When a principal, a PE teacher, or an after-school coordinator says “send us some information,” most school owners email two paragraphs and a rate sheet, then wonder why nothing happens.<\/p>
Here’s what I did instead for decades at Mile High Karate \u2014 and what I teach our coaching members to build today. I called it the big, beautiful packet. It was about forty pages thick. I’d take it to the FedEx office, put a clear plastic cover on the front, black plastic on the back, wire binding \u2014 so it landed on a principal’s desk looking like it came from a serious institution, because it did.<\/p>
The cover letter.<\/strong> One page: here’s who we are and here’s specifically what we’d like to do \u2014 with the after-school enrichment program as the lead offer, because that’s your highest-value entry point into any school.<\/p> Testimonials \u2014 lots of them.<\/strong> Principal and PE teacher testimonials once you’ve earned them; parent testimonials by the dozen from day one. This is the bulk of the packet, and it should be. Educators trust other educators, and every parent voice is social proof that you’re safe, professional, and beloved.<\/p> The program itself.<\/strong> A sample registration form for the after-school enrichment program, plus the curriculum: I always included one summary sheet showing all six lessons, and then the individual handout for each lesson. And understand what those six lessons are \u2014 respect for teachers, respect for parents, saying thank you and I love you, clean your room, do it the first time. Character development, top to bottom. That’s the language schools speak, and it’s genuinely what we teach.<\/p> The two pages nobody asks for \u2014 and everybody notices.<\/strong> I ran a background check on every staff member \u2014 the same check a daycare or elementary school runs on its own hires \u2014 and put the results in the packet. Then I went to our insurance company, had the school added as an additional insured, and put the certificate in too.<\/p> Here’s the thing: in all those years, almost nobody ever asked for either one. Which, frankly, scared me a little \u2014 if my kids were in that school, I’d want everyone background-checked before some stranger walks into the gym. But that’s not why those pages are there. They’re there so the objection dies before it’s ever spoken. A stranger wants to come into our school and work with our kids? Well \u2014 here’s the background check, here’s the insurance. Concern gone, and I never had to have the conversation.<\/p> That’s the design principle of the whole packet: bury every possible objection under so much thorough, professional documentation that the only remaining question is scheduling.<\/strong> If you’re doing the Children’s Hospital fundraiser, the flyer’s in there. Permission slips, in there. By the time you’re done, you’re not sitting across the desk asking, “Is it okay if I do this?” You’re saying, “Here are all the details” \u2014 and those are two very different conversations.<\/p> Now the punchline. In all the years I used that packet, I don’t believe a single principal ever read all forty pages.<\/p>The Secret: Nobody Reads It<\/h2>