Joseph Baldwin Academy
Encyclopedia
Kirksville, Missouri
Kirksville is the county seat of Adair County, Missouri, United States. It is located in Benton Township. The population was 17,505 at the 2010 census. Kirksville also anchors a micropolitan area that comprises Adair and Schuyler counties. The city is perhaps best known as the location of Truman...
, the academy is run by Truman State University
Truman State University
Truman State University is a public liberal arts and sciences university in Missouri, United States and a member of the Council of Public Liberal Arts Colleges. About 6,000 students attend Truman, pursuing degrees in 43 undergraduate and 9 Graduate programs. It is located in Kirksville in...
students, faculty
Teacher
A teacher or schoolteacher is a person who provides education for pupils and students . The role of teacher is often formal and ongoing, carried out at a school or other place of formal education. In many countries, a person who wishes to become a teacher must first obtain specified professional...
, and alumni.
Purpose
The Joseph Baldwin Academy was created to provide a simulated college experience for highly talented students. The courses are intended to be at or near college-level. Beyond the classroom, JBA gives students an opportunity to socialize with people of their own age and intellect from different cities and, in some cases, states. The goal of the academy is to give the students an “increased appreciation for the pleasures of education, intellectual engagement, and the college experience.”Student life
Each session lasts for three weeks, during which students take a single, college-level course. The classes meet from 9 am until 4 pm Monday through Friday with a lunch break in between. There are also half-days on Saturday and a short study hallStudy Hall
Study hall or study period is a term for a place and/or time during the school day where students are assigned to study when they are not scheduled for an academic class. They are most commonly found in high schools and some middle schools, especially in the United States...
on Sunday. The courses at the academy are intended to match the difficulty of those typically taken by first year college students, and the content approximates that of a semester-long course.
Living and Supervision
Students live and eat in a Truman dormitory. Sessions have been housed in both Ryle and Centennial Hall, in gender-separated wings, with strict regulations regarding opposite gender interaction in the dorm setting.In the dormitory, there is a greater amount of supervision and structured recreation than college students experience. All the students are in a gender-specific housing group composed of eight to twelve people (four to six rooms) with a preceptor who acts as a resident assistant
Resident assistant
A resident assistant , commonly shortened to RA is a trained peer leader who supervises those living in a residence hall or group housing facility...
. The housing groups host their own activities, ranging from going to a local restaurant to watching a movie. While students are not allowed to bring video games/electronics, which includes personal computers, housing group preceptors sometimes bring their own gaming systems for their housing group activity. In addition, students experience a "lights-out" curfew after a certain hour each night.
Each class has two or three preceptors who help with class studies and sometimes teach a lesson, depending on the class structure. Preceptors are also responsible for running evening activities. If students violate the rules, the preceptors are responsible for documenting the incident, but are not in charge of actually determining consequences for rule violations. After a documentation, students will then have a meeting with the director and/or assistant director at either 4:15pm or after the hall meeting, depending on the severity of the offense, to discuss the documented offense.
Supervision is also done by the Pro staff and the Preceptors with specific duties.
Free Time
In keeping with the goal of providing a well-rounded, liberal arts education, the academy provides a variety of recreational opportunities. In the morning, before class, students eat breakfast in the cafeteria and talk with friends, or engage in optional activities, such as jogging, yoga, or trips to the local coffee shop. There are also activities generally offered between 4-6pm during the students' "free time", which are not required for the students to attend. Mandatory activities and events run by the preceptors occur every weekday from 7-9:20pm and range from crafts or cooking activities to sports games. The students also have the option to take a study hall during this evening activity time.Students are also given access to university services, including the Pickler Memorial Library, Student Union
Student union
Student union may refer to:* Students' union, or student government in the U.S., a student organization at many colleges and universities dedicated to student governance...
Building (SUB), and Ophelia Parrish. When leaving any building, students must be accompanied by a buddy and must utilize an electronic check-out system where they state their intended location. At the SUB, students can purchase books or buy food from restaurant vendors. At the library, they can check out books or use the computers. At Ophelia Parrish they can practice their musical instruments if they have one. Students may also go to McClain Hall in order to cash checks that they may have.
Classes
Classes are distributed across the artsARts
aRts, which stands for analog Real time synthesizer, is an audio framework that is no longer under development. It is best known for previously being used in KDE to simulate an analog synthesizer....
, humanities
Humanities
The humanities are academic disciplines that study the human condition, using methods that are primarily analytical, critical, or speculative, as distinguished from the mainly empirical approaches of the natural sciences....
, social sciences
Social sciences
Social science is the field of study concerned with society. "Social science" is commonly used as an umbrella term to refer to a plurality of fields outside of the natural sciences usually exclusive of the administrative or managerial sciences...
, life sciences
Life sciences
The life sciences comprise the fields of science that involve the scientific study of living organisms, like plants, animals, and human beings. While biology remains the centerpiece of the life sciences, technological advances in molecular biology and biotechnology have led to a burgeoning of...
and physical sciences, although most are interdisciplinary. Offerings in the past have included courses in: medievalism
Medievalism
Medievalism is the system of belief and practice characteristic of the Middle Ages, or devotion to elements of that period, which has been expressed in areas such as architecture, literature, music, art, philosophy, scholarship, and various vehicles of popular culture.Since the 18th century, a...
