Wood Badge - Should the troop help pay the cost

[dnorrington]

Greetings,

 

I am new to this forum, but not to Scouting. I began my Scouting career in 1982 (The Year of the Tiger), and continued through the rank of Eagle. After finally returning home following college, I have become an active part of my troop again, currently serving as the Committee Chairman. We have a lot of work to do in the upcoming year, but things are looking good.

 

One question recently came up regarding Wood Badge. Should the troop help cover the cost of attending Wood Badge, which is $215.00. Surprisingly, there are four of us in the troop that plan to attend this fall. Three of us are on the Troop Committee, with the fourth being the individual who will become our Scoutmaster following summer camp. This individual recently

[dnorrington]

Sorry, I posted before I was finished.

 

The individual that will become our Scoumaster recently lost his job and had to take a lower paying one with a significant increase in health insurance costs and commute expenses. I see so much potential from this person! I feel that the troop should help cover his Wood Badge fee, mainly due to the fact that he will be our Scoutmaster soon, and partially due to his financial issues. I plan to pay for myself completely and the other two individuals have indicated the same. They understand the situation and seem quite supportive. The troop has the money to pay for everyone, but the three of us feel that we can pay our own way.

 

I am looking for input from others before discussing this at our Committee meeting in a couple of weeks. I would like to know what other Troops do in general and in specific cases like this. Does your troop pay a percentage or cover the entire amount.

 

In Scouting,

Darren Norrington

Mitchell, Indiana

[tcherven]

First - welcome to the forums. This is a fantastic place to share ideas.

 

Second - If your troop can pay for all your upcoming scoutmaster's tuition - do it.

 

My pack paid my entire tuition as it would have been a bit difficult for me to do so at the time. So - when I was writing my ticket, I made sure that the majority of the ticket items supported the pack. I also know in our area that scholarships were also available to those wanting to attend.

 

Another option would be for the troop to cover a portion of the cost for each person. Maybe you could cover more (or all) of the future scoutmaster's since he will be working directly with the scouts, and Wood Badge will equip him with leadership skills to help the scouts become better leaders.

 

For what Wood Badge will give you, the cost is quite inexpensive. (Having said that, though, help with the cost is always nice.) With four of you from the same troop, in the same course, you'll have others around who "get it". Each of you will have your own interpretation of the instruction, and since you'll probably share with each other, you'll see things most others won't. I would be surprised if you aren't separated into different patrols, so your team experience will be different - something all of you will be able to learn from when you're sharing your experiences, and implementing what you know into your troop.

 

Best of luck in reaching a decision, though you've made the most difficult one already: the decision to attend. You won't regret it.

 

If your troop is lucky, at least one of you will be a FOX.

 

Tom

C-44-06 Fox

 

[edited for content](This message has been edited by tcherven)

[emb021]

Paying for Wood Badge.

 

There are some outside groups that will help pay for Wood Badge for their members. I think the AFL-CIO does this. A CO or fraternal group might do the same.

 

Some troops pay for some or all of the cost of Wood Badge. Covering some of the cost is nice, if they can do so. Some instead re-imburse the person for the costs AFTER they complete their ticket. This ensures they finish everything.

 

See if your council has some kind of 'Wood Badge Scholarship'. In some councils, they have a Wood Badge Association and raise money for just this purpose. They might have enought money to help out a couple of scouters that need it (useful in ensuring that scouters from 'low-income' areas can gain the benefits of Wood Badge). If your council doesn't have this, encourage them to do so. Typically the scholarship money is raised thru annual Wood Badge breakfasts and sale of Wood Badge patches and stuff.

 

hope this helps.

[John-in-KC]

Welcome to the campfire, Mr Norrington

 

I paid for Wood Badge on my own. It was about the same price as yours.

 

I'd speak to your accountant; you might be able to deduct WB as continuing education, if you're already above the threshold for itemized deductions. In the 28% bracket, that tkaes over $50 off the table next year.

 

That said, I'm not a CPA and do not play one on TV.

[Scouting Mom]

If the troop committee really wants this person to go to Wood Badge and it's not going to happen without the troop's help, then it's something they have to consider funding.

 

It may be possible to set up a "scholarship" program within the troop. Set up guidelines for what factors are considered in establishing eligibility. For example, require that a certain number of ticket items directly benefit the unit. Since one of the steps in writing a ticket is to get the cooperation/approval of those whose cooperation is needed, the committee will need to be consulted for anything affecting the troop anyway. You could put a term of service on the scholarship... a person must act in a leadership role for a certain amount of time and if they fail to do so, they have to pay the money (or a portion of it) back. Exceptions could be made for things like job transfers etc.

 

Basically, you could draw up a contract saying whatever you want, but you really need to establish some written guidelines or else someone could ask you to pay their way later and if you need to say "no" you should have some ground rules to pave the way.

 

[jr56]

In my opinion it is always a good idea for units to help defray the cost for any of their leaders who want to attend woodbadge.

