Hello from the freshmen! We are continuing to build on our independence and learn from each other. Over the past 10 months we have learned so many new skills that are going to help all of us in life. Making new friends has been the best though because people care about you. No one is a stranger here at Starfire U. It is a place that makes us happy. We have been learning how to cook a lot of new and different recipes. We have an Iron Chef competition once a month which makes us work as a team. We have to research different recipes online and work together. Asking questions to each other instead of relying on the staff is our main goal. Some of our recipes turned out great and others did not (haha). Now that it’s getting nice out, we are going to be doing a lot of different types of exercises outside. Some of the exercises we will be doing includes: hiking, walking, running, Frisbee golf  and lots more. It feels good to be outside again.  We cannot believe our freshman year is almost over. We will keep you posted!

Hey! We are the freshman class there at Starfire U and 2010 has already gotten off to a great start.

We decided to make New Year’s resolutions along with some group goals. Some of our group goals were:

            -Building more meaningful friendships

            -Volunteering around Starfire

            -Being respectful of others’ space

Another thing we love to do is help plan the events on our monthly calendars. We love to cook in the kitchen, journal & reflect and help volunteer at the local Save the Animals Foundation.

Since we first got here in June, we have formed great friendships with our staff. Jon, Erica, Sarah and Grant are awesome!

We will continue to keep you up to date. Thanks for reading our blog.

What I would like to do is go and speak to other schools, and organizations about people with disabilities, and continue to spread the word about our rights as human beings.  This past week we celebrated the levy being passed and the word mental retardation also being removed from the board which became Developmental Disabilities services for Hamilton county. 

Steven A.

I like Starfire U because I get to take pictures. I like to help, and talk to my friends. I like the Staff there at Starfire because they are nice people and they are my friends. I like going to the YMCA to work out and going to the Zoo for the project. I like going to Crossroads for journal and reflection. I like when we have cooking classes, and when I get to work with my hands. I like making Thank You Cards to give send to places I was able to visit, or for people who have helped Starfire. I like going to Funke Fired arts to paint the pottery.

Krista B.

I always have fun at Starfire U.  My favorite thing to do is talk to my best friends. I always have fun at Starfire U!  I even love going places like going to Media Bridges and Jazzercise. If it wasn’t for my Mom I wouldn’t be at a cool, fun , funny schoool with my best friends and teachers. Every start of the month we have a meeting  with Mr. Tim (my other Goofy teacher). Mr. Tim was the One who founded Starfire U! I Give my THANKS to him cause this is the only school where I fit  in and everybody is kind of like me & everybody else.   If you have perfect attendance,  you go out  lunch where we go places like Don Pablo’s to talk about Starfire U! We go places everyday and when i get home I tell my Grandma and my Mom all the funny & great things I do & all the places we go. Sometimes we do some cooking in the kitchen.  One day we made panini sandwiches, for the teachers at a school. Another day we went out to lunch with Ms.Bridget, And Nikki, (my other great friends)  and we went to Buffalo wild wings. Well thats all the stuff I LOVE TO DO!!!!!!!!!   and again i am very happy to Be at Starfire U! with my Sweet  cool best friends and teachers,    

DAVID J.

I like to talk about my friends, I like to listen to Starfire Staff because we to talk to each other. I like to cook. I like go to Xavier. I like lunch time. I like to play pool. I like to come to Starfire everyday!

Joe B.

 i like  the guest speakers.  I like making  cards for troops.  we did a  luncheon and many service projects.   I got to give my speech at Cincinnati Country Day School.  we also went to a party for developmental disabilities services. I like going to the  gym and when  we have lunch out.  i like my friends and I like to  help cook w/friends. i go w/ tim and speak about  starfire.  i like the outings and I love the staffMike H.

Being a Sophomore is great! I am a leader. The most exciting thing was the College Camp at UC in July. I also like going to the Ronald McDonald House for the first time. We delivered snacks and took a tour of the place. It was a cool experience to go downtown to City Hall and meet the Mayor of Cincinnati Mark Mallory. We took a group picture with him it was nice. Another cool thing was going to the Planetarium, learning about the constellations, the zodiac signs, and changing of the night sky with the changing of the seasons. I liked when we went to Coney Island, I was able to swim independently and my mom and dad came to help. I enjoyed the Ice Cream social we hosted at UCP. I also liked when we went to Serpent Mound, the drive was fun! I liked singing songs in the van, and asking for directions along the way. The all day picnic at Sharon Woods was fun! I enjoyed the luncheons at, Cincinnati Country Day, Find-A-Way and Public Allies. Another learning experience was the Quaker Friends, I found their beliefs interesting. I enjoyed going downtown to learn some of the River Boat history and attempting the riddle by the river to get the whistles to blow, it didn’t happen, but it was fun trying. I like the sewing class we took I got to sew a Christmas Stocking for Children’s Hospital.Tim V.

