Blog 10/2
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:
Friendly reminder: Please refrain from calling students during class times. Also, if you have concerns about your student please contact THRIVE staff to check on your student or for other information. If you have any questions please contact Michael Brunkhorst at mbrunkhorst@ucmo.edu or your student's primary THRIVE teacher.
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 Open House:
This Monday we had our Fall Open House. The students did great and we had 13-15 families in the morning and about 20 families in the afternoon. Looks like we are starting with lots of interest and families are learning more about programs like THRIVE. Some of the students waiting in the morning and afternoon…
Letting the families know where they are from…
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. There will also be no study hall on Wednesday the 11th.
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's focus was on taking the chapter three test. I read each question twice. Students were surprised when I told them how many hours I would study for one test. We also finished up a true story (movie) Door to Door. Students were assigned to create a Jam board about the subject in the movie. Students worked on it in the classroom.
Individual Relationships and Health: Joni Shelton
On Monday, Crissy Hall from the UCM Health Center presented to the class about Sexuality (pictured below) We also had our midterm, this week. On Wednesday, we spent an hour discussing Exercise and Physical Fitness, and on Friday we started a unit on Hygiene and Cleanliness, which will continue next week.
Technology Literacy: Joni Shelton
This week in Technology Literacy students spent time catching up on assignments due for Tech Lit, and other classes. One project due this week was an Excel Spreadsheet that required students to research living expenses for a month such as rent, groceries, transportation, savings, etc. I also introduced our upcoming project in which students will create and present a Powerpoint all about themselves. Students may be asking you to share pictures or information for them to include in their presentations.
Career Exploration: Gary Manning
We have been discussing how their first two Missouri Connections assessment data can help them look for potential job opportunities. The students were able to see what jobs/careers matched both of the assessments and then they were asked to submit what jobs they may want to do within their Career Cluster.
A little exercising going on…
Second-Year Students:
Transition Planning I: Gary Manning
We have continued having discussions on the 7 Habits book. We are currently discussing Habit 4 and Habit 5 in class. We have also discussed the budget and how much money it actually may take to rent an apartment. For instance; the student will need the first month and last month's rent before you can move into an apartment.
Foods and Nutrition: Debra Southard
We reviewed for the midterm on Monday. Wednesday we took the test. Friday we prepared to make pizza snacks. We created a list of equipment needed. And reviewed the steps in preparation.
Internship I: Gary Manning
The students are in the process of selecting their spring internship. The students need to submit three to five locations they are interested in. We suggest the students select locations that will help them get a job in their local community. The students may do more than one internship if they would like to. We would just split the hours to 6-8 hours per week for both internships. The students may stay at their current internship if we can get that worked out with that particular location. However, we want students to gain experience in different job skills and work environments. Therefore, if that student stays at their current internship we ask their supervisors to have them do different tasks than they have previously. Please talk to your students about their spring internships.
Third-Year Students:
Transition Planning III: Lisa Garnier
We are starting a unit on planning for the future. The goal is for students to learn to look beyond the obvious choices and explore all the possibilities whether it be in their personal or professional lives. Most of the students have chosen classes they want to take this Spring, but not all. This is something they need to have to me (if they don’t already) ASAP.
Internship III: Lisa Garnier
Internships are going well, and we are beginning to talk about possibilities for the Spring Semester.
4th Year Seminar/Portfolio: Lisa Garnier
I continue to be impressed with our 4th-year students’ work on building skills for applying to jobs, budgeting their own money, and planning for “what’s next” after THRIVE. We are finishing up tailored cover letters and I’m looking forward to seeing how they present themselves and their skills for different job postings.
A little Salsa anyone? Michael making some salsa for class… where’d it all go?
Plato:
All students were asked to email Mrs. Southard or meet with her about two topics that they selected in Plato. There is a wide variety of topics to pick from. If the student did not contact Mrs. Southard she selected for them. October 9 we will have the usual reading, writing, and math along with the two new topics each student selected.
THRIVE Activities:
Warrensburg Fall Fest Provided some fun time last weekend:
We also had some tailgating going on before the Mules win!!
A little celebration at the Union Bowling Center:
THRIVE Softball Team:
A little fun at Softball Practice…Last game… Even though it was a forfeit by the other team the game went on. Families joined us on the field that night. Great fun. Thank you families for all that you do.
Mentor Activities: .
The mentor activity was a Halloween Pancakes with Taylor…
Great Job Everyone!! For more pictures please join our THRIVE Facebook and/or Instagram pages.
Important upcoming dates:.
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, Donation Creation, Pep Rally/Cheer Contest, 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:
Next week we'll have an update on the Spirit Window and our Tye-Dye activity...
UCM Athletics:
"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."
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