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THRIVE Director Notes

Posts on this Blog will be designed to help families see what is happening in our THRIVE Program.  Items discussed on the Blog have already occurred.  Please refer to the THRIVE or UCM activity calendar to stay 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: 

Sorry this is a day late, we had our Spring Open House yesterday and didn’t get to this.  Students are getting used to their classes again and trying to stay on top of homework.  We have a few this week that are starting to get behind, but I’m sure they will get back in the swing of things soon.  We will have our first round of interviews for next year’s group in a couple of weeks.  During that time, some of our THRIVE classes will have group projects, individual work, or online assignments to keep them going.  Plato will also be the same for them.  

We also had a Scholarship signing ceremony last week.  We now have another scholarship for our students, the Billy Anderson THRIVE scholarship.  This will be available this spring for the next school year.  We are excited and grateful for the Andersons’ generosity.

Then on Wednesday, we had our Title IX/Public Safety Review time for all our students.

First-year students will also be getting ready for their first job shadow soon.  This will give them some ideas about what the job is like and help them find out about internship possibilities.  

Rec Center Activities:

We have the sign-up sheets for the Rec Center activities in the THRIVE Lobby…

First-Year Students:

Foods & Nutrition I: Joni Shelton  

This past week, we visited the professional kitchen in Grinstead, where we will be cooking on lab days. On Friday, we continued our kitchen safety discussions and reviewed and retested dishwashing steps. Next week, we will have a guest speaker from Johnson County Community Health. She will be working with the students on kitchen safety and sanitation. Students will then take a test that will provide them with a SafeServ Food Handlers certification if they pass.

Workplace & Community Skills: Gary Manning & Mrs. Shetton

On Wednesday, students participated in a Title IX and Public Safety review presentation.  

Further, we discussed how to email professors, getting organized for the new semester, and being proactive in completing assignments.  This class does not have a textbook. Information will be presented in PowerPoint and other information is on Brightspace. 

Daily & Independent Living Skills (DILS):  Mrs. Swainston

We have worked on SMART Goals and finished our food logs.  We are using the food logs to help write SMART nutrition goals.  We will be working on installing an app on their phones that contains their vital information they can put on their lock screen in case of an emergency.   I am expecting more from the students this semester, since they already had me the semester before.

Second-Year Students:

Transition Planning II: Gary Manning

This semester is going to be fast and furious at times.  I really want the students to concentrate on what their goals are after May 9th, 2026.  The students will need to have discussions/research on transportation, careers, and living arrangements.  Their families will need to be involved in these discussions with the students and us as a staff.  We all need to be collaborating on these topics and getting outside resources/agencies involved before May 9th.  The THRIVE staff will be in contact with the families this semester on the next step and give the families resources they can use with the students’ transition from being THRIVE students to the students' next stage in their lives, or if the student is considering continuing their education. 

Internship I: Gary Manning

Internships have started well for the students.  Some students have to go through more training than others or even background checks.  Further, with internships, the students may not have classes, or the weather is inclement, but the students may still have their internships.  The students are starting to realize again how important it is to be organized and use time management skills. 

Personal Finance I:  Lisa Garnier

Students learned to differentiate between needs and wants, and how knowing the difference affects how we spend our money. We talked about what a budget is and how we sometimes need to make trade-offs. For example, we may have to sacrifice eating out for a time in order to save money for something we need. 

Third-Year Students:

Transition Planning IV: Lisa Garnier

We reviewed what a budget is and what constitutes needs vs. wants. Students were assigned a case study on budgeting to remind them of how important it is to our financial security.

Internship IV: Lisa Garnier

Internships are getting started and going well so far.

Fourth-Year Students:

Senior Portfolio II: Lisa Garnier

The class meets on Mondays, so there was no class this week

Waiting for his elective class…

Internship VI: Lisa Garnier

Students have started their internships.

Plato: 

All diagnostics are complete, and students have been placed on the appropriate learning paths. This is the first week of Challenges, in which students complete lessons and then progress checks. Students who master the skill on the progress check move on to the next lesson. If the skill is not mastered, the lesson is reset, the student completes it again, and is reassessed. 

THRIVE Activities:

Mentor Activities: 

With the cold weather, they had a game night…

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

Important upcoming dates:   

Spring Open House is on January 26th. 

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.  Please also don’t forget to update your FAFSA early this year.  There is a new setup for scholarships.  Staff will be helping the students get started, but parents are encouraged to help with the financial need essay.  This will help get scholarships out.

Next Mentor Activity:  

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

Pickleball with Cooper at Ellis Field

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 that 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."