The 2026 Crystal Apple Awards have come to an end.

NO PURCHASE NECESSARY TO WIN. Participation constitutes Entrant’s (“Entrant”) full and unconditional agreement to and acceptance of these Official Contest Rules. The School Specialty Crystal Apple Contest ("Contest") is subject to all applicable federal, state, and local laws and regulations. The Contest begins at 12:00:00 a.m. Central ("CT") on Monday, February 16, 2026, and shall end at 11:59:00p.m. CT on Monday, March 16, 2026, ("Contest Period"). The Contest is sponsored by School Specialty, LLC, PO Box 1639, Appleton, WI 54942-1639 ("Sponsors"). The five winners and the eleven runners-up will be officially announced on Tuesday, April 21, 2026. Limit one entry per Entrant.

Eligibility: NO PURCHASE IS NECESSARY TO ENTER OR WIN. PURCHASE WILL NOT IMPROVE THE CHANCES OF WINNING. THE CONTEST IS OPEN TO LEGAL RESIDENTS OF FORTY-NINE (49) UNITED STATES, AND DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, WHO ARE TWENTY-ONE (21) YEARS OF AGE OR OLDER AT THE TIME OF ENTRY. VOID IN RHODE ISLAND. Proof of age, eligibility and identity must be furnished upon request. Employees, officers, directors and other agents and representatives of Sponsors, its affiliates, subsidiaries, sales representatives, retailers, distributors or advertising and promotion agencies ("Sponsor’s Personnel"), and immediate family members of Sponsor’s Personnel, are not eligible to participate in, or win, the Contest. "Immediate family" means parents, siblings, children, and spouse.

How to Enter: To enter the Contest, visit https://www.schoolspecialty.com/crystal-apple during the Contest Period, complete the entry form and follow all subsequent prompts and instructions to enter the Contest. Entrant will be required to provide the information requested, including Entrant’s first and last name and e-mail address. Entrants selected as finalists will also be required to provide a video to be eligible to participate in the final round of the Contest. Elements of the entries selected as finalists will be posted publicly on the contest website; this includes, but may not be limited to, the nominee’s name, their school, their photo, as well as text from the Entrant’s written nomination, and Entrant’s nomination video. Entrant is responsible for obtaining permission to use such images, or videos prior to their submission as an entry. All entries must be received on or before the end of the Contest Period to be eligible to win. Entries will be deemed to have been made when they are received and accepted by the Sponsors. No other method of entry will be accepted. In the event of a dispute regarding the identity of a Contest Entrant, the authorized account holder of the e-mail address used to submit the entry will be deemed to have made the entry. "Authorized account holder" is defined as the natural person who is assigned to the e-mail address by an Internet access provider, online service provider, or other organization (e.g., business, educational institution, etc.) which is responsible for assigning e-mail addresses for the domain associated with the submitted e-mail address. Proof of being the authorized account holder may be required. Entries that are incomplete, not-applicable, illegible, unintelligible, altered or tampered with or not submitted pursuant to these Official Contest Rules are not eligible to win.

Selection of Finalists: Sponsor or a company acting under Sponsor’s authorization, will form a panel of experts (the "Panel"). After the end of the Contest Period, the Panel will judge the entries and select a total sixteen (16) finalist entries (the "Finalists") with two finalists in each of the following 8 regions listed below.

• Region 1: Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, South & North Carolina, Georgia
• Region 2: New Jersey, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Virginia, & Delaware
• Region 3: New York, Massachusetts, Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, & Connecticut
• Region 4: Illinois, Missouri, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Indiana, Iowa, & Arkansas
• Region 5: Ohio, Tennessee, Kentucky, West Virginia, & Michigan
• Region 6: Texas & Oklahoma
• Region 7: Alaska, Hawaii, California & Nevada
• Region 8: Kansas, Nebraska, Colorado, Wyoming, New Mexico, Arizona, Utah, Oregon, Washington, North Dakota, South Dakota, Montana, & Idaho

Grading is based upon the predetermined rubric below under the “Scoring Criteria” section. The Finalists will be notified by e-mail at the e-mail address submitted with their entry. If the e-mail notification is returned as undeliverable, the entry will be disqualified, and the next highest ranked entry shall be selected as an alternate Finalist. Sponsors are not responsible for and shall not be liable for late, lost, misdirected, or unsuccessful efforts to deliver the notification to the creator of the entries. The notification e-mail will provide further instructions regarding submitting a video entry required to participate in the final round of the Contest. Finalists who fail to provide a video pursuant to these will be disqualified and the next ranked entry shall be selected as an alternate Finalist.