Yes, if your unit is lucky, they will be Foxes.

[dnorrington]

I truly appreciate everyone's input. Although I am not sure why, the troop apparently has not offered to do this in the past. My initial concern was that if I brought it up to pay for one person, the others might feel overlooked or cheated, but as I should have expected, they are quite supportive of doing this. The individual has paid almost 70% of the cost already, but is struggling to come up with the remainder plus cover his son's summer camp expenses. His son just crossed over into the troop, and the Pack only allowed a limited amount of his popcorn profit to transfer. Not that I completely disagree with them, as this is their choice, but it is challenging to set up fundraisers so close to our departure date for summer camp.

 

Setting a precedence can go both ways. We live in a lower-income area, and I am surprised that this does not come up more often regarding adults. We occasionally help youth attend summer camp, as to deny them the opportunity would defeat our entire purpose. Our Charter Organization may be willing to help out as well, since he will soon be our Scoutmaster.

 

Again, I really appreciate your input!

 

Regards,

Darren Norrington

Mitchell, Indiana

[Crew21_Adv]

Darren,

 

Greetings!

 

You have heard excellent advice already.

 

Traditionally, many Scouters pay their own way. Myself and my wife paid our own tuition cost, over the years.

 

When the Troop (or Pack) can afford it within their annual budget, I often recommend a Scoutership. This year, two of our ASMs are benefiting from a modest Scoutership. Not even half of the tuition, but it does assist just slightly and a small incentive to attend.

 

Our unit has also recently offered the same Scoutership for NYLT.

 

When a unit may budget it, I would concur, possibly a full-ride Scoutership. With some expectation of service to the unit.

 

Hopefully, with four members of your Troop attending Wood Badge, your Troop will really benefit from all that learning and hard work!

 

Scouting Forever and Venture On!

Crew21 Adv

[SueM]

I second the thought of checking with your council to see if there are any "benefactors" who might be willing to cover the cost. We have a Wood Badge Association in our council (I'm the treasurer) who will help cover costs for participants who need help, but we also have anonymous benefactors out there too, who will help if we don't have the funds too. If nothing else, check with your Chartered Organization and see if THEY can help with the cost...explain to them the benefits of the training to the troop/pack and see what they can do to help! Good Luck!!

 

Sue M.

[kb6jra]

Welcome to the forum, thanks for posting.

Congrats on making the commitment to attend Wood Badge. You'll never regret this decision.

 

I had an ASM that attended this spring. He decided to ask his employer if they had any interest in helping with the $$ or the time off. They ended up paying for the course in full and comping his time off as essential training. Apparantly they've sent others in their organization to similar trainings for 10X the cost, so they got off cheap with Wood Badge.

 

If that's not available to your future SM, then I would say if the Committee feels strongly about funding his training, then they should do so. The committee's job is to help facilitate the program the SM delivers. WB training fits into that description pretty well.

 

Have fun on course and work those tickets.

 

 

[Stosh]

The old adage goes: "You get what you pay for."

 

If the unit is going to derive benefit from sending their leaders to WB, they need to be paying for it. Otherwise the message is: we as a unit are getting something for nothing. The leadership of a troop already donates time and talent, the least the unit can do is cover their expenses. The money a unit invests in WB training for it's leadership is better spent than what they put into a nice paint job on their troop trailer. When I took WB I paid for it out of my own pocket, the troop reimbursed me when I completed it. I was not expected to take the course but did it on my own. Now 15 years later, I'm thinking hopefully the troop has gotten their money back in their investment in me. Our unit has three WB trained leaders and we all took the training 15 years ago. I think it's one reason why our troop has been so successful over the years, we're all still together running the same troop.

 

Stosh

[local1400]

Darren, welcome to the forums! I say if the troop can afford it AND it will better the unit, why not? Now I'm guessing by your first post you're 33-37 years old, returning home from college, ... man what the heck major took that long to finish AND how will you pay that off?

[theysawyoucomin']

Stosh

Does your woggle represent service with no end?

 

Of course the unit gets something for nothing! That's why you're called a volunteer.

 

And yes, I have no doubt your troop is a success because of those who wear the taupe necker.

[dnorrington]

local1400,

 

I guess the "following college" comment was a little confusing. Five years following college would have been more accurate.

 

Regarding where I have been...

 

Started at Purdue in fall of 1993,

Completed 2 Engineering majors and 3 co-op work sessions in Ohio and Kentucky that helped pay for school, along with summer jobs every year from 1991-1999.

Graduated from Purdue in December of 1999,

Remained in the Lafayette area (near Purdue) from January 2000 - July 2005 in order to get work experience for licensing as a Professional Engineer and Registered Land Surveyor.

Got licensed in late 2004 and early 2005, respectively,

Moved back to our hometown in July of 2005.

 

I am currently 31 years old and my wife and I are debt free...well from our college expenses anyway!

 

Regards,

Darren Norrington

Mitchell, Indiana