Welcome Troop 205 offers boys the opportunity to experience High Adventures and learn leadership skills that help them grow into well rounded young men.
Founded in 1916, our troop has a long history of producing Eagle Scouts - in fact more Eagle Scouts than any other southwest Michigan Boy Scout troop-who are grounded in the outdoor skills and responsibilities of citizenship for which scouting is known.
Our troop is chartered by the First Presbyterian Church of Kalamazoo, and is comprised of a diverse group of boys from many backgrounds.
Troop 205 is a High Adventure troop. What that means simply is that our boys venture into wilderness situations that provide man-sized challenges and require strong knowledge of surviving far from civilization. We believe these experiences help our scouts grow strong physically, emotionally and psychologically.
Our troop has explored the oceans, mountains and forests of our nation over the years, via sailboats, backpacks and canoes. Troop 205 scouts have bushwhacked the Rockies, chartered courses through the Bahamas, portaged lakes through Canada, and climbed through caves in Indiana.
The reason is simple really: nature can exert her force and beauty on boys in a manner that gives them respect for her and yet softens their attitudes towards others at the same time. Many parents comment on the marked difference in their sons upon their return from one of our High Adventure trips.
Developing leadership is our goal. Troop 205 is a boy-run troop, because that is the best way to teach leadership. That means, our boys plan the program, execute the activities and follow the patrol method to the greatest extent they are able. Each patrol is a microcosm of our troop and our leadership corps come from these patrols in turn. Sure, mistakes are made and sometimes adults need to step in, but lessons are learned and responsibility is understood.
Advancement through knowledge and skills is key. Through the scouting program, each scout pursues a rank advancement, which requires them to learn new things in a variety of areas, including outdoor skills, citizenship, conservation and first aid, to name a few. Each scout progresses at his own rate, following a more rigid set of requirements in the lower ranks, then expanding into a broader field of study through merit badges in the higher ranks.
In addition to this advancement, the scouts must demonstrate reverence, scout spirit and citizenship for each rank. Often, this means the boys must volunteer to do projects in their communities and think about their lives in a spiritual context, though this can embrace every religion in the world. Additionally, scouts can earn special recognition in a variety of ways for achievements that don't lead to rank advancement, but which demonstrate other skills.