, field ecology
Ecology
Ecology is the scientific study of the relations that living organisms have with respect to each other and their natural environment. Variables of interest to ecologists include the composition, distribution, amount , number, and changing states of organisms within and among ecosystems...
, experimental physiology
Physiology
Physiology is the science of the function of living systems. This includes how organisms, organ systems, organs, cells, and bio-molecules carry out the chemical or physical functions that exist in a living system. The highest honor awarded in physiology is the Nobel Prize in Physiology or...
, criminology
Criminology
Criminology is the scientific study of the nature, extent, causes, and control of criminal behavior in both the individual and in society...
, ethnomusicology
Ethnomusicology
Ethnomusicology is defined as "the study of social and cultural aspects of music and dance in local and global contexts."Coined by the musician Jaap Kunst from the Greek words ἔθνος ethnos and μουσική mousike , it is often considered the anthropology or ethnography of music...
, forensic statistics
Statistics
Statistics is the study of the collection, organization, analysis, and interpretation of data. It deals with all aspects of this, including the planning of data collection in terms of the design of surveys and experiments....
, environmental chemistry
Environmental chemistry
Environmental chemistry is the scientific study of the chemical and biochemical phenomena that occur in natural places. It should not be confused with green chemistry, which seeks to reduce potential pollution at its source...
, folklore
Folklore
Folklore consists of legends, music, oral history, proverbs, jokes, popular beliefs, fairy tales and customs that are the traditions of a culture, subculture, or group. It is also the set of practices through which those expressive genres are shared. The study of folklore is sometimes called...
and equine science
Horse
The horse is one of two extant subspecies of Equus ferus, or the wild horse. It is a single-hooved mammal belonging to the taxonomic family Equidae. The horse has evolved over the past 45 to 55 million years from a small multi-toed creature into the large, single-toed animal of today...
. Also, challenging courses in languages less likely to be available in high school are offered, such as Russian
Russian language
Russian is a Slavic language used primarily in Russia, Belarus, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. It is an unofficial but widely spoken language in Ukraine, Moldova, Latvia, Turkmenistan and Estonia and, to a lesser extent, the other countries that were once constituent republics...
, Italian
Italian language
Italian is a Romance language spoken mainly in Europe: Italy, Switzerland, San Marino, Vatican City, by minorities in Malta, Monaco, Croatia, Slovenia, France, Libya, Eritrea, and Somalia, and by immigrant communities in the Americas and Australia...
and Latin
Latin
Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...
. Specialized offerings in history
History
History is the discovery, collection, organization, and presentation of information about past events. History can also mean the period of time after writing was invented. Scholars who write about history are called historians...
, drawing
Drawing
Drawing is a form of visual art that makes use of any number of drawing instruments to mark a two-dimensional medium. Common instruments include graphite pencils, pen and ink, inked brushes, wax color pencils, crayons, charcoal, chalk, pastels, markers, styluses, and various metals .An artist who...
, acting
Acting
Acting is the work of an actor or actress, which is a person in theatre, television, film, or any other storytelling medium who tells the story by portraying a character and, usually, speaking or singing the written text or play....
, computer science
Computer science
Computer science or computing science is the study of the theoretical foundations of information and computation and of practical techniques for their implementation and application in computer systems...
, mathematics
Mathematics
Mathematics is the study of quantity, space, structure, and change. Mathematicians seek out patterns and formulate new conjectures. Mathematicians resolve the truth or falsity of conjectures by mathematical proofs, which are arguments sufficient to convince other mathematicians of their validity...
, literature
Literature
Literature is the art of written works, and is not bound to published sources...
, and many other areas are offered, too. Courses frequently involve field trips, which in the past have included archaeological digs, Native American
Native Americans in the United States
Native Americans in the United States are the indigenous peoples in North America within the boundaries of the present-day continental United States, parts of Alaska, and the island state of Hawaii. They are composed of numerous, distinct tribes, states, and ethnic groups, many of which survive as...
powows, overnight excursions to libraries, museums and theatrical performances in distant cities. Courses are taught by faculty from Truman State University
Truman State University
Truman State University is a public liberal arts and sciences university in Missouri, United States and a member of the Council of Public Liberal Arts Colleges. About 6,000 students attend Truman, pursuing degrees in 43 undergraduate and 9 Graduate programs. It is located in Kirksville in...
, and are assisted by Truman student preceptors. Classes and professors vary from year to year.
Session I - June 5–26, 2010
•An "Animated" Course•Crime and Justice in America
•Introduction to Chemistry
•Italian Language and Culture
•Lying with Statistics: Spotting Suspicious Data
•Scoops, Blogs, and Tweets: Packaging News for Eyes, Ears and Fingers!
