Page 20 - Sojourner Newsletter-Fall 2025v2

[‘Americanism’ Continued from Page 17]
20 THE SOJOURNER

The weekend ended as has been the tradition,
following breakfast on Sunday Morning, all loaded
into buses for the 45-minute drive to Philadelphia.
Here the group toured the historic Independence Hall
and viewed the Liberty Bell, followed by a brief
walking tour of historic Philly before heading to the
airport for the trip home. (Note a small number of
students fly in from California, Colorado or Illinois,
but the majority drive in from all over the east coast).

The 2026 student tuition will increase to $550 per student but do not
have confirmation if the chaperone tuition will increase or stay at the
$265. Of note, if a student desires to attend that is not fed in through a
partner program like ours, their student tuition is $750. In the past
many chapters have automatically expected the Spirit of America
Education Foundation (SAEF) to cover most of the tuition payments.
This has resulted in significant unexpected expense against the SAEF
funds over the last few years. This support is a big part of SAEF’s
purpose, but excessive unplanned expenses will quickly evaporate
SAEF’s ability to help anyone, so we must plan and communicate
(Photo credit: Jarrod Coffey) better in the future. Included in that challenge is the issue of finding
adult chaperones willing and able to accompany the students, and, in the case of chapters on the East Coast, to
drive students to the event. Last year we had several students for whom tuition had been awarded by their
local chapters but did not have transportation to attend. Another challenge is finding students who want to
attend. Given the summer conference dates, many who may want to attend have conflicting academic, family,
and social events. We encourage all Chapter points of contact to communicate with their local schools and
youth groups, the Americanism Committee and SAEF throughout the year to minimize these challenges.

The brethren on the west coast are experimenting with a new concept. Founding forward hosts 14 (4 day)
youth conferences per year, just like the one in July that National Sojourners sponsors. Plus, they have a few
similar for teachers, as well, present community service awards. They used to have 24 supporting chapters
around the country, to raise funds and support youth from all over, as we do at National Sojourners, but greatly
increasing the opportunity to serve more students, they host 13 additional conferences each year. Well, now
there are 25 supporting chapters, because as of July 2023, the brethren of Monterey Bay Chapter chartered the
Monterey Bay Area Chapter of Founding Forward. The intention and goal of this effort is to reach out to the
community for membership and support of the Founding Forward Chapter. The communities with existing
chapters, like Sacrament, send about 60 students each year plus several teachers. With the community support
element, it just may increase our results and bring positive recognition to National Sojourners and
Freemasonry in general. These purposes are part of the objective of many community and Veteran
organizations. These chapters are designated 501(c)(3) due to connection with the National Founding Forward
organization. You can check in on the Monterey Bay Area Chapter of Founding Forward at their new website:
www.mbacff.org.
Once again thanks to all the many individual Sojourners and Chapters who did their best to provide this once
-in-a-lifetime experience to the youths who were fortunate enough to attend this year’s event. We look
forward to seeing greater numbers at the next Spirit of America Youth Leadership Conference, July 16 - 19,
2026. Look for more information to follow in the coming months.

Respectfully & fraternally submitted,
Mad Max
Michael D. “Max” Schell
Chairman, Americanism Committee