10/9 Blog

 

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: 

Progress Reports have started to go out.  We have a couple of classes that we are still collecting, so if it’s incomplete, we’ll get them to you.  It will go out in an email to your student and also tol the emails we have on file to the parents.  

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.

Students have been asked to choose their 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 fit 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 make sure they know about our THRIVE program.  Then 2nd-, 3rd-, and 4th year students will be starting to think about their Spring semester internships.  

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 can 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  

Monday was the open house. On Tuesday we looked at the jam boards each student made about a true-to-life movie about a man with Cerebral palsy and the challenges he faced. Wednesday we discussed Chapter 4 and made a to-do list on how to use their time wisely during break.

Individual Relationships and Health:  Joni Shelton

This week we continued our discussions in regards to Hygiene and Cleanliness with guest speakers from Warrensburg Area Career Centers LPN Program sharing a presentation about the importance of proper hand washing, pictured below. Next week we will begin our discussions about dating relationships.

Technology Literacy:  Joni Shelton

In Technology Literacy, students submitted their Excel Budget Spreadsheet, and we reviewed the Do’s and Don'ts of creating a PowerPoint presentation and the instructions for their own PowerPoint presentation “All About Me”. Students will work on these PowerPoint next week and present them to the class the week after next.

Career Exploration: Gary Manning

In last week's Career Exploration class, we went over their last Missouri Connections assessment.  We talked about personalities and what is valued in their lives. This helps them look at another aspect of work.  It’s not just all about the money.  To continue to maintain good employment we like for the students to look at what really matters to them.

Second-Year Students:

Transition Planning I: Gary Manning

In class we are discussing Habit 3 - Put First Thing First.  We all procrastinate at times and then we fall behind in our work.  Once we fall behind we may get overwhelmed or very stressed.  This chapter it helps us to decide on what we need to get done first and then go down the list to least important items.  I have encouraged the students to use planners, lists and calendars to help them to be organized and responsible.  One of the biggest issues students have is peer pressure and wanting to hang out with friends instead of doing school work.

Foods and Nutrition: Debra Southard

We prepared to make pizza by watching a video and discussing the recipe. Students made a written list of equipment they would need to complete this assignment. 

Internship I: Gary Manning

 We continue to stress job skills and being professional at your job.  The students are doing well in their skills.  One of the biggest items the students have problems with is using their phone at their job when they are not supposed to.  Students also get distracted and may socialize too much.  We talk about the difference between having good customer service skills and socializing too much with the customers

Third-Year Students:

Transition Planning III: Lisa Garnier

Students are analyzing the activities that give them pleasure and that they find tedious. They are using this information to create mind maps to see how they can use the things that give them pleasure to balance the things they find tedious and to see the different ways they can mold their future using this information.

Internship III: Lisa Garnier

Mid-term internship evaluations from supervisors are positive. Supervisors have offered some helpful suggestions that we will try to implement next semester in terms of courses and skills that would be beneficial for the students.

4th Year Seminar/Portfolio: Lisa Garnier

We continue to finalize tailored cover letters, and students are starting a networking assignment by beginning to create a list of questions and find someone in their chosen field to interview.

Plato: 

Because it was a short week students were only requested to complete Language arts, math, and reading. 

THRIVE Activities:

Spirit Window decorating…

Mentor Activities: .

The mentor activity was Tye-Dying with Chloe for Homecoming…

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 will have Homecoming and students will be walking in the parade and enjoying other activities on campus.  We hope that many families will join us…

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."