We have had a wonderful month full of engaging vendors, academic interventions, meaningful activities, and fun! As we get closer to the end of the calendar year, we hope to finish off the year strong and make purposeful commitments for the rest of the school year.
Program Announcements:
- Program attendance matters! Not only does a scheduled routine matter for your student, it is a requirement of our grant funding that all students maintain consistent program attendance. If your student is in school during the day, they should be attending program. Please notify your Site Coordinator of program absences.
- We have several upcoming vendors and activities that we do not want your student(s) to miss. As a reminder, program pick up is between 5:30-6:00pm. We will not allow early pickups unless pre-approved and communicated with your Site Coordinator.
- As we get into the colder months, please be sure to send your student(s) with a jacket. We will be sure to have them zipped up for program dismissal.
- If you have any questions regarding program payment, please contact Program Manager ([email protected] or (860) 622-5153). As a reminder, you will not be dismissed from program for failure to pay fees.
November Partnerships & Vendor Visits:
The East Hartford Fire Department visited all of our Thrive Programs to teach students about fire safety –complete with fire truck tours and a gear demo!
Silver Lane, Mayberry, and Pitkin students have been learning some rhythms and beats on African Drums. Students are participating in 7-week African Drumming classes taught by an EHHS alum.
The Connecticut Science Center began their partnership with Thrive Afterschool Program this month! Each K-5 school will participate in 4 STEM sessions with educators. Check out your school's calendar to see when your student(s) will participate!
The University of St. Joseph partnered with Mayberry School to work on creative writing and storytelling with students in grades 3-5. Be sure to ask your student(s) about their stories!
Thrive partnered with Arts for Learning Connecticut so students could be exposed to various art forms including: music, hip hop dancing, turning trash into art, and an introduction to the Hawaiian "Aloha" culture. Ask your student(s) about their visits!
O'Connell West and Langford Schools are receiving healthy food and nutritional learning opportunities in partnership with Food Corps. This winter, O'Connell East will learn more via Scout Sprouts and Goodwin and Mayberry will spend time in the community gardens this spring!
Thrive Spotlight: Silver Lane School
Silver Lane Students Get Creative with Short Stories!
Silver Lane 5th graders are using Thrive's academic time to create their own short stories. Using their own creativity, students are following a step-by-step method to create, and soon publish, their very own short stories.
- Step 1 is creating characters, and determining the WHO of the story.
- Step 2 is planning the setting, or the WHEN and WHERE of the story.
- Step 3 is brainstorming the outline of the story, and what problem/ solution the characters will face.
- Step 4 is writing a rough draft and getting all the ideas on paper.
- Step 5 is reviewing the rough draft, with a rubric, to determine what is done, somewhat done, or missing.
Once editing is complete, students will draw pictures for their stories and "publish" it to bring home and share with families.
Site Coordinator, Ms. Katelyn, put together the project for these creative fifth graders, stating: "Some things I've noticed are students were excited and ready to work on their writing project every day. Students said they enjoyed being able to choose what to write about and it was fun to see all the differences in the story-making process for each student. Some students wanted to get right to writing, but they followed the process step-by-step. This group of 5th grades are extremely creative and this activity has been fun to them to be writers of their own stories. We are all excited to see the end results!"