(FLINT, Mich., May 19, 2025) — The Thrive On program at McMonagle Elementary School hosted a book launch of 4th through 6th graders’ original essays and artwork on May 22, at 4:30 p.m. at the school. The book features stories written by the students about their experiences in the Thrive On afterschool program, accompanied by drawings illustrating those experiences, according to Bridget Sims, community school director at McMonagle.
“Each child will receive a copy of the book and read their page aloud to the assembled parents at a special session of our Thrive On afterschool program,” said Sims.
“This is a wonderful example of the outstanding educational methods utilized in our afterschool programs,” said Keiona Mosley, Chief Strategy Officer for the Flint Center. “Ms. Sims and her team are to be congratulated for their efforts to foster reading, writing, speaking and listening skills in such a creative way.”
Thrive On is an evidence-based afterschool program of the Flint Center for Educational Excellence (Flint Center), designed to provide enriching activities aimed at boosting school attendance, improving academic achievement, instilling self-efficacy and fostering family engagement.
The McMonagle Thrive On program is based on a single purpose theme from September to December and from January to May. The theme for the winter semester was literacy. Sims said developing personal pages for the book is the capstone to three months of literacy projects and activities.
In the 2024-25 school year, the Thrive On and Thrive Up afterschool programs served 3,533 students at 16 Community School sites in seven community school systems.
Thrive Up is the secondary school counterpart to Thrive On, catering to middle and high school students.
The Flint Center for Educational Excellence is building an educational ecosystem that works for all Flint kids by providing programs, research and advocacy that ensure Flint kids, their families, schools and communities thrive. The Center accomplishes this through a cross-sector partnership to create a cradle-to-career support network connecting people, ideas and resources in tangible ways that strengthen the community through the power of collaboration. To learn more about The Flint Center, visit theflintcenter.org.
