every day for a week. Five minutes if your schedule’s tight. 30 seconds if it’s to the wire. Having a consistent interaction where you send the positive signal of “I’m early, I care about this class,” no matter how brief, will have a positive impact on your relationship and shared respect.
• Be mindful of when your peers are uncomfortable or confused. There usually won’t be something you can do about it (don’t loudly interrupt class to resolve the discomfort), but there will be opportunities where this shows. We all know who the smart kids are in a class, who’s paying attention, who doesn’t care, who likes who. Focusing more on the emotional side will make helping your peers easier when you get the chance.
• Make a classroom environment better by listening better. We all think of ourselves as good listeners, but there are tiny things we do in classes that send positive, reassuring signals to teachers. Good posture and eyes on the whiteboard make a difference because they’re contagious. If the front row of a class is slouching, everyone behind them will pay a little less attention. Sit up a little straighter. Don’t twiddle your pencil. Don’t start zipping up your backpack two minutes before the bell. (More in the listening guide: doorstops/listen.)

If it feels rewarding, carry yourself this way more often, even outside of class, and watch serendipity follow.

Why it matters beyond college

By building more relationships out of kindness, vulnerability, and a passion to go the extra mile, you’ll find yourself with a group of friends and mentors willing to vouch for you, defend you, and support you. Sometimes, this is for a specific goal (getting a good college recommendation), but other times, you’ll only realize you’ve successfully found these people when you need them most: a place to sleep when you don’t have one, a lone voice willing to speak up when you’ve been wrongly accused, a deciding vote in your favor that breaks a split decision.

If I’ve become more sincere, it’s because of a lot of positive reinforcement. People can tell and it surprises them. Having a few people say, completely sincerely, ‘Why you so cheesy?’ ‘Why you so nice?’ is hilarious, like a gotcha moment in the universe.

Online: fix.school/doorstops/college/unique

What Harvard actually scores

Harvard ranks applicants on a scale from one to six, one being the highest. In 2019, 0.5% received a one for academic strength, 0.3% for extracurricular strength, and fewer than 50 applicants for personal rating.

Of 37,000, fewer than 50 were considered to have “truly outstanding qualities of character,” which, according to internal documents, includes “such considerations as what kind of contribution would the person make to the dining hall conversation, to study groups, and to society as a whole after graduation.”

Of these “truly outstanding” applicants, one third were not admitted.

So what should you focus on?

For students, the college process should not revolve around the 5% acceptance rate, or scoring a one, or doing all the Right Things to get in. Admissions is an imprecise process with no review mechanisms that evaluate long-term success. Based on the Harvard documents, conversations with hundreds of students at elite schools, and post-mortems of successful and unsuccessful applications, Doorstop has determined that a student has the highest chance of success, in admissions and long after, if they have passion and can show they have it.

Passionate students get in. They might be nationally recognized engineers, they might be amateur painters. For some students, developing passion is a challenge; for others, the challenge is being open about it to recommenders, to interviewers, and in essays.

If showing it is the hard part, start with essay practice and with building relationships with your recommenders. Both are in this section of the packet.

Online: fix.school/doorstops/college/practice

Even though essays are considered to be a third of your application, as important as all of your grades and test scores combined, most students have never written about themselves before. Writing college essays takes a skillset completely different from the analytical essays you write in school. Three writing prompts walk you through developing that skillset.

Prompt 1: respond to a simple prompt, then add feelings

Prompt 2: ask “recursive why” questions

Prompt 3: engaging readers from the start

Write a lot, and read a lot. When you’re ready to polish, run every draft through the essay checklist on the next pages.

Online: fix.school/doorstops/college/checklist

Make one copy of this page for each essay and supplement you’re writing (the Common App essay, plus every college’s extras), and tick every question that essay passes. You don’t have to tick every box for every essay. This is a checklist to jog your memory, not a scorecard.

Does my essay…

• relate to a theme?
• relate to my ECs/awards?
• have vivid emotions?
• have specific details?
• have something uniquely me?
• reveal something personal?
• have nuance?
• show my curiosity?
• show my community-mindedness?
• avoid cliché?

Sentence flow and grammar

• Do I use short, powerful sentences?
• Do I use a variety of sentence structures?
• Am I writing in active voice?
• Is my tone consistent?
• Do I avoid overcomplicated words?
• Do I use short paragraphs?
• Am I avoiding “like,” “simply,” and “really”?
• Do I use parallelism in my sentences?
• Do I avoid repetitive sentences?
• Am I taking advantage of synonyms?
• Am I using semicolons, colons, and dashes?
• Are my words in the right order?

Structure

• Do I hook the reader right away?
• Do I leave them with something to think about?
• Do I reach the substance of the essay fast?
• Is every paragraph moving the essay forward?
• Is every sentence moving the essay forward?
• Is my essay clear (not confusing)?
• Is there tension throughout the essay?

Essay name: ______________________________ Date: ______________

Nine step-by-step campaigns

These walk you through a whole campaign in order. Most start by looking up your school and the people there who can say yes, so the emails fill in with real names. They then ask you to say exactly what is wrong, send you out to look for yourself, give you a survey to copy and a poster to print, and finish with emails you can copy and send.

Online: fix.school/school

Doorstop has a School 101 curriculum on how school power structures work: who decides, who can overrule whom, where the money comes from, and how change actually happens. It lives online at /school.

Online: fix.school/programs/waffle

A negotiation game for six players. Two of you are students who want a waffle maker in the cafeteria. Four are staff, and each wants something the students can help with. Nobody is the villain. They just haven’t been asked yet.

1. 01

   Pick a role and name the school.

   Deal the six role cards and read yours silently. Name your high school, the sillier the better. Extra players are the student body and answer the survey.

2. 02

   Find out what everyone wants (6 minutes).

   Mingle. Your goal stays secret until someone asks a good question about your day, your job or your worries. Students: learn what each person cares about before you ask for anything.

3. 03

   Run a survey (3 minutes, once).

   Students stop the game and poll the table. Everyone answers as themselves, a real student at their real school, by raising a hand. The numbers on your survey sheet are now evidence.

4. 04

   Make deals, then pitch (11 minutes).

   Trade what you have for what they need. Get Mary’s and Doreen’s initials on the slip and ask Maggie for a meeting. Then bring the slip and your survey numbers to the principal, who signs or tells you what is still missing.

Online: fix.school/bingo