Creekside Kids
Volunteer Portal

Adults serving in a classroom should be there 30 minutes before the service (8:30 am and 10:30am). This allows a few minutes for final prep before kids can be dropped off.

Kids can be dropped off into classrooms 15 minutes before the service (8:45am & 10:45am). Please do not allow parents to drop off earlier.

Please check yourself in at a Kids kiosk when you arrive. It will not print you a sticker, but it helps us keep a more accurate roster of who was in the classrooms on a given date.

Each volunteer should have an orange lanyard with their name. For first time volunteers, it will either be at the check-in desk or in the classroom.

After the service, please leave your lanyard in the classroom. If you serve on Wednesdays or for other events, please remember where you have it stashed.

A lot of Creekside Kids volunteers have kids! So sometimes this makes dropping off and picking up your own kids tricky. However, with volunteers, we have a little more flexibility for pick up.

Drop Off: For drop off - which starts at 8:45/10:45am - as long as one adult is in the room, feel free to sneak out and drop your own kids off in their rooms and return to your classroom. Printing your stickers when you arrive helps offset the time you are away from your post during drop off time.

Pick Up: We all understand that others are serving. If you let the classroom volunteers know that you are serving, they know you won't be there immediately for pick up. In fact, when the only kids left in a room are volunteer kids, you can feel free to keep them while you pick up OR you can deliver them to their parents (still trade stickers, if possible). We need volunteers in the room for pick up and delivering kids to each other has seemed to help.

There are three-four stickers printed every time a child is checked in. The first three are identical and the fourth is a bag/bottle tag.

• Sticker 1 goes on the child, so we know who they are.
• Sticker 2 goes on the roster sheet, so the roster is up to date.
• Sticker 3 stays with the parents and they are to provide that sticker to check out the child. They need to reprint it if they lose it.

Stickers contain the following information:

• Child's Name
• Parent Name & Phone Number
• Check-in location
• A paging number to call parents from the auditorium
• Some or all of the following: DOB, age, grade, allergies, and/or the label IWP (*IWP = Individual Worship Plan = there is a yellow page on the child in the classroom binder that gives specific information on the child's individual needs)

Scheduling is done through Planning Center. A few times a year, Elisabeth will update the schedule for a season/months at a time. Most people are serving one service, once a month. Thus, as much as possible, volunteers are scheduled for a specific week of the month (i.e., the first Sunday of the month). Please confirm or decline dates as they work for you. The sooner you can do that for your dates, the sooner we can work on filling the declined spots.

Reminders: You will receive an email reminder on Tuesday mornings, if you are serving on the following Sunday. If you are not confirmed, you have the opportunity then to let me know.

Blockout Dates: Please blockout any dates that you are not able to serve -- even if it isn't your typical Sunday. The way scheduling happens is that you are planned for once a month, but if you miss it, Elisabeth will likely reach out to you about subbing on a different date. If you know you aren't able to make a date, block it out in advance to avoid having to decline subbing. See how to set blockout dates here.

Calling Out: As soon as you know that you can't serve, please let Elisabeth know. The best way is to mark it in Services. If you are calling out on Saturday/Sunday, please also text so that Elisabeth can find a sub ASAP.

App: You can log into Planning Center on a computer or through an app. Downloadable links:

• iOS: App Store
• Android: Google Play

Safety Team: Creekside Church has an established safety team that both monitors the entryways and occupied areas through sweeps. They are present during Sunday morning and Wednesday evening programs. They are also used at specific events (but not all) Kids events.

Walkie Talkies: We will have a walkie talkie system completely set up by the end of December. Once the system is in place, this will be updated and volunteers will be informed.

First Aid:

• Dechoker - Currently, we have one dechoker for the Kids side. It is located in the white cabinets in the Rainbow/Fireweed lobby entrance. We would love more and are working to include it in future budgets; the Wishlist also has them listed, for those that wish to make it happen sooner.
• Trauma Kits - There is one in the Kids Chapel, one in the Rainbow room, and one coming to the Safety Kiosk in the Family Entrance. 
• Bandaids - Each room has a red first aid kit that has wipes, bandaids, and ointment. There are refills in the dechoker drawer.
• Training - We are working on providing voluntary safety/first aid training.