•The Art and Science of Computer Programming
•The Horse
•The Human Laboratory
•Theatre: Onstage and Off
Session II - July 10–31, 2010
•Advocacy and Debate: Argument, Critical Thinking and Persuasion•Elementary Latin: The Words and Ways of the Ancient Romans
•Ethnomusicology: Music in the Real World
•Genealogy: The Quest for Origins
•Historian as Detective
•Kaleidoscope: A Multi Faceted Approach To Art and Design
•Old English: Beowulf and the Heroic Age of Britain
•Psychology & the Media: Reality Explored
•The Writer's Craft
•What Bugs You: Insects and Human Affairs
Activities
JBA has many activities throughout the day. From 7 until 9 in the morning, students can choose to participate in morning activities like laundry, jogging, and just hanging around the lounge. Afternoon and evening activities include going to the campus recreation center, soccer, American football/football, basketball, swimming at the aquatic center, watching movies, JBA handball, and Ultimate (sport), and trips to local restaurants and shops, such as Dairy QueenDairy Queen
Dairy Queen, often abbreviated DQ, is a chain of soft serve and fast food restaurants owned by International Dairy Queen, Inc, who also owns Orange Julius and Karmelkorn. The name "Dairy Queen" is taken from the name of their soft serve product, which the company refers to as "Dairy Queen" or...
. Some activities are JBA traditions, such as dodge ball and capture the flag. Although activities held in the morning and afternoon are optional, students must partake in evening activities. Once a session there are special activities like Water Olympics (Slip n’ Slide, mud volleyball, and more), Carnival (where students can play games run by staff, eat snow cones, and put fellow students in "jail"), Assassins (students have a target and must “kill” them with a sock), “Halloween”, dances, and a trip to Beach Ottumwa. These events take the place of evening activities that day, with the exception of Assassins which usually spans 3 to 5 days. In past years there have been other traditions such as emo Tuesday and the team skit competition. Also there are 3 dances where you can dance or hang out in the lobby and play risk or other games.
Admissions Requirements
Since JBA attempts to hold students to a college-level standard of learning, students must meet certain requirements before gaining admission to the program. Students must be nominated by their principal or guidance counselor and must have completed at least seventh grade. Students also must score at or above the 95th percentile in at least one area on a recognized standardized achievement examination, such as the Iowa Test of Basic Skills, TAKSTexas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills
The Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills is a standardized test used in Texas primary and secondary schools to assess students' attainment of reading, writing, math, science, and social studies skills required under Texas education standards. It is developed and scored by Pearson Educational...
, Stanford Achievement Test
Stanford Achievement Test Series
The current Stanford Achievement Test Series, usually referred to simply as the "SAT 10", is considered the benchmark of excellence in standardized achievement tests utilized by school districts in the United States for assessing children from kindergarten through high school. First published in...
, or MAP tests
Missouri Assessment Program
The Missouri Assessment Program is an annual set of mandatory standardized tests taken by students in the U.S. state of Missouri.- State Content Assessments :Grade-Level Assessment -...
. Students who live in an area which does not support standardized testing can also be nominated with a GPA of 3.75-4.0 or an IQ test of 125 (95%) or above.
Home-schooled students may be nominated by a parent, which is handled on a case-by-case basis through the Dean of the Joseph Baldwin Academy. Home-schooled students will need to supply the same standardized test score described above and will also need to provide the Dean with information about their curriculum over the last two years. School counselors are encouraged to alert home-schooled students in their area about this opportunity.
Students who are certified as eligible for the final selection process will receive notification in October of their Distinguished Nominee designation, as well as information and application materials for the Joseph Baldwin Academy. Final selection and designation as one of the Eminent Young Scholars is based on a recommendation letter from a current teacher, a complete school transcript (two full years), and ACT, SAT, or PSAT test scores.
History
Founded in 1985, JBA is named for Joseph BaldwinJoseph Baldwin
Joseph Baldwin was a pioneering educator and called by some the "father of the normal school system".-Early Life:...
, pioneer educator and founder of Truman State. JBA was created to provide a simulated college
College
A college is an educational institution or a constituent part of an educational institution. Usage varies in English-speaking nations...
experience, particularly in the liberal arts
Liberal arts
The term liberal arts refers to those subjects which in classical antiquity were considered essential for a free citizen to study. Grammar, Rhetoric and Logic were the core liberal arts. In medieval times these subjects were extended to include mathematics, geometry, music and astronomy...
, at a critical point during students’ development when normal school curriculum might strike them as insufficiently challenging.
The inaugural academy seated 60 students in four courses in one summer session; in 1992 the academy grew to include two summer sessions; currently, JBA offers ten courses for approximately 200 pupils in each of the two sessions.
Deans of the Joseph Baldwin Academy
- Darrel W. Krueger (Founder, 1985–1989)
- Jack Magruder (1989–1991)
- Lynn Gillette (1991–1992)
- Heinz D. Woehlk (1992–1999)
- David Christiansen (1999–2004)
- Jeff Gall (2004–2006)
- Adam Brooke Davis (2006–2008)
- Kevin Minch (2008- )