Blog for 1/27

 

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.  Please refer to the THRIVE activity calendar or UCM activity calendar to keep updated on what's coming up.  Also, if you want to learn more about assistance with your son/daughter learning how to drive please contact Mr. Brunkhorst.  

Director Notes: 

They are back!!! 

These are just a couple of reminders for our families.  Much of THRIVE gives students the chance to become more independent in their daily routine and learning.  They may make mistakes during the semester.  We’ll all help them through them so they learn from these mistakes, as we all do.  Please let them…  These are important and help them learn to be more responsible.  Our first-year students will be given more time with one less class and with this comes more time to study during the day and have more free time in the evening to attend functions and socialize.  They will get opportunities to learn more about jobs they would like to do in the future.  Some of our first-year students are starting to take classes for credit to help them towards a degree while all of the students will learn more about job skills and have opportunities to find their internships for next fall/spring in the Workplace and Community Skills class.  A reminder that your main contact should be your student’s THRIVE teacher…  Mrs. Southard is the first-year contact, except for four students with whom Mrs. Garnier is working this semester.  She will contact you to let you know.  Dr. Manning is the main contact for 2nd-year students and Mrs. Garnier is the main contact for the 3rd-year students.  This has already been a great week for the students.

Spring Semester classes started on January 13th how did it go… Classes and internships are going well.  The students started classes that first week and will start their communications later this week. Watch Facebook for more pictures.

First-Year Students:

Foods & Nutrition I: Debra Southard  

We have started Monday off by reminding students where their classes are.: Introducing themselves to their instructors, locating and opening their textbooks, the role of OAS, and many other topics. Wednesday we discussed how to do dishes and safety in the kitchen. Friday we walked over to the kitchens in Grinstead to look around. Then we walked to OAS to refresh our memory of the location and how to use that office. 

Workplace & Community Skills: Gary Manning & Mrs. Southard

Students will learn about the process of career development and planning, which includes self-assessment, job search strategies, awareness of workplace issues, and decision-making.  This course will also guide and assist a student’s exploration into their current self-concept, their abilities and strengths, their framework for accomplishment, and self–evaluation.  It will discuss the concepts and practices of self-determination and person-centered planning as tools to help individuals recognize or identify their aspirations (goals) and the support needed to attain these goals.  Students will develop the resumes, cover letters, and thank you notes. Students will also have several opportunities to job shadow at various locations.

Daily & Independent Living Skills (DILS):  Joni Shelton

This week we focused on Goals for 2025. Students are creating Vision Boards for the year and will present them in class next week. We also discussed how time management, planning, and organization can help students meet their short-term and long-term goals.

Second-Year Students:

Transition Planning II: Gary Manning

The students will be learning about transitioning from being a 2nd-year student in the UCM THRIVE program to getting a job, moving into an apartment, utilizing public transportation, budgeting, paying bills and daily/independent skills may be for them. 

Internship I: Gary Manning

Within the class, the students will be learning about professionalism, job skills, filling out job applications, and resumes, interviewing skills, and researching different careers.

The students will also be doing workshops at the UCM Career Service and Life Design Center throughout the semester.

Personal Finance I:  Lisa Garnier

In our first week of class, students are learning about their attitudes towards money. We took a quiz to find out what kind of spenders they are and found we have a mix of Misers (save every penny), Spenders (if they have money they spend it immediately), Thinkers (care about others who have less than them and feel guilty for having more), and Avoiders (put off making money decisions). Spent learning and discussing what influences how they spend money (commercials, social media, peers, etc.).  

Third-Year Students:

Transition Planning IV: Lisa Garnier

We started the week with a review of time management strategies which included a time management quiz. The students are working on their own personal time management strategies for this semester. On Friday, we started our unit on Budgeting.

Internship IV: Lisa Garnier

All four 3rd year students have been placed in internships, 3 of them are paid with the 4th student having the possibility of switching to paid later in the semester. These internships are at the Foster Knox Child Care Center, James C. Kirkpatrick Library, Athletics Ticketing & Game Day Staff, and Heroes restaurant. It’s going to be a great semester!

Plato: 

All first and second-year students had new diagnostics in language arts, math, and reading. Thursday and Friday they were to complete the two new subjects that were selected last semester.

THRIVE Activities:

Mentor Activities: 

Here are the upcoming activities that the mentors will be doing…  

Students designed Door decorations for their Dorm Doors this weekend...

We also had some basketball games that students and mentors went to the weekend before...

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

Important upcoming dates:   

Next year’s Interviews are coming up in February- Students will have online or group work for their THRIVE classes so that the team can be involved in the interviews.

THRIVE Scholarships should be up and ready for you to apply for.

Next Mentor Activity:  

Superbowl Trivia night with Kaylee is on Saturday the 8th at 3 pm.

UCM Athletics:

Basketball is in full swing with both Mules and Jennies playing games on Thursdays and Saturdays.  

"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."