Blog 9/19

 

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.  Also, if you are interested in learning more about assistance with your son/daughter learning how to drive please contact Mr. Brunkhorst.  

Director Notes: 

In the coming weeks, students will be asked to choose the top 5 classes that they would like to take in the Spring.  Then staff will look to see what classes fit in their schedule and then discuss how each fits in their person-centered plan.  It would be a good idea to get with them in the next couple of weeks to see what they have thought about.  The team then goes and talks to the teachers about the class and makes sure they know about our THRIVE program.  Then 2nd-, 3rd-, and 4th year students will be starting to think about their Spring semester internships.  

Fall Break coming up October 12th and 13th.   This year UCM has added a fall break to the students' calendar.  This means that there will be no classes on October 12th and 13th.  Offices will also be closed on the 13th, so staff won’t be on campus.  I wanted to make sure parents had seen this on the calendar and could discuss this with the students.  I will be sending out a form to the students late next week to help staff and mentors plan for that weekend.  Please talk to your student about this break.

Homecoming week October 16th through 22nd: This year’s Homecoming theme is “Peace, Love, and Mules”.  Thanks to the help of all the families at Family Weekend our float is about finished.  Students worked on finishing it up last weekend.  They will have opportunities to help with our Spirit Window, Blood Drive, and Bowling team, and will walk in the parade on Saturday morning the 21st.  After the parade, they will be able to enjoy activities downtown and the Mules Football game against Emporia State.  We’d love to see lots of families come to this great event.  The Mules are playing well and came within a point of beating Pitt State a few weeks back.  Let’s fill the stands…

First-Year Students:

University Foundations: Debra Southard  

This week we started weekly point sheets, deposit slips, and keeping a checkbook. Even though banks do that for us now it's good that students understand the process. We started Chapter 3 about time management. Something several students are struggling with. We ask students not to study in their dorm rooms but use the academic building to find places to study during the day. Some students are not working on homework during the day which is putting them behind. 

Individual Relationships and Health:  Joni Shelton

This past week we focused on Nutrition and Eating Healthy. Students will keep a log of the foods they eat for 7 days, and then reflect on their eating habits and suggest some changes to improve their eating habits.

Technology Literacy:  Joni Shelton

We spent this week working on the IPADS, learning how to use Notability. We ended the week with learning how to use Adobe Reader. We had one afternoon without the internet, and we realized just how much we rely on technology in our daily lives. 

Career Exploration: Gary Manning

This week we discussed the student's talents and how those talents may go along with what the student may be interested in doing for a career.  We also discussed picking five elective classes for the spring semester.  The student needs to have their classes submitted by Oct. 1st.  

Second-Year Students:

Transition Planning I: Gary Manning

This week we discussed RBAs and PBAs from the 7 Habits book.  Within that discussion, we talked about withdrawals and deposits into a relationship.  The withdrawals and deposits can take place in a relationship bank account and in a personal bank account.  At first, the students think we are talking about an actual bank account you have at the bank.  However, as I explain the concepts to them and we discuss these accounts in further detail the students start to realize this has nothing to do with money but on how you treat yourself and other individuals around you.  

Foods and Nutrition: Debra Southard

The week we finished up monkey bread and premeasured the dry ingredients for pumpkin funnel cakes. We will prepare some nutritious items I promise! Students are doing a super job at cleaning the kitchens when they are done. I'm really proud of them!

More Monkey Bread…  where did it all go…

Internship I: Gary Manning

In class, we have been discussing when you have a job on how organized you will need to be.  Further, we talk about time management and have a plan for the day, week, and month.  We discussed having a planner on how to use the planner to be organized and to make sure you do not overlap meetings, classes, work, and doing school work.

Third-Year Students:

Transition Planning III: Lisa Garnier

Students are doing a second 168-hour time management worksheet as the first one really opened their eyes to how they spend their time. They are also starting to identify what activities during their day they find engaging and energizing and what activities do not so much. Recognizing this will help them schedule activities in such a way that they can re-energize and better make it through the less engaging activities we all have in our daily lives. 

I have also asked students to begin working on a list of 5 classes they would like to take this Spring. So, they may be discussing options with parents over the next couple of weeks.

Internship III: Lisa Garnier

This is a hard-working group. They are really focused on getting the most out of their internship opportunities. I am proud of them.

4th Year Seminar/Portfolio: Lisa Garnier

Student’s September budgets are looking good. It will be interesting to compare them with the expense tracker at the end of the month. They are also finding job postings to use for learning how to tailor resumes to specific jobs, which we will start working on soon.

Plato: Debra Southard:

Seems like the students who do well with PLATO are the ones who have mastered time management. The students who get behind need to spend some time during the day catching up. 

THRIVE Activities:

THRIVE Softball Team: 

A little fun at Softball Practice…

THRIVE Tennis player: Ally had a match last Monday night.  Great job, Ally!

Mentor Activities: .

The mentor activity was a  cooking activity, English Muffin Pizzas.  Here are the pictures.  It looks like it was a hit.

Great Job Everyone!!  For more pictures please join our THRIVE Facebook and/or Instagram pages.

Important upcoming dates: 

We had our second THRIVE Softball game last week and we’ll have 2 more games on Wednesday nights at 8 pm.  The games are at the Jennies Complex off of DD highway.  If weather is a factor I’ll use Facebook to let families know.  Also, the students should know.  

UCM Homecoming Week is October 16th through 22. This year’s theme is “Peace, Love, and Mules”.  There will be activities throughout the week and sign-up sheets will go out in the next week or so.  Many times these activities include Spirit Window, Bowling Tournament, and the parade.  On Saturday it starts early with the Parade, then the Mules Football game.  THRIVE will have a float and the students will walk in the parade.  We also have had some of our 3rd & 4th Years go with the Wils bus in the past.  We are still working out that detail.  It’s a great time and we suggest if you have the weekend free to join your son/daughter at this event.

Next Mentor Activity:  

Will be up soon.,..

UCM Athletics:

Soccer and Volleyball are starting soon.

"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."