Hi! We are the new freshman class at Starfire U. Our first month at Starfire U has been awesome. We started on June 29^th. We have been meeting a lot of new friends and learning how to respect one another. We have been learning how to act while out in the community, how to ride the METRO, keeping up with a daily routine, personal responsibilities (dishes, & cleaning up), respecting our friends and others personal space, how to control emotions and making healthy meal choices. In our first month, we have enjoyed going to the zoo, Coney Island, cooking and going to get library cards. We went on a train ride in Lebenon which was a lot of fun because a lot of us had never ridden a train before.  We’re looking forward to getting our September calendars and seeing the different activities we’ll be doing!Written by: Sarah & other members’ feedback

i enjoyed going to the University of City for College Camp in June, taking college courses. I liked meeting all the volunteers that were there, I liked walking the campus, and I liked how they presented themselves to us. It was very interesting. I like going to Yoga, because it helps me keep my mind going and it teaches me how to think and I can do some of the things I learn there at home. I like to cook different things like the buckeyes, the home made pizza. I really like getting my prefect attendance award every month, which is going out to lunch. I enjoyed making art for the new Children’s Hospital Building over at the Krohn Conservatory in September. The spirituality class series was also very nice. Another thing we do as a group is make Thank You Cards for people at the places we have gone, I really like doing this. Starfire U is the place for me and I love it! 

Rondo

              My favorite things at starfire u are hanging out with my friends.  and I love going to Xavier and acting out Different  characters.   I Think that my Sophomore year has been going very well and I love it so much. I enjoy ever day just doing the Things that i love to do and  Trying different things makes me fell good. Starfire u is a great places to be. i enjoy doing arts and crafts and just Being me,                                                                                   Thank you for everything I really like all of the outing that we go on.                                                                                                kathleen s.  

        One of my favorite outings was “College Camp”. The reason why I liked it so much is that it gave me a real outlook on what college would be like if I had the opportunity to attend at UC. My favorite part of the camp was the African-American Resource Center. I was also wondering if  we can guide the freshmen through” College Camp” when they become sophomores next year.

Nikki B.

I like coming to Starfire U.  It makes me happy.  I have many friends here that I like hanging out with.  I am now a sophomore and that also makes me happy.  At the beginning of this new year, we went to Coney Island and I loved it.  I swam and I went down the slides with Vicki.  I was scared of the slides at first but then I was fearless.  I enjoyed being outside and in the sun!  We also went to Camp Allyn for four weeks in a row to learn about nature.  I loved giggling in the van on the long drive.  I went fishing for the first time there, but I did not catch a fish.  We learned how to make granola, and it was real yummy.  Sophomore year is good and it will be a great year!

Lauren K.

 I like to come to Starfire everyday! It is very important for me to be on time so I can get perfect attendance. I really like going to the perfect attendance lunches, it makes me fell good. I also like doing things like making sandwiches for people, like we did for Habitat for Humanity. On that outing I really liked seeing the house, and helping clean up the shrubs in the yard. I LOVE YOGA! It helps me stay in shape and stay focused. I also liked Camp Allyn, a couple of things I liked there was making my own trail mix, and playing nature bingo and going on the nature scavenger hunt. We looked for specific tress, bugs and animals. All in All I love being a member of Starfire U! JOVAN M.    i  like  going  out on outing  i  to go  out  with i  to  going with my  friends  i  going out to  lunch  i  to  like  i like  wen  we  did  yoga  we  did went  to  i  have  poeple to have  fun  with   we  went  to  the  it  was  fun  to  have  fun  i  love  love  Brian  

I like meet new people

Jeremy W.

Blog from Teams C & D

It has been an exciting 6 months here at Starfire U with lots of fun activities from day to day. Lunch out is at the top of our list of favorite activities. We order food on our own and talk with our friends and get to know one another. We also learn about nutrition and a good balanced diet. We really liked getting to feed the homeless at Our Daily Bread. We’ve learned to be encouraging towards each other and different ways to be appropriate in certain situations. We also made our own scrapbooks and took our own pictures. We made knot blankets too! We got to go holiday shopping for our families and they loved our gifts! We have mostly learned to connect with other members at Starfire and how to be yourself. We do a lot of different activities and learning how to be creative and making things on our own. We also enjoyed going to the parks over the summer months.  Quotes from current Members “Starfire U rocks!” –Ashley “We’re a family.” –Kathleen “We volunteer and learn how to get jobs.” –Kathleen “Starfire U helped me get out of the house and go places.” –Jamie “I don’t mope around my house anymore.” –Jovan “Going out to lunch is my favorite and I like to watch Jovan dance!” –Jeremy “I love to go places and sing in the van.” –Chris “It helped me make new friends.” –Justin “I love getting cheeseburgers on our lunch out.”  -Jason “I love the make-up at girl’s day.” –Becky “Big art at Starfire.” –Alex  Blog from Teams B & E It’s been an exciting 6 months. We’ve learned to cook meals and prepare for events. We learned to shop under a budget at the grocery, learned about relationships and dating, taking care of our personal hygiene, laundry, using the dishwasher and most important…learning how to ride METRO! We all have a special bond and enjoy being around each other. We’re always there for each other no matter what. We’ve learned that friendships are not always perfect and that’s ok. We all have disabilities and respect each other. Everyone has their own life story and their own opinions.  Quotes from Current Members “I love the friendships.” –Tim “Just being out.” –Ronny “I love the staff.” –Mike “I love to mingle.” Ronny “Everybody gets along.” –Matt “I like to help the staff.” –Mike “Spend time with friends.” –Lauren K. “Staff is outgoing and has lots of energy.” –Tim “I love the speakers.” –Ronny “Going on outings.” –Brian “Starfire is like a family to me. I made a lot of new friends” –Steven