Hey everyone. For the FIRST time ever one of my students won money!!!! I am excited! When I was in dance and we won money, my teacher would divide it and put it on our dance accounts. I think that's a great idea for groups? What do you think? What do you do? But this was one student and he won? What do I do? Should I put that on their account? Their account is paid off. In case that makes a difference. What does your studio do? You can PM if you want. I just don't know if I should give it to the family, or just put it on the account. And then how do I say "I'm keeping the check?" I don't know. Any advice is appreciated! Thank you.

That is tough...with the groups I would do a little party and then divide it to their accounts. With a solo...I guess I would say give it to him...it will just be coming back to you in tuition. You could give his parents the option of putting it on the account...won't there be more tuition for this year?

When I was growing up and we would win money for groups and/or solos we never saw a dime of it...our teachers kept it. we always felt like we didnt deserve it and thats why they kept it from us. from the dancer end of it, I felt it was not right and being that we as the dancer put in the work on stage and earn that money to get at least a percentage if not all of it seems fair....now that I teach I can understand the equal effort as educator and from the dancers hard work....hence the percentage for his hard work and your creative choreography and education....plus in the end you get it back in tuition and fees anyway. just what I think. im sure you will make the right choice.

You should put it as a credit for the next term, Give them a receipt now to say that that's whats happened, that way they know, put the receipt in a congratulations card that would be a nice gesture. After all thats what the money is meant to be for.

For a group I would definitely divide it up equally and apply it to their accounts. For a soloist, give them the option. Tell him, or his parents, this is what he won and let them know you can either apply it to his account as a credit toward the next competition or tuition, or you can just give it back to him, whichever they would prefer.

I divide it in 1/2. The studio keeps 1/2 & the dancers split the rest. If a choreogrpaher won a choreography award, it would be divided three ways, studio, choreographer & dancers.

As a studio owner, I have to claim that money as income as it passes through the studio account. After all, it is written to the studio. The competitions require the studio EIN number (the business' social security number). I feel it is only right to deduct about 15% of winnings to account for taxes. Then, I divide the amount equally between the teacher and the students.

We use the money toward national competition fees. If there are any kids that win money, but do not go to nationals, its considered their donation to their team members who are going. All the parents have agreed to this and I haven't had a problem with it so far. So its been good! Maybe try something like that?

If we're going to nationals, we use it for the entrance fees. If not, I divide the money between the girls that won it.

But it was a solo, do I just put it on his account? And what do I say? I put the money you won on your account?

I split the money between the dancers. If we didn't get a trophy, I'll hold some out to buy one. I give them cash and have them sign off that they received it. The win is enough for me, I don't need to take any of their prize money. That's how it was handled when I was growing up.

When I was growing up the money I won for solos was always put in my fundraising account by my mothers decision. It was our choice as what we wanted to do with it buy costumes, pay for more competition fees, pay tuition teacher for choreography whatever. I think if I owned a studio this is what I would do. The kid earned it with all their hard work and if you take away their prize they could see this as they are working hard for nothing! Just a thought!

We help pay for their final competition of the year at the Beach:)
We have won over 1,000 dollars this year so some of the kids are getting a great deal on that comp!

I put it in my Company Contract that the kids & their parents must sign when they accept a Company position exactly how any monetary winnings will be distributed: Whether it's a group, solo, duet, or trio, the check is evenly divided among the students who won it and is credited to their studio accounts to help them continue the training that won them the $$$. Each family receives a congrats handout that says how much the credit was for. Nobody's ever complained, & the parents are always glad to have a lower tuition bill to pay the next month!

We rarely have a kid drop out of Company at the end of the year, much less out of the studio after being involved in the Company Program, so I don't worry about them not coming back & using the credit if their account balance was previously $0 when they won the money. I trust that they'll use it for dance in the summer, since summer classes are required for Company dancers. It's never been a problem w/the parents, although the occasional kid expresses disappointment, bc she already had it spent at the mall in her mind!

Wow....maybe we are going to the wrong competitions! We don't win $, just trophies or medals. Hmmmmmm...

Yep, the kid already has it in his mind to go out for a fancy dinner! I've just never had this issue come up, we've never won money. Should I say that the check was written to the studio, so the money was put on your account?? Does that sound okay?

Hey Natalie, that sounds perfect! Put it straight to her account since it was a solo. Her parents aren't going to argue with that!