9/30 Blog Posting

THRIVE Director Notes

Posts on this Blog will be directed to help families see what is going on in our THRIVE Program.  Items discussed on the Blog have already occurred. To keep updated on what’s coming up please refer to the THRIVE activity calendar or UCM activity calendar.

First-Year Students:

University Foundations :

We discussed how to figure time in Plato while completing the assessments. We also watched a clip from America's Got Talent, Susan Boyle. We talked about how important the THRIVE program is to everyone as well as UCM. The saying “Don’t judge a book by its cover” was the theme on Tuesday. Weekly point sheets are due every Thursday morning. Two former THRIVE students Avery and Richard came to our classroom and discussed many topics. How THRIVE has given them confidence, how they feel they have made life long friends in THRIVE and discussed what they tell people about the program. Assigned this week was Chapter 4 outline.

On Wednesday we had two past THRIVE Students share about their experiences.  The students had many questions and it was informative for all.

Daily & Independent Living Skills:

This week we reviewed our food logs in DILS. Some students commented on how keeping the log for three days had a positive effect on their food choices. We also researched careers students are interested in and they were assigned to turn in the name of a career, the educational requirements for the career and three schools that offered training/degrees for that career. Today we're completing our first week of the My Classroom Economy project where they learn how to manage income/expenses/saving/investing in the "real" world.

Technology Literacy:

Tech Literacy had the students deeply involved in creating PowerPoint presentations this week. They are making presentations titled "All About Me" where they share a few their lives through pictures in slides that include family, hobbies, pets, hopes, dreams, etc. They will be presenting these to their classmates next week.

Relationships 101:

We discussed Red flags in relationships. Deal breakers in relationships and treatment of others. We watched a video that illustrated some of these and discussed each of them. 

Students coming out of their Valuing Differences class this week.

Second-Year Students:

Transition Planning I:

We have finished Habit 2 "Begin with the End in Mind".  This habit can be difficult because the student has to look ahead and plan for their goals.  We as individuals sometimes have a hard time planning ahead and plan just that current day.

- The students have finished their initial Professional Development Plan (PDP), initial resume and job description on what the student may want to pursue as a career.   We will continue to add to these documents.

Internship I: 

The students have been discussing where they would like to do their internships for the Spring semester.  Most of the students will change locations for their internships. However, some students may stay in their current location.  This will all depend on if the internship is a paid internship and what type of skills the student is interested in.

- The students will start working on interviewing skills in the next couple of weeks.  The students will do two mock interviews by the time the fall semester is over with. The students will continue to update their professional portfolios. 

Plato:

Second-year students are doing a great job this year keeping up with Plato. This week all students had new assessments. Monday was writing, Tuesday Math and Wednesday were Reading. Students should count the time on assessments into their 2 required hours needed a week on each subject. 

Two of our students also participated in a concert last week.  Great job, Elijah and Olivia.

THRIVE Activities:

Mentor Activities: This weekend was Popcorn and a movie by Kim.  Look at all the fun times!

Important upcoming dates:

Down Syndrome Guild Walk: For the 2nd year THRIVE is a sponsor for the Down Syndrome Guild of Greater Kansas City’s Step up for Down Syndrome.  We will be putting together a team of 10 students that will go to Arrowhead Stadium to walk for this event, held on October 26th from 10 am to 2 pm.  We are excited that we are able to do this and see our students show support. We have 13 signed up. I’ll be contacting the students to confirm this today, so I can get them registered..

Softball:

Last week’s game was canceled we just found out that tonight will be a double-header, as long as we have enough students to play.  Keep an eye on Facebook if you were planning on coming and watching.

Special Olympics group to be on UCM Campus:

We have a group from Special Olympics attending UCM in late October.  We will have a couple of students help with giving tours of campus and will also have a group of students help with an activity in the evening.  We’ll be talking more to the students as we get more information.

Homecoming Weekend is October 12th  Put it on your calendars.  The students will be able to participate in several activities.  Blood Drive, Corn Toss (Instead of Bowling), Cheer Competition, Spirit Window, Door Decorating, THRIVE student Talent Show, and the Parade on Saturday morning.  The sign-up sheets are in the classroom. We will have a float that the students help with and the students walk in the parade.

"This blog is a programming blog written by the director and staff of the THRIVE Program on the University of Central Missouri campus.  This blog doesn't accept any form of cash advertising, sponsorship, or paid topic insertions. 

The views and ideas expressed on this blog are purely the blog owners.  This blog does not contain any content which might present a conflict of interest.  We are simply telling you what we plan to do in our program and using the blog to help spread what we are doing on a weekly basis."