2/9 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.  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: 

Update on Scholarships:

We have worked with the students’ MyCentral to make sure that they have “Opted In” for scholarships.  This should enable them to automatically be put into our THRIVE scholarships.  However, to increase their chances of getting one of our needs-based scholarships, please make sure you work with them to fill in the new essay component that helps explain how they are financing their education.  We will rely on this information to help us know who needs the scholarship and how much.  We have experienced a drop in one of our main donors, so the following years, we may not have as much money to send our students.  You will also notice that some of the scholarships are for 1st-2nd year students and some are for 3rd/4th year students.  We did this to try to even out the available scholarships for each group.  Please make sure your son/daughter works with you on the essay component to ensure all information is there.  Plus, there is a word count on the essay, so please make sure it has enough information…  Thank you and good luck to everyone.

Letters of Intent are due soon for first-year students going into their second year.  Please email Mr. B.

Job Shadow coming up for First-Year students:

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

Rec Center Activities:

We have the sign-up sheets for the Rec Center activities in the THRIVE Lobby…  Basketball started last week, we’ll hope to have pictures…

First-Year Students:

Foods & Nutrition I: Joni Shelton  

Workplace & Community Skills: Gary Manning & Mrs. Shetton

Job skills were discussed, and an individual's body language on how other people perceive that body language.  We are also in the process of setting up job shadows for the students.  They have submitted five locations where they may want to job shadow. The first job shadow will be the week of Feb. 23rd - Feb. 27th.   

Next week, we will be starting to look at 5 elective classes for the Fall 2026 semester.  Please have a conversation with your student about the classes they are considering.

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

This week, we are discussing good habits for physical and mental health.  We watched a video on how long food is good for in the refrigerator, pantry, or countertop.  We talked about hotline numbers and websites in case of a mental health crisis.  

Second-Year Students:

Transition Planning II: Gary Manning

This week we discussed finding Public transportation in the students' home area. The students could not utilize their families/friends for this transportation. This created some stress for the students on how to research this and what Public transportation may be available within their home area.  We recognize some students are from small towns, so we told those students to research the county around their home area.  We also suggested that the students discuss this with their families and have the families teach them how to use these different options. 

Internship I: Gary Manning

We have been discussing the body language you need in a professional setting compared to the body language you use at home or with your friends.  We have also discussed observing social cues from others and what those cues may be.  

Personal Finance I:  Lisa Garnier

Students worked more with Tara Williams’ class on Budgeting…

A couple of interns working hard…

Third-Year Students:

Transition Planning IV: Lisa Garnier

Lisa was out sick at this time; she’ll add more next week.

Internship IV: Lisa Garnier

Lisa was out sick at this time; she’ll add more next week.

Fourth-Year Students:

Senior Portfolio II: Lisa Garnier

Lisa was out sick at this time; she’ll add more next week.

Internship VI: Lisa Garnier

Lisa was out sick at this time; she’ll add more next week.

THRIVE Activities:

Coed Basketball league starting up.  Close game 55-57…  We’ll get them next time.

Mentor Activities: 

Pizza party with Caitlyn, we had the first 15 that wanted to come make pizzas…

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

Important upcoming dates:   

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…  

Kickball with Jamee…

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."