Blog for 3/16 & 3/23

 

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:

Emails went out to the families of 2nd-year students last week, 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 in 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 first job shadows.  They will have their 2nd job shadow in a few weeks. 

Rec Center Activities:

We have the sign-up sheets for the Rec Center activities in the THRIVE Lobby…We have a few new ones that are up: Softball, Badminton Doubles, Ping Pong, 6 on 6 Volleyball, and Disc Golf.  See if your son/daughter has signed up…

First-Year Students:

Foods & Nutrition I: Joni Shelton  

The week prior to Spring Break, we reviewed quick breads, discussed reading food labels for the most nutrition and quality for our food budget, and we reviewed for the midterm exam. On Friday, students took the midterm exam. When we all returned from Spring Break, we prepared for biscuit-making and nutrition presentations on Monday. On Wednesday and Friday, students worked together in their lab groups making biscuits, researching, and putting together their nutrition presentations.

Anyone want biscuits?

Workplace & Community Skills: Gary Manning & Mrs. Shetton

This week we discussed motivation, problem-solving skills, and critical thinking skills, and how these skills can help us to be successful.   We have also been discussing what classes the students may want to take for the Fall 2026 semester.  

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

We will include this on next week’s blog…

A few are studying… after spring break.

Getting stretched at dance class…

Logan is doing some service learning for a class.

Second-Year Students:

Transition Planning II: Gary Manning

We continue the process of looking towards what the next couple of months are happening.  This includes graduation from the THRIVE program, moving back to the students’ hometown or the student coming back to UCM for a third year.  All of these transitions are a change for the students and their families.  The students and families have a lot of different resources available to them. Please make sure you utilize the resources.  

Internship I: Gary Manning

The students have been starting their professional portfolio.  Within the portfolio, the students need a resume, a cover letter, 3 reference letters, and any other documents that may help them in applying for a job.  

The goal is for the student to start applying for jobs/summer jobs the first week in April.  The students are looking at different classifieds/job searches to help with this process.  The students and families also need to use outside resources to help with this process.  For example, Vocational Rehabilitation, Center for Human Resources, Board Services, etc…

Sam, a few weeks back at the MIAA tournament with his class and internship… unfortunately, both the Mules and Jennies lost at the MIAA, and both participated in the Division II March Madness but left early.  Sam and Gabe are getting ready for the MIAA tournament…

Personal Finance I:  Lisa Garnier

Students worked with Mrs. Williams’s class on Monday, practicing money and change-counting skills. We did a mid-term exam review on Wednesday. On Friday, we took the midterm exam. 

Third-Year Students:

Transition Planning IV: Lisa Garnier

Students searched for jobs they are qualified for in their home area. We had no class on Wednesday and Friday because my student was working the MIAA basketball tournament in Kansas City as part of his internship.

Internship IV: Lisa Garnier

They are going great!

Fourth-Year Students:

Senior Portfolio II: Lisa Garnier

Students worked on updating their resumes.

Internship VI: Lisa Garnier

Going well.

A few at their choir concert before Sping Break…Great job students…

Plato: 

By midterm, students have completed 7 weeks of PLATO. This was a great opportunity to review the number of mastered lessons compared to the minutes students have worked on their PLATO lessons. This will determine whether each student continues their current learning path or moves back to repeat lessons they did not master.

THRIVE Activities:

Mentor Activities: 

Here are the upcoming activities that the mentors will be doing…  

We had Spring break last week, and Caitlyn had a craft activity last weekend…

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

Important upcoming dates:   

Next year’s second round of 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:  

St. Patty's Day snacks with Shannen...

UCM Athletics:

Basketball is in full swing with both Mules and Jennies playing games at the MIAA tournament this week.  The Jennies ranked #1, and the Mules are ranked #2. 

"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."