Scoring Criteria:

2026 Crystal Apple Contest Rubric / Judging Criteria
		Excellent	Very Good	Average	Poor
Inspiration		3	2	1	0
Educator's impact on student(s)	Actions and sentiment convey positive feelings and goodwill for teaching and actively fostering student outcome. Demonstrates strong drive for student growth and success. Continually goes out of their way to bring out the very best.
Leadership
Impact of Educator's efforts within & beyond school	Takes initiative to lead positive change. Actively engages opportunities drive awareness and stewardship. Acts as a mentor to peers and others.
Passion
Effectiveness & Creativity of Teaching Style	Continually seeks new ways to engage students. Thinks outside the box. Demonstrates results repeatedly even under challenging circumstances.
X-Factor		1 through 5
	This nominee has that extra something. They go above and beyond the standard teacher expectations, clearly love being an educator and care deeply about the success of their students.

Selection of Winners: Between April 6, 2026 and April 12, 2026 (the "Voting Period") the Finalists’ video entries, and elements of their initial entries (the nominee’s name, photo, and written nomination) will be posted on the Contest web-page ( https://www.schoolspecialty.com/crystal-apple) and the public will be able to view and vote on the entries. The five (5) Finalists’ entries with the most votes received during the Voting Period shall be the winning entries. The remaining eleven (11) Finalists’ entries shall be the runner-up entries. Notwithstanding the foregoing, in Sponsors sole discretion, the Sponsor may, for any reason, ignore the voting results and select the entries based upon the scoring criteria above.

Prize Acceptance: Shortly after the end of the Voting Period, each Entrant with a winning or running-up entry will be notified by e-mail at the e-mail address submitted with their entry to inform them if they have a winning or running-up entry. Once notified, each will have seventy-two (72) hours to confirm their eligibility, the eligibility of the educator nominated in the entry, and the eligibility of the educator’s school with a reply e-mail. The educator, and the educator’s school nominated in a winning or runner-up entry must accept, and qualify under, all the applicable terms and conditions of these Official Contest Rules to be awarded a prize. If the e-mail is not confirmed, or the nominated educator or educator’s school does not accept, or otherwise qualify, under the Official Contest Rules, an alternate winning entry will be selected from the remaining Finalists’ entries. Upon their confirmation, the winning educator nominated in the entry, and the educator’s school, shall together be a winner (“Winner”). Upon their confirmation, the running-up educator nominated in the entry, and the educator’s school, shall together be a runner-up (“Runner-Up”). For the absence of doubt, “educator’s school” is defined as the entity at which the educator nominated in the entry is employed at the time of prize award. Sponsors reserve the right, in its sole discretion, to disqualify any winning entry confirmation if fraudulent, impersonation or cheating behavior is suspected.

Prizes: Each Winner will receive one (1) of the five (5) prize packages consisting of one (1) Five-Hundred Dollars ($500.00) School Specialty Merchandise Certificate and one (1) trophy for the educator; and one (1) Two-Hundred and Fifty Dollars ($250.00) School Specialty Merchandise Certificate for educator’s school. Each Runner-Up will receive one (1) of the eleven (11) prize packages consisting of one (1) One-Hundred Dollars ($100.00) School Specialty Merchandise Certificate for the educator and one (1) One-Hundred Dollars ($100.00) School Specialty Merchandise Certificate for the educator’s school. All prizes will be awarded. No substitution, return, transfer, or cash redemption of any prize will be permitted, except that Sponsors reserve the right to substitute a prize of equal or greater value. ALL FEDERAL, STATE AND/OR LOCAL TAXES AND FEES ASSOCIATED WITH THE RECEIPT OF ANY PRIZES, INCLUDING, WITHOUT LIMITATION, ALL FEDERAL, STATE AND/OR LOCAL INCOME TAXES, ARE THE SOLE RESPONSIBILITY OF THE WINNING INDIDIVIDUAL OR ENTITY. Only one prize package will be awarded per Winner or Runner-Up.

