PENCIL Participant Conduct Expectations: To ensure the safety of all students, school staff and business volunteers engaged in PENCIL program activities including the Partnership Program, Points of Engagement, Internship trainings and all other volunteer events, participants are asked to adhere to the policies described below:

• Business Volunteers must maintain the confidentiality of all personal or proprietary information to which they are exposed as a volunteer, regardless of the subject matter of such information. This includes, but is not limited to, the names, locations, or images of students they encounter through their work with PENCIL.
• Business Volunteers may never be alone with a student or engage in any unsupervised contact with students, including in person, phone and electronic communications.
• PENCIL and/or school staff will be included on all authorized exchanges between Business Volunteers and students.
• Business Volunteers are prohibited from meeting with students outside of PENCIL Programmatic activities. This includes the times directly before or after an activity.
• Business Volunteers and school staff may not use their participation in PENCIL Program activities to promote partisan politics, religious matters, or other affiliations.
• Business Volunteers and school staff may not use their participation in PENCIL Program activities to promote partisan politics, religious matters, or other affiliations.
  • Discriminatory, derogatory, racist or homophobic statements or behaviors.
  • Sexual harassment, for example, jokes, innuendos, insults, sexist remarks, the display of derogatory or pornographic pictures, leering, touching, or kissing.
  • The use of any alcohol or illegal drugs.
  • Any unlawful or inappropriate activity.

In order to ensure the safety of students in PENCIL programs, PENCIL will conduct an annual search of the New York State Public Registry of Sex Offenders for all Business Volunteers. Therefore, PENCIL asks Business Volunteers to furnish certain participant information (e.g., name, zip code) before they engage in volunteer activities. PENCIL will use that information to conduct a search of the New York State Public Registry of Sex Offenders. If you are a volunteer and have questions or concerns, please contact Gregg Betheil at gbetheil@pencil.org for more information.

School staff are charged with cooperation with school staff to ensure all policies are consistently implemented, and that student-volunteer interactions are safe and respectful. This includes:

• A school staff person will be present at all activities. School staff will be responsible for ensuring Business Volunteers do not engage in unsupervised contact with students.
• School staff will enforce restrictions on all unsupervised contact between Business Volunteers and students. School staff will be included on all authorized exchanges between Business Volunteers and students.
• School staff will enforce policies prohibiting students from meeting with Business Volunteers outside of PENCIL programs. Students are not allowed to meet with Business Volunteers outside of activities supervised by school staff and PENCIL. This includes the times directly before or after activities.
• PENCIL takes all complaints of misconduct seriously and will take steps to investigate any student or volunteer allegations. Should PENCIL receive a complaint from a student, volunteer or school staff:
  • Volunteers and/or students involved in allegations of misconduct are subject to immediate suspension and possible dismissal from the program.
  • PENCIL will inform appropriate school staff and the appropriate Company contact of any allegations.
  • PENCIL will comply with existing Department of Education policies and procedures for addressing inappropriate behavior or misconduct.
  • PENCIL staff will document all conversations and retain emails throughout this process.

Contact Information: If you have any questions or concerns about these Participant Expectations, please contact us at (646) 638-0565, or pencil@pencil.org.

Thank you for your interest and support!

PENCIL, Inc.
30 West 26th Street, 5th Floor
New York, NY 10010