To the parents, youth ministers, teachers, and other awesome adults who are active in the lives of Catholic teenagers...

We wanted to take a few minutes and explain a little bit more about the Thrive Students platform, why we created it, how we're keeping your teenagers safe while using it, and a little bit about who we are.

What is Thrive Students?

Thrive Students is an online platform created to connect and train Catholic student leaders. There are two main components of the platform: the training and the community.

TRAINING Each quarter, we add three new leadership training courses that teach young people practical leadership skills. These courses are broken down into short, engaging videos taught by the college students who are part of Kinetic Catholic. All of the content is co-written and vetted by the team at ProjectYM.

COMMUNITYWe believe that young people will be strengthened if they take this leadership journey alongside other young people who are striving to live out their Catholic faith. With this goal in mind, we have build a platform where students can connect with and learn from other Catholic young people in a safe and secure community.

Safety and Security

We hold the safety and security of the young people on the Thrive Students platform as the highest priority.

Thrive Students is built on an online platform called Circle. The Thrive Students Community is self-contained and secure – no one else has access to our members or their data.
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There is no private or direct messaging capabilities between students or moderators On the Thrive students platform.
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‍All communication and community elements are visible to all members of the Thrive Students Community. All administrator communications are done through our community forums or via email (students may opt out of the latter at any time).

All moderators are adults over the age of 18 who have successfully based the safe environment requirements of their local diocese (and passed background checks). None of these adults/moderators has access to personal contact data for any student on the platform. None of these adults/moderators has the ability to private message any student on the platform.

All content posted on Thrive Students must be approved by a moderator before it goes live on the site. Anyone who submits inappropriate content is removed and banned immediately (and their inappropriate content is deleted before it is published or ever seen by students on the platform).

Thrive Students was created By

Kinetic Catholic Ministries is a ministry aimed at serving high school students through content, witness, and experiences. Founded by Kedon Gumerson, Kinetic is a team of college students who see the NEED for young people to know their VALUE.

ProjectYM is a Catholic nonprofit founded in 2013 to serve and support Catholic youth ministry leaders. Over the last 11 years, we've partnered with dioceses across the country to train, equip, and accompany youth ministers in their work with young people. In addition to Thrive Students, ProjectYM runs online platforms for youth ministers and adult volunteer leaders.