Weekly Update - February 10, 2023

Strive Center will have a Valentine’s Day celebration and card exchange on Tuesday, February 14th. The children will rotate through activities with their peers and focus on peer interaction, large motor skills, fine motor skills and food preparation while having a lot of fun!

If your child brings valentine cards for the exchange (this is optional) you should have received a printed letter with the number of children in your center. If you don't send in Valentines, we will have extras available at the center.

We are looking forward to a fun-filled day. If you have any questions, please let us know.

The Tree of Possibilities is more than just a logo at Strive Center! We celebrate all the little victories - for every new skill a child learns, we give him a leaf or an apple sticker to put on his very own Tree of Possibilities poster. We keep one poster here at the center, next to his table, and one goes home, so families can celebrate all the little victories too. In December, our learners acquired 54 new skills, which is pretty great, considering the two week break we took over the holidays! That brings our total for 2022 to 1,666 new skills!

So far, in 2023, our learners have acquired 142 new skills - what a great start to a new year!

For 2023, instead of just sharing our background info, we are going to share some of our team's answers to a recent survey. We asked staff what they enjoy most about their jobs overall, what they like to teach the most, and what they would tell other people considering working here. We'll share answers from a new staff member each week!

This week, we'll hear from Emily, one of our amazing Behavior Specialists in Brighton.

When we asked Emily what her favorite skill to teach is, she answered, "Imaginative Play & Peer Engagement allow kids to really play and be silly. It doesn’t feel like work. I also love nothing more than watching a child’s gears turning as they learn how to problem solve!"

What would Emily tell someone who is considering employment at Strive? "The environment is incredible. Leadership is knowledgeable and humble, they want the absolute best for this field and every child in the center. "

What is Emily's proudest moment at Strive so far? When one of our kids got 19 leaves (learned 19 new skills) in one month!

One addition to our newsletter this year will be some definitions of terms we use most often in ABA. We know we use a lot of lingo and we want to help families understand it better. All of these terms will also be on our website in a glossary, so you can check them out anytime.

Today's term is BCBA (Board Certified Behavior Analyst).

We have three BCBAs on our team at Strive Center, but what is a BCBA?

It stands for Board Certified Behavior Analyst. We are certified by a national board, called the Behavior Analyst Certification Board (BACB.)

According to the BACB, "the Board Certified Behavior Analyst® (BCBA®) is a graduate-level certification in behavior analysis. Professionals certified at the BCBA level are independent practitioners who provide behavior-analytic services." (https://www.bacb.com/bcba/)

BCBAs may supervise the work of Board Certified Assistant Behavior Analysts (BCaBAs), Registered Behavior Technicians (RBTs), and other professionals who implement behavior-analytic services. (https://www.bacb.com/bcba/)

What does it take to become a BCBA?

• A master's degree in behavior analysis or with a large amount of behavior analytic coursework
• Extensive supervised fieldwork (up to 2,000 hours) that is supervised by an established BCBA
• Successful completion of an examination with 185 questions on behavior analysis

The BCBA credential is widely recognized by insurers as necessary for treatment using Applied Behavior Analysis. In addition to this credential, many states have adopted licensing requirements for behavior analysts, and our BCBAs are also licensed in Michigan.

Strive Center regularly provides training and supervision for students who are pursuing degrees and certification in behavior analysis.

We'll just keep this link right here, for your convenience. For any absences scheduled in advance, please use this form to report the dates. You may take an entire day or half day, depending on your needs.

Therapy Schedule Update Form

Here are some additional dates that the centers will be closed:

Friday, February 17th BRIGHTON CENTER ONLY closed for crisis management training for staff

Friday, March 10th BOTH CENTERS CLOSED for staff Professional Development day

If your family is planning a longer absence around one of those dates, or at another time, please let us know as soon as you are able!

Email: info@sc-centers.com
Website: www.sc-centers.com
Location: Burton and Brighton, MI
Phone: 810-344-8082