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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:  

Update on Graduation for this year’s 2nd-year graduation/celebration:

In the coming months I’ll have emails to the families of 2nd-year students but I did want to share the times of graduation and our THRIVE Celebration.  The students will graduate with the College of Education’s program in the afternoon at 2 pm, on May 9th.  Since the students will walk in the afternoon, we’ll have their celebration in the morning.  The THRIVE celebration is where we’ll give the students Certificate of Success.  This will be from 10 -11. This should give time for families to go grab a bite and then be at the Multi-Purpose building around 1:30 pm.  Again, I’ll have more information going out to the families in the coming month.

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.

Job Shadow coming up for First-Year students:

First-Year students had had their second job shadows.  They will have their 3rd job shadow in a few weeks. 

Rec Center Activities:

The last of the rec center activities have been sent in.  We hope that we will receive word that there is a Softball league starting up…  I’ll keep you posted.

First-Year Students:

Foods & Nutrition I: Joni Shelton  

This week, students made omelets. They also continued researching and putting together their Nutrients presentations. Students will present to the rest of the class on April 6.

Omelets anyone… they looked good.

Workplace & Community Skills: Gary Manning & Mrs. Shelton

This week, students participated in another job shadowing experience. They are writing their thank-you notes to the people they job-shadowed and working on their job-shadow reflection.  This upcoming week, we are working on Cover Letters and Fall Internships.

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

The students have been learning about soft skills and why they are important.  The focus this week will be on professional dress and presentation during interviews.  This will incorporate how their resumes look as well as their physical appearance 

And attitude towards the interviewer and the position.

Second-Year Students:

Transition Planning II: Gary Manning

During class, we have been discussing what the next six weeks will look like until the end of the semester and graduation.  Usually, at this time of the year, the students get stressed. overwhelmed, sad, and excited. We discuss these emotions in class and with the THRIVE counselor-in-training.  

Further, during class and weekly meetings, discussions focus on what the student will be doing after graduation.  If the student is coming back for a third year, we are discussing classes in the fall and internships in the fall semester.  If the student is choosing not to come back for the 3rd year program, we are discussing applying for jobs and having discussions with families about what may be next.   

Internship I: Gary Manning

We have been discussing different types of motivation within a career.  That motivation can be doing something that you love doing, making money, being independent, and responsible.  

We have also been discussing, as we get older and have jobs, how we should be able to handle stress and being overwhelmed with our jobs.  

Jules at the Rec…

Bella at the Coffee House

Personal Finance I:  Lisa Garnier

Students worked with the UCM Math for Special Education students on Monday. They learned to calculate simple interest. We have been discussing the pros and cons of lending money to and borrowing money from friends and family, and how that differs from getting a bank loan. We then learned how credit cards work and the importance of paying them off each month. Finally, we began our unit on Consumer Skills.

Third-Year Students:

Transition Planning IV: Lisa Garnier

Our focus has been on housing, specifically how to budget for rent, how to find an apartment, what to look for when viewing apartments, and the expenses associated with that process. 

Internship IV: Lisa Garnier

Students are continuing to do well in their internships.

Gabe is doing his thing… creating a new sports radio show that will air on KMUL 100.3 FM.

Fourth-Year Students:

Senior Portfolio II: Lisa Garnier

We are working on writing job-specific cover letters for real positions the students are applying for after THRIVE.

Internship VI: Lisa Garnier

Students continue to do well in their internships.

Plato: 

Students continue working on Math, Language Arts, and Reading lessons. Some students are redoing some lessons to improve their scores.

THRIVE Activities:

Mentor Activities: 

Here are the activities that the mentors did…  

St. Patty’s day snacks with Shannen.

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

Important upcoming dates:   

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.

Also, THRIVE will be playing softball the next three Monday nights, at 6 pm.  They are played at the Jennies complex on DD highway.  If you want to come, please watch Facebook.  Just in case the weather cancels or delays the games.  I'll post on Facebook.  We also ask students to let their families know if anything changes.  

Next Mentor Activity:  

Video games with Jamee…

UCM Athletics:

The sports activities are wrapping up on campus.  Baseball and Softball are in full swing now.

"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 those of 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."