Emergency Exiting:

• In case of an emergency exiting situation (if you don't see a fire, then please wait for your dismissal to be confirmed) - please head out the nearest door and take the kids to the fenced in area. Once you exit the building, head toward the traffic light and you'll see a fenced in area off the entrance to our church. Please attend/listen to the policy training for clarification.

The ideal expectation is a minimum of two unrelated adults in a room at a time.

Ratios for adult volunteers/children is as follows:

• 1 adult for every 5 children that are 0-18 months old
• 1adult for every 6 children that are 19-36 months old
• 1 adult for every 10 children that are 3-4 years old
• 1 adult for every 14 children that are 5-6 years old
• 1 adult for every 18 children that are 7-12 years old

Students (6th-12th grade) can help at any time; however, if there is only one adult in the room, the adult needs to leave the door propped open.

Volunteers need to have attended Creekside for 6 months prior to serving, consider Creekside their home church, complete an application, and pass a background check.

Each volunteer is required to attend at least one protection policy training a year. We offer them at team meetings, VBS prep meetings, on specific announced Sundays, and are working to offer it digitally.

Additionally, we are looking to provide safety/emergency/first aid training. More details will be provided once we are aware of what we will offer.

There is a difference between parents and volunteers. Kids volunteers have applied, been background checked, and been approved to work with kids. They also receive trainings on the policies and best practices. Parents have not been approved to work with kids, nor do they receive the training.

Thus, parents are not to serve in the classrooms. However, we don't want to deny parents access to their kids - especially if they are trying to help their child transition to the room peacefully.

What does this mean? Parents/siblings are allowed to stay with their kids to help them transition. Most of the classrooms have a Parent lanyard for this reason.

They can 

• interact with their child. 
• play with their child and talk to other kids.

They cannot

• be put in charge of the class or a small group of kids or be allowed to assume leadership.
• serve as a second adult.
• hold other kids.
• change diapers / do bathroom runs.

Typically, I encourage the parents to try to attend the service for a bit and I definitely ask them to not stand in the doorway during drop off. It would be better for them to step in for a moment so that drop off can continue.

*Please let Elisabeth know if you have concerns about a specific parent. 

We only change diapers of kids in the Lupine Room.  We can only change the diapers if two unrelated adults are present at the changing table. One adult changes the diaper while the second adult monitors the room and the diaper changing.

Adults can always call parents to change the diapers, if that is preferred.  That is the ideal option if the room is full or if the adults are uncomfortable.  Please let parents know at drop off if you will not be changing diapers.

The short:  We do not go into the bathroom and we do not help kids in the stall.  

• If they need help wiping, we can coach them from outside the stall or call their parents. Parents should not enter the bathroom unless it is cleared of all other kids and no other kids enter it while they are present.  Ideally, parents would take care of their kids in the family bathrooms by the chapel.

• If the child needs help with toilet paper, a volunteer can enter an empty stall (if another adult/other children are present) to get some and hand it to them.

• If kids need help washing their hands, make sure there is a second volunteer or other kids present in the bathroom before stepping in to help. 

• Staff/volunteers are encouraged to keep “line of sound” - meaning they should remain in the hallway and keep an ear on the kids.

Volunteers - adults and teens - need to use the family bathrooms in the Family Entrance.

Currently, the littles and the Fireweed Room have a call out system. If you serve in another room, you can go to one of those rooms if you need to page a parent.

The directions are on the pager itself (see the below image). The "number" stated below is the number listed on the top right corner of a kid's check in sticker.

To page: Press the number then Enter
To cancel (after the parent arrives): Press Cancel, the number, then Enter

If a parent doesn't respond, please text Elisabeth or send someone to get the check in desk person. We will help you locate the parent. If we don't know the parent, we may step into the classroom while you look for the parent, if you visually can identify them.

An IWP in the notes section on a child's sticker stands for Individual Worship Plan. Basically, check the classroom binder for parent submitted notes on the child.

What's on an IWP? It's different for every child, but it may include behavior notes, medical notes, strategies for their child. For some, it may include a picture of the only people allowed to pick up the child.

Biting, pinching, hitting can be a common struggle during younger years.

