Latest News

Indiana Academy Commencement Ceremony Saturday, May 25

Wednesday, May 22, 2024

The Indiana Academy commencement ceremony will be held on Saturday, May 25th, 2023, starting at 11:30 a.m., in the Emens Auditorium on the campus of Ball State University. Our commencement speaker this year will be Jill Peddycord Brown, Class of 1992. A native of Indianapolis, Ms. Brown a senior executive with the Federal Aviation Administration.

Parking for the Commencement Ceremony is available in the McKinley parking garage (south of Emens Auditorium), the New York Avenue parking garage (northeast of Emens Auditorium and Puris Hall), or the Student Center parking garage (south of Pittenger Student Center.) You can also refer to the campus map for building and parking locations.

The graduation events of the Indiana Academy are joyous but formal celebrations. Please do not bring air horns, cowbells, or other “noise” generating materials. Also, flash photography is a distraction to those seated nearby and a disturbance to the speaker. As a courtesy to all commencement ceremony participants, individuals who wish to videotape or take flash photographs may do so only from the balcony of Emens Auditorium.

Crabtree Photography will be taking handshake photographs as graduate receives their diploma, and a posed picture with the diploma. They will be taking the senior group photo in front of Beneficence. Graduation pictures can be ordered at crabtree-photography.hhimagehost.com/IA. Pictures will then be mailed directly from Crabtree Photography to the home address.

We believe the 2024 graduation ceremony will be a memorable and joyous occasion, and you are free to attend with as many family and friends as you would like as seating for the graduation ceremony on Saturday is unlimited. If you are unable to join us in -person, the ceremony will be live-streamed at this link: www.youtube.com/watch?v=h2b3w9UKJq4.

2024 Academic Super Bowl Results

Monday, May 6, 2024

On Saturday, May 4, twelve Academy students competed at the state level for Academic Super Bowl in Science, Fine Arts, Mathematics, and Interdisciplinary. Fine Arts placed third, and Math placed first, with Science and Interdisciplinary giving respectable performances as state qualifiers.

The new State Champion banner is hanging in Burkhardt lounge. If you see any of these students, please congratulate them!

The team includes Alexander Bell (interdisciplinary), Theo Davis (fine arts), Hunter Dunnuck (science captain), Garrett Elliott (math, science), Sam Greathouse (fine arts captain, interdisciplinary captain), Anna Gu (math, interdisciplinary), Carson Gull (math captain, science, interdisciplinary), Christopher Holmquist (science), Sung Hoo Hong (math), Justin Lin (math), Alesya Rathinasamy (science), and Marissa Silken (fine arts)

Quiz Bowl National Tournament Results

Tuesday, April 30, 2024

On April 26-28, the varsity quiz bowl team participated in the Small School National Championship Tournament (SSNCT) sponsored by National Academic Quizbowl Tournaments, LLC (NAQT). This is the 4th consecutive year IA has competed in this annual tournament.

The team achieved a 5-5 record at the championship, which is the best finish in IA’s history. This placed the Academy team in the exact middle of the standings for the tournament (28 out of 55). One of the victories came against the team that would eventually finish 15th in the tournament, a definite signature win for the team. The team finished 3-1 in the consolation matches including a win by a two to one margin over one of the teams that defeated us in the main event.

Congrats go team members Brody Chestnut, Lily Ellis, Carson Gull, and Lily Hughbanks as well as coach Joshua Ruark.

Indiana Academy Recognized Among Top Indiana High Schools by U.S. News & World Report

Friday, April 26, 2024

The Indiana Academy for Science, Mathematics, and Humanities and Burris Laboratory School have reaffirmed their positions as leading high schools in Indiana, according to the latest rankings released by U.S. News & World Report.

Read more in the Ball State University press release.

Academy Students Compete in State Envirothon

Thursday, April 25, 2024

Six Indiana Academy students competed in the state Envirothon contest on Wednesday, April 24. Our team placed third in the oral presentation category for their proposal to accelerate the transition to renewable energy in Delaware County through installation of solar panels on brownfield sites and on rooftops in Muncie. Congratulations to Jackson Bales, Delaney Blankenbuehler-Lee, AJ Carter, Cole McDermott, Mallory Saldana, and Kylie Bernier!

Academy Super Bowl Results

Friday, April 19, 2024

This past Tuesday, April 16th, eighteen of our students traveled to Greenfield Central High School to compete at the area Academic Super Bowl Competition. This year’s theme is “The End of the 2nd Millenium: The 1980s and 1990s.” Our students competed in Math, Science, Fine Arts, Social Studies, and English, with the following results:

• English placed 3rd in our class.
• Social Studies placed 1st in our class.
• Fine Arts placed 1st in our class, as well as 3rd in the state in our class and has qualified for the State Competition.
• Mathematics placed 1st in our class, as well as 1st in the state in our class and has qualified for the State Competition.
• Science placed 1st in our class, as well as 1st in the state in our class and has qualified for the State Competition.

Interdisciplinary does not compete at area, but instead the scores of the five areas are totaled and used to determine which schools qualify for state.

• Interdisciplinary placed 1st in our class in the state, and has qualified for the State Competition.

Students competing this past Tuesday were:

• Alexander Bell (social studies, interdis)
• Vivana Bhagat (English)
• AJ Carter (social studies)
• Brody Chestnut (social studies captain)
• Theo Davis (fine arts, English)
• Hunter Dunnuck (science captain)
• Garrett Elliott (science, math)
• Sam Greathouse (fine arts captain, interdis captain)
• Anna Gu (English captain, math, interdis)
• Carson Gull (math captain, science, interdis)
• Christopher Holmquist (science)
• Sung Hoo Hong (math)
• Justin Lin (math)
• Owen Nichols (English)
• Alesya Rathinasamy (science)
• Serena Richardson (social studies)
• Marissa Silkett (fine arts, English)
• Joshua Summers (social studies)

These students worked very hard and still have more work ahead of them! A special thank you to Mr. Scott Ritchie and Ms. Kim Foltz for driving vans so we could get all 18 kids to Greenfield Central and back!

