Blog 11/7 -- Read about Thanksgiving Break...

 

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…

Fall Break is from November 19th through the 27th.  Students will need to be checked out with rooms clean and the checklist done by 6 pm on the 19th.  The dorms will open back up at noon on the 27th.  We suggest that any clothing that isn’t needed for the winter is taken home at this time.  It will help with moving out for Winter break.  Also, if there is anything that your student doesn’t need we suggest that it be taken home at this time.  Any Room changes will be done the week they get back from Thanksgiving, so it’s appreciated to have less for staff to move.

FAFSA becomes available online at fafsa.gov 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:

Meeting with Housing–Reminder for 2nd-year families.  We have a virtual meeting setup for tomorrow evening from 6-7.  Mr. B has sent an invite by email.  Please look at responding back so he has a count of how many families will be attending.  Please try to get on early to make sure you have access.  If you have difficulties please email Mr. B.

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 with 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 their future.

Spring Roommate Changes…. Maybe maybe not… First- & Second-Year students…

Students have filled out the Roommate Form.  The THRIVE staff will be looking over them to see what moves need to be made.  We’ll get with the students the week before Thanksgiving break.  The students can stay with the same roommate or if they want to switch roommates they can let us know their top 5 roommates and a couple of other questions.  This helps staff see what roommates want to move and which students don’t.  The staff look over their choices and make the best decision they can.  Any student moves are then done the week after Thanksgiving break.  This helps the students be ready for the Spring semester.  No families are asked to come back to help move.  THRIVE staff helps the students swap rooms and help get with Housing on any paperwork.

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 their future.

University Foundations: Debra Southard  

Students are working on daily written assignments. Some this week included short and long-term goals. What is a metaphor? They had to find a metaphor that each student felt was somehow about their lives. Students had to explain why they selected that metaphor. Students are working on several small writing assignments that in a couple of weeks will be asked to put together in a paper. Many students are having a hard time remembering to put their names on assignments that are turned in. Which, after weeks of reminders has lowered their grades. 

Individual Relationships and Health:  Joni Shelton

This past week we continued exploring caring for an infant. Students' homework assignment is to research a source of income and a couple of expenses that an individual or family will need met. Students will share this information in class to create a budget worksheet. On Friday we discussed warning signs and the importance of early detection of the most common types of cancers. This topic was hard for some students as they shared that cancer has impacted their families greatly. Next week, in addition to the budget we will be discussing creating a strong and healthy family, and the stages of the family cycle.

Technology Literacy:  Victoria O’Reilly

This week in Tech Literacy, students have finished up their Technology Purchase Project and got to celebrate by presenting them to the class. Each student picked unique products to compare and contrast that fit their own personal needs and interests. It was fun to see how the projects came together. We also began work on one of our final Canva projects, a brochure for the UCM THRIVE Program. I am excited to see how those come together. Both projects combined have given students adequate time to refine their research skills, which is so important in today’s busy world.

Career Exploration: Gary Manning

This week the students will be finishing up their resumes by adding their education and activities to their resumes.  Then over Thanksgiving break, they will have a hard copy that they will bring home to see if there's anything they need to add.  They will write down what they need to add and then will have the week following to finish it up and turn it in as part of their final.  

 Second-Year Students:

Transition Planning I: Gary Manning

 We are talking about listening skills and the five poor listening styles that we may use: spacing out, pretend listening, selective listening, word listening, and self-centered listening.  Some of the positive listening styles are: genuine listening, standing in their shoes, and practicing mirroring.  The students always have good discussions when we talk about how they communicate with their parents/families.  We also have a discussion about professional communication skills and how we may listen differently to our supervisor than we do with our friends or families.   

Internship I: Gary Manning

 The students will have their first mock interview during finals week. The students will need to dress professionally, act professional, and communicate in a professional way.  Further, the students will need to bring in a professional resume and be prepared for the interview.  I told the students not to go out and buy new clothes.  I am sure the students have clothes in their closets that they can use for professional dress.  

• The students' internships will be done during the week of finals.  The students are supposed to coordinate with their supervisor to finalize a date on when their last day will be.  

Personal Finance I: Lisa Garnier

This week we learned about budgeting for a home. We focused on apartment living and touched on home buying. Students were somewhat surprised to realize there is more to finding a place to live than just choosing an apartment. We addressed elements such as cost of living, job availability, commute time, crime/safety of the neighborhood, and availability of quality healthcare. We also reviewed different fees (application fee, pet deposit, advance rent payment) associated with leasing an apartment as well as the importance of having renters insurance. 

Third-Year Students:

Transition Planning III: Lisa Garnier

We spent the week analyzing our daily activities, our motivation, and our approach to goals and deadlines. As usual, as we enter the final weeks of the semester, there is a lot going on and students are having to evaluate how they spend their time. Many conversations centered on approaching tasks one at a time. Do what you need to do at this moment and when that’s done, move on to the next item. We reviewed the importance of to-lists and calendars to manage time better and ensure we get our tasks completed. When we focus on the present instead of worrying about the future, we often discover we have nothing to worry about at all. 

Internship III: Lisa Garnier

In our internship meetings, we are focusing on updating and refining resumes, revisiting the necessity of getting weekly timesheets signed by supervisors and turned in to Mrs. Garnier every week, and emphasizing the importance of actually working while at work, and not playing on phones or personal computers during downtime. We continue to see improvement and success in our interns.

Foods and Nutrition: Debra Southard

This week we finished up making blueberry muffins. One group had a lesson to learn but the others did an excellent job. Wednesday each student talked about how to make their favorite nutritional snack. We also discussed the pizza recipe and how to prepare it. Students are learning how to work together in a kitchen. Friday the first round of students prepared pizza while the others worked on an assignment. 

Plato: Debra Southard:

Plato is going well. 

THRIVE Activities: 

Mentor Activities: This last weekend Ashtyn had a Yoga workout with the students.  We also had several sporting events over the weekend.  Jennie’s Soccer team is MIAA champs!

Mules last Football game of the year…

Halloween Fun…

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:  Next weekend Katelyn will have a cooking activity for the students.

UCM Athletics:

There are lots more pictures on our Facebook page.  

3 on 3 Basketball is still collecting students.  Unfortunately, it’s the last week and part of the weekend of finals.  I’ll update you as they get closer to the time.  We didn’t have any sign-up for Badminton.

"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."