• Stay calm when responding
• Use short phrases to correct/stop the behavior:
  • "Let go. Use kind hands."
  • It works better to be positive - use kind hands - instead of saying stop, don't, etc.
• Address the behavior:
  • You want his toy. Please wait/ask. Hitting is not how we ask.
• Redirect/distract the child.
• You can do a time out / time aside. But do not put kids in front of the class, point out their behavior, make them sit in the corner facing the wall, etc. 
  • You can separate kids. 
  • For littles, no more than 1 minute per their age for a time out/separation. 
• If the behavior continues after multiple corrections/time outs or they refuse to separate/stop and it feels aggressive/not age appropriate, feel free to text Elisabeth and/or call the parent. Tell the parent at pick up time. If the parent wants to try again (meaning they talked to the child and wants to have them go back in), that is up to the volunteers. 
  • We do need to remember that littles are little. While their behavior is not appropriate, there is a difference between a child hitting because they can't talk and ask for a toy and a child terrorizing others. Please use discernment.

Extreme Behavior:  This is behavior that is intentionally harmful and abnormal.

Children bite, scratch, hit often as a form of communication. While that is unsafe, it is not abnormal. It needs to be addressed, but frequently moving closer and/or redirecting the child will help resolve the issue. If the child won't stop, feel free to call parents and tell them what the child is doing.

Extreme behavior includes repeated threats, throwing things at people to hurt them, throwing large objects aggressively, striking others with full force, repeatedly running away in anger, etc. Immediate dismissal is necessary. Page the parent, text Elisabeth, and tell the parents specifically what happened in the classroom.

Discernment is necessary. What is the child communicating? Is the child communicating momentarily frustration because the ball was stolen from them (i.e., swatting at another child) or communicating a long lasting frustration and inability to be safe with others?

The safety of all - kids, volunteers, families - is important. However, we also need to respond appropriately. A toddler swatting when someone steals a toy is radically different than a kindergartner threatening physical violence on a teacher. Thus, our response is different. If there is extreme behavior, let Elisabeth know so that she can respond in a way that prevents the behavior for everyone. 

We have several Amazon Wishlists if you are interested!  

• Little Lupine Wishlist 
• Rainbow Preschool Wishlist 
• Fireweed Wishlist 
• Trees & Mountains Wishlist

• Paging System Expansions

Curriculum: The Rainbow, Fireweed, Trees, and Mountains classrooms are all using the same curriculum. You can access it here. Please let Elisabeth know if you want a printed copy each month. Little Lupine is not responsible for implementing the curriculum.

Copies/Paper: There is a copier in the hallway behind the bathroom. There are step by step visual directions on how to use it posted above the copier and paper next to it. Feel free to use any color of paper. Construction paper is also there, but does NOT fit through the copier.  Butcher paper is on a rolling cart there and is available for use.

Coffee: There is a Keurig and pods and supplies next to the copier. Please help yourself. If there are ever snacks on that stand, help yourself! 

Snack Supplies: Name brand Cheerios and Veggie Straws are in the closet that is inside the preschool classroom. There are also cups for water and coffee filters for snacks. We are limited in snacks, so no more than one/two small helpings per child. Please check stickers before passing out snacks. Both snack options are gluten, dairy, egg, and artificial food dye free. Please feel free to enter the Fireweed Room to fill the water pitchers for the Rainbow and Lupine classrooms. There is a box for Wednesday night snacks, please do not use those on Sunday mornings.

Creekside Kids has a craft closet that is well stocked. It is across from the Little Lupine room and also houses a vacuum that is available to be used by Kids volunteers.

Please feel free to use up materials in there. Swing by and check out what's available before planning a lesson. We do have a limited budget for replenishing odd supplies; please ask* if you see something that is needed/helpful and is not in the closet.

If you love organizing and have routine time to help maintain this closet, please let me know!

If you are looking for something and can't find it in the Craft Closet, please ask*. We have another storage room to the left of the Kids Chapel stage and the "wall" in the Kids Chapel is actually made up of covered shelves.

*Please ask Elisabeth if you need specific supplies. Ideally ask when Elisabeth is here 9am-4pm, Monday through Thursday. This will allow her to look while she is on site. Always feel free to ask outside of those times, but Elisabeth is not guaranteed to know.

Extra tables are in room 212. This is in the orange hallway that you pass through to go from the Family Entrance to the side with the littles.

Extra chairs are in the nursery entrance, between the double doors. Please return the chairs so they stand upright behind the catch on the floor. This entrance cannot be blocked by chairs sliding in front of them.