The MindScape Academy is offered to eighth grade students based on the recommendation of teachers and guidance counselors.  They are students who possess high abilities, but may need extra encouragement and support to reach their education and career goals.  The academy meets one Saturday per month during the school year.  Each month a different subject matter is covered.  These classes all provide outdoor, experiential learning.  Some of the courses include:  forensic science, nature photography, web page design, creative writing, music composition, dog sledding and wilderness survival.  In addition students are provided with information and training on how to explore and choose careers, pick a college major, and what steps in take during high school to prepare for college.

The Mindscape Academy currently offers seven courses. Check out the course descriptions below.  To see some of our students work, check out the Students' pages. For more information contact Jule McKanna at (260)-359-4120.

Acids, Colors, Lakes, and Dirt
What do professional chemists do with some of that weird equipment?  Did you know you can easily make cabbage juice turn different colors?  Have you ever seen how really strong acids can burn holes through strong materials?  How badly is acid rain destroying our environment?  Come to Thornhill and do experiments to find out for yourself!

 

Campfire Stories
Does a day filled with roasted marshmallows, scary stories and a blazing campfire sound like a great Saturday learning adventure?  In this course you will learn how to write real short stories, but in a fun and unusual way.  In teams you will explore all the strange and mysterious sights, smells, and sounds that inhabit the Thornhill woods and search for intriguing, mysterious objects.  After finding a fascinating object in the woods, your team will return to the Nature Center and begin writing your story on the computer.  Each team will write the beginning of a story using their own object from the woods as a source of mystery or conflict.  Now the story writing fun begins!  After writing the introduction, your team will shift to another team’s story and write the middle of their story.  Then your team will shift one more time to write the ending to a different story.  When finished, each team will have written a portion of everyone else’s story.

After printing your stories, you will build a blazing campfire, make s’mores, and share stories.  Not only will the story writing be a fun adventure, but you’ll learn about setting, plot and characterization---important elements in all fiction.
 

Music of the Wild
Have you ever just sat and listened to all the sounds of nature?  It’s like an outdoor symphony.  In this lesson we will record some of the sounds of nature and learn how to identify qualities such as pitch, timbre, and rhythm.  Then you’ll learn how to play some percussion instruments and compose your own music, which will be recorded over the background music of the wild.  You will also discuss creativity, the recording process, the process of composing, and the fabric of sound, which surrounds us in our environment.
 

Snowflakes and Dog Sleds
Excitement!  Thrills!  We all crave adventure and a break from the mundane.  How does a dog sled ride across 80 acres sound?  This is for real!  Get to know the owners and their dogs.  After the ride, take an imaginary trip to Alaska as if you were competing in the Ididerod Dog Sled Race.

Everyone loves a good story.  You’ll have an opportunity to hear the best of Jack London around a bonfire.  As if that weren’t enough, you will make a compass and an igloo too!  Pray for snow and plan on having a once in a lifetime winter experience.
 

Start Planning Today for Tomorrow
Do you want to be an astronaut or an agronomist?  Do you want to study literature or linguistics?  Would you like to go to college that is nicknamed the Runnin’ Rebels or the Ramblin’ Wreck?  Each session we will spend some time talking about your career and education options.  High school is just around the corner and then, before you know it, it will be time to find a job or go to college.  We’ll learn how to explore different careers, how to choose a career that fits your interests, talents, and abilities, and how to prepare for different careers.  We also talk about all the options you have to continue your education after high school and how to pay for it.  Don’t let anything stand in the way of making your dreams come true.  Start planning and preparing today for tomorrow.
 

To Catch a Thief
Did you hear about James Dean’s tombstone being stolen?  Well this time it’s not James Dean’s, but Fred Snicklefritz’s that’s been stolen and we need your help!  We have the area narrowed down as to where the tombstone is, but we need your help to find it and catch the thief.

You are going to become a detective for a day.  You will learn many skills needed to solve a crime, such as how to orient yourself in the wilderness to find clues to the crime.  You will also collect the evidence, test it, and determine the culprit.  Beware  You may have committed the crime and did not even realize it!
 

Wild, Wild, Web
Come explore and discover your abilities in nature photography, digital video, and Internet design.  The art of digital imaging will be developed in an all day session at Thornhill.  From bullfrogs to wild flowers, Thornhill’s enormous amount of beauty will be photographed and displayed on the Internet.  The day will be divided into two sections.  The morning session will include hands-on training in the use of digital still cameras, video cameras, and digital scanners.  Students will use these tools to explore and capture Thornhill’s plants, animals and landscapes.  In the afternoon session students will use state of the art image editing software and web authoring software on Thornhill’s laptop computers to evaluate and enhance images, and design and compose World Wide Web pages.