As Miss Lauren Leal knows so well, one reason why recruitment is not a challenge is that thanks to support from the Lowey 21st Century Community Learning Centers (21st CCLC) initiative, Carver programs are fun!
Word of mouth is our most powerful form of recruitment. Miss Leal is a 5th Grade Teacher at Brookside Elementary School and Carver’s after-school Lead Program Coordinator there. These two student-produced videos shared here demonstrate creative examples of her students sharing their enthusiasm for Carver with their peers —as well as showing off their STEM skills!.
Carver works closely with school administrators, counselors, daytime teachers (many of who like Miss Leal also serve as Carver after-school and summer lead coordinators), and families to identify and recruit our students.
The 21st CCLC initiative is the only federal funding source dedicated exclusively to supporting local afterschool, before-school, and summer learning programs. The program serves nearly 2 million youth, through grants awarded by state education agencies. This funding that Carver receives provides for academic enrichment activities that help students meet state and local achievement standards. Carver is also able to offer a broad array of additional enrichment services designed to reinforce and complement the regular academic program, such as STEM programs, and physical activity and nutrition education programs. Carver also offers literacy and related educational development services to the families of children we serve.
As Norwalk’s longtime and largest provider of after-school and summer programs for K-12 students, many students participate in Carver programs from kindergarten to high school graduation, therefore enrollment each year only partially involves the recruitment of new students. But there is no greater recruitment method than word of mouth among the students themselves.
In addition to providing individual academic support, Carver offers a wide array of enrichment opportunities not available during the school day. Carver programming is organized around six core principles: high expectations with the final goal of graduating high school on time and college-ready; academic rigor focused on project-based learning and individualized learning; building healthy relationships; Student Voice/Choice; building community through defined structures of cooperative decision-making; and a youth development approach to instruction that recognizes individual strengths, needs, and learning styles.
Carver offers an agile educational experience for our students that is designed to innovate, bend, and stretch to meet the needs of every student, including our most complex learners. Examining data helps us to identify which students need more individualized support. We are constantly inventorying community-based learning opportunities and resources, as well as the extent to which they are accessible to our students and families.
Those are the technical reasons why Carver programs are successful. But these two student-produced videos show our most convincing recruitment messages and why our students remain with Carver through the years!