Troop 5

In December of 2004, the Northern Star Council, Boy Scouts of America, asked Cub Scout Pack 5 chartered to St. Ambrose Catholic Church in Woodbury, MN if they would be interested in starting a Boy Scout troop to compliment the cub scout pack. Looking at the limited space in the existing troops of the Woodbury area and the potential growth, a new troop would open up opportunities. After the meeting, Troop 5 of Saint Ambrose of Woodbury was formed. Saint Ambrose of Woodbury was glad to join with Boy Scouts of America to offer the nations leading youth program.

About Troop 5's unit number designation. The Boy Scouts of America was founded in 1910. Since then hundreds of local councils have carried out the national program by partnering with community based organizations to form a charter partner agreement between their organization and their local boy scout council. Each boy scout council assigns a unit number to community based charter partnering organizations. Unit number 5 was originally issued by the Indianhead Council (St. Paul, MN), Boy Scouts of America, to St. Ambrose Church in the Catholic Diocese of St. Paul shortly after the council's formation. Scouting units charted to St. Ambrose Catholic Church would henceforth be given the numerical unit designation of 5 with the Indianhead Council, Boy Scouts of America. In time, the Catholic Diocese of St. Paul moved St. Ambrose of St. Paul, to the burgeoning suburb of Woodbury, renaming it St. Ambrose of Woodbury. At some point in time while St. Ambrose was still located in St. Paul, the troop folded. Coinciding with the re-formation and re-chartering of Troop 5, in January of 2005, the Indianhead Council of St. Paul, and the Viking Council of Minneapolis merged to form the Northern Star Council, Boy Scouts of America. To avoid confusion with duplicate unit numbers from their previous councils, all units in both former councils were given a unit prefix to tell them apart. Every unit from the former Viking Council would begin with the number 3, and every unit from the former Indianhead Council would begin with the number 9. However, to retain a sense of unit identity that many of these units have had with their unit numbers for almost a hundred years, for all intents and purposes, their unit number would essentially remain the same. For purely administrative purposes with the council, the technical numerical designation for Troop 5 is Troop 9005. Although there are other Troop 5's in other councils all across America, there is only one Troop 5 in the Northern Star Council.

WHAT IS BOY SCOUTING? Boy Scouting is a year-round program for boys age 11 - 17. Boy Scouting is a program of fun outdoor activities, peer group leadership opportunities, and a personal exploration of career, hobby and special interests, all designed to achieve the BSA's objectives of strengthening character, personal fitness and good citizenship.

BSA FACT SHEET

WHAT DO WE DO? Troop 9005 offers a traditional scouting program that includes camping 10 out of 12 months, personal growth, exploration of personal interests and most importantly, fun. Troop 9005 camps monthly at a large variety of locations. Some campouts are at established scout camps such as Tomahawk, Stearns, Rum River, Kiwanis, Phillippo and Fred. C Anderson. In addition, the troop camps at other locations such as river sites on canoe trips, state parks and private camp grounds. Every summer, the troop has a week long camp the second week in August at Tomahawk Scout Reservation. In addition, the troop will have high adventure trips including some local trips (Boundary Waters, Isle Royale, ...) and some national trips (Philmont in New Mexico or Sea base in Florida).

MEMBERSHIP. Troop 9005 is open to all boys ages 11 to 17. Although Troop 9005 primarily recruits from Pack 9005, we welcome scouts from any pack and all boys new to scouting. Our current scouts attend a variety of schools in the Woodbury area; including Saint Ambrose of Woodbury Catholic School, Woodbury Middle School, Lake Middle School; Woodbury High School and East Ridge High School; in the Cottage Grove area; Oltman Middle School, Cottage Grove Middle School, Park High School; in the Oakdale area Skyview Middle School and Tartan High School; and in the Lake Elmo/Stillwater area; Oakland Middle School and Stilwater High School.

VOLUNTEER LEADERSHIP. Boy Scouts of America was built on volunteerism and our troop is no different. Troop 9005 needs the knowledge and dedication of its parents to make our troop a success. Being a young troop, volunteer opportunities are vast. Our philosophy for first year parents is to have them observe the troop and their scout. In doing so they are able to find a home within the troop. After the first year, or maybe before, someone on the troop committee may approach you with a particular position. But you may approach the committee chair at any time to discuss your interests. All volunteers are required to fill out a BSA Adult Application, references are required along with criminal background checks. Each volunteer is also required to complete the necessary training for the position they will hold. The success of any group and especially our troop will be the dedication of the people who step forward to assist, lead and mentor our youth.

ADVANCEMENT PLAN. Advancement has many forms. One form is rank advancement (i.e. Eagle Scout). Troop 9005 encourages each scout to earn the Eagle Scout rank. Our program is set up to assist scouts obtain Scout rank within the first month after joining our troop. Tenderfoot is obtainable within the first six months; Second Class and First Class within the first year. Star and Life will depend greatly on the motivation of each individual scout. Our focus to begin with is making sure each scout learns and knows his scout skills. There is assistance along the advancement journey, but the real control of advancement is in the hands of each individual scout.

Another form of advancement has to do with developing character, citizenship and physical fitness. St. Ambrose of Woodbury is committed to the same goals as expressed in the Boy Scouts of America mission statement.