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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 is giving the 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. Shelton is the first-year contact (with some continuing with Mrs. Garnier).  Dr. Manning is the main contact for 2nd-year students and Mrs. Garnier is the main contact for the 3rd-year and 4th-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.

Rec Center Activities:

We have already shared a Google form with the students to help them know what activities they can sign up for at the Rec Center.  We’ll be looking at the results and posting sign up sheets in the coming weeks.  Please suggest that your son/daughter participates in these great activities that involve other student groups on campus.

First-Year Students:

Waiting for classes…

Foods & Nutrition I: Joni Shelton  

This past week I welcomed students to the class by discussing the syllabus, the class tentative schedule, and discussions about kitchen safety and cleanliness. We discussed proper steps in washing dishes with a quiz over this topic on Friday. Thank you to everyone who brought in ingredients to be used for our cooking labs this semester. We will be focusing on grain products, baking and eggs. 

Workplace & Community Skills: Gary Manning & Mrs. Shetton

The start of the semester has included discussions about the course syllabus, schedule and how the class will work. We have discussed our points system for the semester, as well as professionalism in emails, dress, and how we present ourselves.

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 resume, cover letter and thank you notes. Students will also have several opportunities to job shadow at various locations.

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

Happy New Year!  We are starting this week by creating vision boards for the next year and how to set SMART goals to help accomplish these goals.  We will focus on realistic activities of daily living this semester.  I am excited to get back in the routine of learning together.

Second-Year Students:

Waiting for classes…

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, budget, paying bills and daily/independent skills may be for them. 

 

Next week we will start working with money.  The students have to make change when they buy something and recognize the different types of bills/coins.  Please have your students start using bills/coins in their lives instead of swiping their debit/credit cards.  

Internship I: Gary Manning

Within the class the students will be learning about professionalism, job skills, filling out job applications, 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

We are off and running in Personal Finance. This week, we learned about the factors that influence spending and our spending personalities. Many students felt that helping others and charitable donations were important, so we discussed budgeting for them in our monthly spending plans and how we can give our time when we don’t have much expendable income. A number of students already participate in clothing donations, volunteer at Harvestors, and support the less fortunate in other ways.

Third-Year Students:

Transition Planning IV: Lisa Garnier

We began the semester with a review of time management strategies and a reintroduction to the budget simulator we use to practice real-world financial decision making. The first assignment is due next week.

Internship IV: Lisa Garnier

Fourth-Year Students:

Senior Portfolio II: Lisa Garnier

We reviewed the expectations for the semester and discussed the different assignments and what is expected in the final semester portfolio.

Internship VI: Lisa Garnier

Internship meetings with supervisors have started, and hours should begin next week.

Plato: 

Either at the end of last semester or this week students took diagnostic assessments in Math, Reading, and Language Arts to determine growth since the beginning of the year, and grade levels for the coming semesters challenges.

THRIVE Activities:

Mentor Activities: 

With the cold weather, they decided a movie night was needed…

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 set up for scholarships.  Staff will be helping the students get started, but parents are suggested 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…  

Friday Night Board games with Cooper…

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."