Dr. Tom Arnold, Candy Manship, and Sharon Johnson Celebrated for Combined 70 Years of Service

Friday, April 12, 2024

Congratulations to Dr. Tom Arnold, Associate Teaching Professor of History, Mrs. Candy Manship, Administrative Coordinator – Academic Affairs, and Sharon Johnson, Night Office Manager, for their respective length of service at Ball State and The Indiana Academy, totaling 70 years!

According to Dr. Olufowote, Director of Academic Affairs, “It is rare to see employees diligently serve day-in-and-out for the amount of time Tom and Candy have graced the Academy. Candy’s thirty years at the helm of state reporting and managing the affairs of all things academic at the Academy is incredible and a testament to the excellence and resilience of our community. Tom has been a gem for the Academy over the last two decades and is still operating with a youth-like enthusiasm and spirit for teaching, mentorship, and research. Those of us newer to the Academy stand on the shoulders of giants like Tom and Candy whom have clearly contributed towards earning our status as a premier institution of higher learning for the exceptional student.”

Paul Douglas, Director of Residential and Student Affairs, says, “Sharon has worked faithfully for the Academy for 20+ years and does an incredible job at a critical position. Few see her because she works from 11:30 p.m.-7:30 a.m. but many rely on the information she compiles and shares each day. Whether it is travel forms, overnight lists, rounds throughout the building, keeping our students and building safe, or being ready to respond to student needs and emergencies, Sharon handles all of it and allows all of us including our live-in staff, to rest well and be ready for the next day. Sharon is a wonderful example of dedication and care for this school we all love, and I am so grateful to have her as part of our team.”

Dr. Jeongsoo Pyo Invited to Present at AATK Annual Meeting

Friday, April 12, 2024

Congratulations to Dr. Jeongsoo Pyo, Assistant Teaching Professor of World Languages, for having her Learning Scenario (LS), My Special Birthday, accepted to be included in the revised World Readiness Standards for Learning Languages (Korean) and to be presented during the 29th American Association of Teachers of Korean (AATK) annual meeting at Indiana university, June 20-22, 2024. The AATK is the most prestigious conference in the Korean language and has invited members to participate in an important initiative to update the World Readiness Standards for learning Korean. Fifteen new learning scenarios (lesson plans) were selected out of a host of submissions to reach this initiative. According to Dr. Kang, Professor/Director of the School of Korean at Middlebury College, “The selection of Learning Scenarios was a challenging and difficult task… Thank you [Dr. Pyo] very much for contributing to AATK’s National Standards Revision project.”

Dr. Olufowote and Academy Senior Daniel Yoo Present at MPSA Annual Conference

Friday, April 12, 2024

Last week, Academy senior Daniel Yoo and Dr. Olufowote, Director of Academic Affairs, presented research entitled, “No Study, No Job: The Stigmas Associated with South Korean Vocational Schooling” at the Midwest Political Science Association Annual Conference in Chicago, IL. This research attempts to investigate how South Korean school choice, among other intervening variables, impacts student mental health and well-being.” Of the two main variables found to hold the greatest explanatory power, the authors finds parental involvement tends to have a negative relationship with mental health-well-being among South Korean students, in general, and that vocational students, in particular, benefit from a stronger support among cohort classmates and peers, positively impacting their mental health and well-being.

Dr. Olufowote also served as a discussant for thee panels: Democratic Backslidings and Coercive Challenges, Mental Health and Sports Policies in Educational Contexts, Democratic Advances and Setbacks, and served as panel chair for Democratic Advances and Setbacks.

Explore Experiential Credit Bearing Opportunities at the Academy: Teaching Apprenticeships!

Friday, April 12, 2024

Last spring semester, we featured credit-bearing internships and research opportunities available to Academy students. Did you know Indiana Academy students can also earn academic credits as a teaching apprentice? The Teacher apprenticeship program is designed with mentorship and professional development in mind. Students have the unique opportunity to work alongside Academy faculty on a variety of activities related to classroom management, instruction, and student support. Read below to hear more on the experiences students have had this semester as part of the teaching apprenticeship program!

“This week, I felt much more confident in giving context to the class. I recognized that it was appreciated last time, so I was empowered to go to extra lengths to provide things I found interesting or relevant. I even included some items that weren’t immediately relevant, but provided an additional perspective on love that contrasted from that in the film. Mr. Haynes listened attentively to my suggestions early in the week, and he even took notes! He told me after I presented yesterday that my context was becoming an essential part of the class that he’s hoping to include more consistently in the future.”
-Theo Davis

“This week has mostly been individual work editing a video. We did a visual project last semester in our Korean Class, so I am editing the smaller videos into one large video to upload to YouTube. I’ve never been very techy, so this has been a great chance for me to exit my comfort zone. Over this past week, I have learned so much about editing and computer science. By editing the videos I’ve also been able to watch them again and learn more about my classmate’s experiences. The videos are in Korean, so it has helped my listening and reading skills as well.”
-Lorna Holman

“…that night I hosted another study session and some people came. I was able to help answer numerous questions in prep for the test that was the next day at the time. On Friday, I showed up to class again and did mostly the same but at the end I was assigned to collect quizzes. Ms. Buczek has asked me to double check future keys over the weekend…”
-Myranda Partaker

Contact Dr. Olufowote, Director of Academic Affairs, for more information on how to get connected to the teacher apprentice program!