Conditions: By participating in the Contest, Entrant agrees (and by accepting a prize, each Winner and Runner-Up agrees) to be bound by these Official Contest Rules and the decisions of Sponsors, which shall be final. Sponsors and the employees, officers, directors, shareholders, agents and representatives of Sponsors, its affiliates, subsidiaries, sales representatives, retailers, distributors, advertising and promotion agencies, and legal advisors are not responsible for and shall not be liable for: (i) any condition caused by events beyond the control of Sponsors that may cause the Contest to be disrupted or corrupted; (ii) any injuries, losses or damages of any kind arising in connection with or as a result of any prize, or acceptance, possession, or use of any prize, or from participation in the Contest; (iii) any printing or typographical errors in any materials associated with the Contest; or (iv) the failure of winner to pay any federal, state and/or local taxes or fees associated with the receipt of any prizes. Sponsors reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to suspend or cancel the Contest at any time if tampering, unauthorized intervention, or other technical problem of any sort corrupts the administration or security of the Contest. By participating in the Contest, each Entrant agrees (and by accepting a prize, each Winner and Runner-Up agrees) to release Sponsors and its subsidiaries, affiliates and related companies and each of their respective officers, directors, employees and agents from any and all liability, loss or damage of any kind arising out of or in connection with Entrant’s participation in this Contest, or with respect to awarding, receipt, possession, use and/or misuse of any prize, or to participation in the Contest or in prize-related activities. By accepting the prize, each Winner and each Runner-Up further acknowledges that the Sponsors have neither made, nor are in any manner responsible or liable for, any warranty, representation, or guarantee, expressed or implied in fact or in law, relative to a prize or to any portion thereof, including but not limited to its quality, merchantability, mechanical condition, or fitness for a particular purpose. The Sponsor reserves the right to verify the validity and originality of any entry and/or Entrant (including an Entrant’s identity and address, or nominated educator’s identity and address) and to disqualify any Entrant who submits an entry that is not in accordance with these Official Contest Rules or who tampers with the entry process. Failure by the Sponsor to enforce any of its rights at any stage does not constitute a waiver of those rights. Entries void if the Sponsor determines the entry to not be an original, or a component of the entry to not be original, or if the entries are illegible, incomplete, damaged, irregular, altered, counterfeit, not-applicable, produced in error or obtained through fraud or theft.

Privacy: All information collected by Sponsor in connection with the entry forms will be subject to Sponsor’s privacy statement, as applicable, ("Privacy Statement") available at https://www.schoolspecialty.com/privacy-statement

License: Once submitted, all forms, pictures, videos, audio and/or information submitted with an entry become the sole property of Sponsor and will not be acknowledged or returned. Notwithstanding anything to the contrary in Sponsor’s Privacy Statement, and except where prohibited by law, by entering the Contest, all Entrants (and by accepting a prize, each Winner and Runner-Up) grant an irrevocable, perpetual, worldwide non-exclusive license to Sponsor, to reproduce, distribute, display and create derivative works of the entries, including any pictures, photographs, video or audio, for Sponsor to use, without notice or further compensation, worldwide, and in perpetuity, in any and all forms of media, now known and hereafter devised. Additionally, by entering, each Entrant (and by accepting a prize, each Winner and Runner-Up) grants to Sponsor the unrestricted right to use all statements made in connection with the Contest, including their first name, last name, title, school name, city and state, and any pictures, videos, audio, or descriptions of the same submitted in an entry, for purposes of displaying the entries information for public voting, publishing the list of winners, advertising, trade, promotion and/or publicity. Sponsor will not be required to pay any additional consideration or seek any additional approval in connection with such use.

Odds of Winning: This Contest is a contest of skill; the odds of winning depend on the number of entries received and the quality of the entries.

Limitations of Liability: Sponsors and its agents are not responsible and shall not be liable for incorrect, inaccurate or incomplete entry of information by participants; lost entries or transmissions, interrupted or unavailable network, server, or other connections; scrambled transmissions or other errors or problems of any kind whether mechanical, human, or electronic, technical malfunctions or other computer hardware, software or any combination thereof; or problems associated with any virus or any other damage caused to Entrants’ systems. If, for any reason, the Contest is not capable of being conducted as planned, including but not limited to infection by computer viruses, bugs, tampering, unauthorized intervention, fraud, technical failures, or other causes beyond the control of Sponsors, Sponsors reserves the right at its sole discretion to cancel, terminate, modify or suspend the Contest. By participating in the Contest, each Entrant releases and holds the Sponsors and the employees, officers, directors, shareholders, agents and representatives of Sponsors, its affiliates, subsidiaries, sales representatives, retailers, distributors, advertising and promotion agencies, and legal advisors, harmless from and against any and all losses, damages, rights, claims and actions of any kind in connection with the Contest or resulting from acceptance, possession, use or misuse of any prize, including without limitation, personal injury, death, and property damage, and claims based on publicity rights, defamation, or invasion of privacy.

Contest Execution & Administration: By entering, Entrants agree that all issues and questions concerning the construction, validity, interpretation and enforceability of these Official Contest Rules, participant’s rights and obligations, or the rights and obligations of Sponsors in connection with the Contest, shall be governed by, and construed in accordance with, the laws of each State, without giving effect to any choice of law or conflict of law rules (whether of the State of Wisconsin or any other jurisdiction), which would cause the application of the laws of any jurisdiction other than the State. By entering, submitters consent to the jurisdiction and venue of the federal, state, and local courts located in Wisconsin.

List of Winners: The names of the five (5) Winners and the eleven (11) Runners-Up, and/or a copy of these Official Contest Rules may be obtained by email at: social@schoolspecialty.com. Requests must be received by July 1, 2026.