11/14 & 21st

 

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:

Director Notes:

Fall Break is around the corner…

We hope that you are enjoying time with your son/daughter over the break. We'll see them back on Campus Sunday the 27th, as dorms open up at noon. Then First-Year students will have their finals during the 28-2nd and Second-Year students will have their finals the week of December 5-9th. First-year students will go home Friday the 2nd by 6 pm. and Second-Year students will go home during Finals week, depending on their final times and their internships.

FAFSA becomes available online at fafsa.gov for next year.  I know many of you will wait until current tax information comes out but wanted to let families know.  

Loft return date: (Only if you don’t want the Loft during the Spring Semester)

If you have a loft in your son/daughter’s dorm room, and they don’t want it during the Spring semester, the return date for them is December 1, 2:30-4:00 pm.  Again, this is only if your student doesn’t want the loft during the Spring semester.

Virtual Meetings:

If you missed the informative meeting for 3rd-year housing please contact Mr. Brunkhorst.

Spring Semester notes:  Enrolling Now

First-Year Students:

Our first-year students have been asked to give 5 classes that they might like to take in the Spring Semester.  Then staff will look over their choices to help narrow it down to the class that fits in their schedule and gets back to the students on the final class options.

Second-Year Students:  Enrolling Now

The second-year students have been asked to give 5 classes that they might like to take in the Spring Semester.  Then staff will look over their choices to help narrow it down to the class that fits in their schedule and gets back to the students on the final class options.  They will also be asked what internships they would like to have in the Spring.  We change their internships each semester so that they will have more experience and gain more skills.  In some instances, if students are in a paid position, we give the students a chance to stay at that internship as long as they can continue to learn new skills to help them in the future.

Spring Roommate Changes…. 

THRIVE Staff has looked over the student choices and made some decisions.  Families of students that are moving should've received an email last week. If not, contact Mr. Brunkhorst and he'll get back to you. Students will be told on Monday the week before Thanksgiving break.

Third-Year Students:   Enrolling Now

The third-year students have been asked to give 5 classes that they might like to take in the Spring Semester.  Then staff will look over their choices to help narrow it down to the class that fits in their schedule and gets back to the students on the final class options.  They will also be asked what internships they would like to have in the Spring.  We change their internships each semester so that they will have more experience and gain more skills.  In some instances, if students are in a paid position, we give the students a chance to stay at that internship as long as they can continue to learn new skills to help them in the future.

University Foundations: Debra Southard  

We continue to work on small writing assignments. Some students are working on expanding their written word. Some are asked to rewrite and resubmit an assignment if not long enough. Everyone was asked to make an appointment over in the Learning Commons this week to get help with assignments. It is important that students become familiar with all of their resources as they get ready for the spring semester. 

Individual Relationships and Health:  Joni Shelton

As we finished our lessons about infant care and expenses, we moved into researching if students could afford to live on their own. Each student was assigned a source of income and 2 expenses. Students then presented their findings to the class, to complete a budget worksheet. This proved to be challenging for the students, and so far they believe that it will be difficult to afford to live on their own. Below are 5 student presentations. We will continue the presentation this week and will move into discussing Family Life cycles.

Technology Literacy:  Victoria O’Reilly

This week students have been finishing up their THRIVE Brochures. They are all on their way to the printing press (aka my printer). Each student worked so hard to create an aesthetically pleasing and informative brochure. We also had the privilege of hosting Dr. Best, the UCM President, on Tuesday. He came to chat with students about the technology he uses in his job. Students also prepared questions to ask him about his life and career. It was a great time for all!

Career Exploration: Gary Manning

This week the students had a work day to get support on their resumes to help them get finished up and ready for the families to look at and review over Thanksgiving break.  Then others will have time to continue to work on their final paper for this class, My Life Choice.

Second-Year Students:

Transition Planning I: Gary Manning

This week the students received a study guide for their final in this class.  We will go over the study guide in class.  The students are supposed to study this over the break and until their final on Dec. 6th.  The final will be over the 7 Habits of Highly Effective book that we have been using in class. 

Internship I: Gary Manning

We discussed interview skills in class to get ready for their mock interviews. We talked about what they should wear to their mock interview.  The students need to wear nice clothes (dress pants, dress shirt/polo shirt, nice shoes).  I told the students they do not need to go spend money on their dress clothes.  I am sure they have nice clothes at home that they can wear.  

They are supposed to practice their interviewing skills over the break with their families.  They have the questions for the interview so they can practice their answers.

Personal Finance I: Lisa Garnier

Our group is busy learning about various aspects of budgeting. Budgeting for transportation included the cost of buying a car, the maintenance and upkeep costs, and insurance costs compared to using public transportation. Budgeting for food covered how to shop with a list, having a set amount of money to spend and not going over that amount, and how stores use product placement to influence our purchasing decisions. We had an eye-opening lesson on unit pricing and how to find the “real” best deal.

Third-Year Students:

Transition Planning III: Lisa Garnier

We’re finishing up our unit examining how we spend our time and what about our jobs we like best and least. The discussion includes how we can find joy at our jobs by taking initiative and being proactive. 

Internship III: Lisa Garnier

We are currently working on updating and revising our resumes. We visited the Career and Life Design Center on campus for a presentation on how to dress professionally. Students learned the difference between business professional, business casual, and casual dress as well as what is appropriate attire for different jobs. 

Foods and Nutrition: Debra Southard

We finished up making pizza snacks. We've discussed the importance of each ingredient in baking. We are now preparing to make rice pilaf. Students were given a study guide for their final. 

Plato: Debra Southard:

We had several students in study hall plus this week due to not completing plato the week prior. 

THRIVE Activities: 

Mentor Activities: 

Students were getting ready to come back home.  No Activities last weekend.  

There will be more on Facebook soon.

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

Important upcoming dates: 

Next Mentor Activity:  No more activities as finals are just around the corner.

UCM Athletics:

There are lots more pictures on our Facebook page.  

3 on 3 Basketball will be next Wednesday. We had 6 guys that signed up but unfortunately, not enough girls signed up.

"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."