Carver staff (certified daytime teachers) will check in with their students today after school, asking how they are doing. Some will be processing the trauma of losing relatives to the coronavirus. Still more will be trying to comprehend a world shattered by a pandemic and its dire economic consequences. Most will at best be disquieted by the waves of protest and unrest in Fairfield County and across the country.

Navigating these discussions can be challenging during normal times. But grappling with these topics during a pandemic, when school communities can’t learn together in person, is far more difficult.

Students who may have been willing to share fears for their safety in person might not open up online. Teachers who previously picked up on students’ emotions while watching them in hallways now have no easy window into their frames of mind. Yet, our educators know that it’s during these challenging moments that they are needed the most.

Carver is also here for our graduating seniors and Carver college students. Economists assert that setbacks at the beginning of someone’s work life can limit opportunities and incomes for many years to come. We trust that they will persevere, engage, and imagine a better future. We trust they will continue to embrace Carver values: diversity, openness to difference, rejection of intolerance, and having a broad commitment to social equity. In this strange commencement season, we trust this generation will help us all make our country better.

We trust in the wisdom that our young people possess. Carver’s diverse community remains strong, thanks to each and every member, especially our courageous children.

One isn't necessarily born with courage, but one is born with potential. Without courage, we cannot practice any other virtue with consistency. We can't be kind, true, merciful, generous, or honest.     — Maya Angelou