TMT Alumni Weekend at Carver
TMT wraps up successful alumni weekend
Contributed report; Wednesday, August 9, 2017 See the article at The Hour here.
NORWALK — The first Bub Classic TMT Alumni Basketball Tournament, hosted by the Teaching and Mentoring Through Basketball program, was a huge success according to those who ran the two-day event at Norwalk High and the Carver Center.
Four $500 scholarships were handed out Sunday, including two to alumni players Justice and Ian Gardner.
Norwalk High graduates Deandre Russell, left, and Sarah St. Surin were the recipients of $500 scholarships in honor of TMT Basketball founder Mike McElveen. The two were presented their scholarships as part of TMT’s alumni weekend at Norwalk High and the Carver Center.
Norwalk High graduates Sarah St. Surin and Deandre Russell were also given scholarships in honor of TMT co-founder Mike McElveen, who died earlier this year.
The winning TMT alumni team included Evan Kelly, John Boykin, Brian Wade, Moriba Keita, Antwan Boyd, Lamar Tate, Takari Smalls and Tyler Shular.
TMT Basketball would like to thank everyone who supported the event, especially the event sponsors Carver Center, AFSCME LOCAL2405, Sign Smart, Jordan’s Too Restaurant & Pizza, Famous Pizza House, Slice of Italy Pizza, Prime Burger, C&S Grocery (The Yellow Store), SONO Harbor Deli, Pauli’s Bagels & Deli, Supreme Auto Collision, East Avenue Pizza, Gene The Barber, Inside The Locker Room with Ant and Jay and Crown Trophy.
All proceeds will benefit the TMT Scholarship Program, the National Kidney Foundation and the TMT Basketball Program.
This team of TMT Basketball alumni won last weekend’s tournament. From left: front row, Evan Kelly, John Boykin, Brian Wade and Moriba Keita; back row, Antwan Boyd, Lamar Tate, Takari Smalls and Tyler Shular.
International Youth Day is this Saturday
What is student data?
The Hour: TMT Basketball returns to Carver!
TMT Basketball alumni come back to give back
By John Nash See the article in The Hour here.
NORWALK — In 2001, Terrence Fuller and Mike McElveen decided to reach out to the youth of their home city, teaching and mentoring through basketball.
That’s how TMT Basketball was born.
This weekend, more than 70 players who played either youth, travel, or AAU basketball at TMT Basketball are coming back to their home city to honor one of their own.
The first Bub Classic TMT Alumni Basketball Tournament will be held Saturday at Norwalk High School and Sunday at the Carver Center.
Multiple alumni teams are expected to be formed along with games involving present-day players at the two sites. All told, 11 alumni games are on tap.
The tournament’s moniker — Bub — is in honor of McElveen, who died last year after a short illness.
“Mike and myself, we had always kind of talked about getting some of our kids together that had graduated and gone on to college,” said Fuller, director of TMT basketball. “We wanted to put them in a tournament or something of that nature.”
Mike EcElveen
An alumni tournament including all of his former players proved to be the most popular idea.
“We ran it past some of the guys and they were excited about it,” Fuller said.
Since TMT was founded it has helped to produce a who’s who of basketball players from the city.
Some of the alumni expected to be back this weekend are Evan Kelley (Sacred Heart), Steven Enoch (UConn/Louisville), Roy Kane Jr. (New Haven), Drew Sawyer (Endicott) and former McMahon basketball standout Lamar Tate, who now coaches with TMT.
As part of the weekend, TMT will be giving away four scholarships — two $500 scholarships to program alumni, and two $500 scholarships in honor of McElveen.
Norwalk High graduates Deandre Russell and Sarah St. Surin will be honored as McElveen scholarship recipients, while Notre Dame-Fairfield graduate Ian Gardner (Dominican College) and Trinity Catholic product Justice Page (Hartford) will receive alumni scholarships.
Those will be awarded during a special ceremony at 1 p.m. on Sunday, at the Carver Center.
The tournament will benefit TMT’s scholarship fund, the basketball program itself and a donation to the National Kidney Foundation in McElveen’s name.
“Mike has done a lot for this city as far as basketball and being a mentor and coach, not just inside TMT but outside, too,” Fuller said. “He was a phenomenal guy for this community.”
Honoring McElveen through those he helped mold as young men is a way for him to keep giving back, Fuller said.
“It’s our alumni and they meant a lot to him,” Fuller said. “This allows us to keep Mike’s legacy moving in the right direction.”
Games begin at 10:30 a.m. on Saturday and will continue through 6 p.m. both days.
Last Days of Summer: See the Video and Photos!
See 736 photos here, 316 photos here, and 267 photos here!
New Video by P&G Reminds Kids Their ‘Black Is Beautiful’
Lilly Workneh writes this description of the powerful video for Huffington Post.
A new video released Monday titled “The Talk” compellingly tackles the impact of racial bias through the lens of black parents in America.
The video ― which was released by My Black Is Beautiful, a beauty brand owned by Procter & Gamble ― is a powerful two-minute clip that explores racial bias by depicting some of the burdens placed on parents of black children, who are challenged with having necessary but difficult discussions with their children about their survival and self-esteem.
The video follows several black parents who have talks with their children about the ways in which their skin color can affect how they are perceived and treated by others. In one scenario, a mom asks her son if he has his ID before heading to practice, in case he is stopped by police. In another, a mother instructs her daughter, who is a new driver, on what to do in case she is pulled over by a cop. In the opening scene, a young girl is seen telling her mom that she was told she was “pretty for a black girl,” to which her mother later responds sternly: “You’re not pretty for a black girl. You’re beautiful period.”
“Our goal with ‘The Talk’ is to help raise awareness about the impact of bias,” Damon Jones, director of global company communications at Procter & Gamble, told HuffPost. “We are also hopeful that we can make progress toward a less biased future by recognizing the power of people of all backgrounds and races showing up for one another.”
With recent studies reporting that black girls are seen as less innocent than white girls as young as the age of 5 and with black boys frequently seen as a threat in the eyes of law enforcement, parents of black children often live in worry and discomfort. Jones said he hopes videos like this help to raise social consciousness around the affect bias can have in all of our lives and remind people of the many ways bias can take form across genders, races, ages, weight, sexual orientations and more.
“It’s time for everyone to #TalkAboutBias,” reads one of the last messages in the video, encouraging people to continue the conversation online by using the hashtag. “Let’s all talk about the talk so we can end the need to have it.”
Help Carver Professionally Record & Distribute Its Theme Song, We R 1
GO TO THE IMAPCT VINE HERE TO MAKE YOUR DONATION.
For its 80-year anniversary year, the Carver Foundation of Norwalk is recording a theme song written and sung by world-renowned artists and Carver’s own vocalist! This effort will help make the Carver story known worldwide and advance its mission of Building Lifetime Achievers!
Almost everything is already donated by the artists and producers. Please give generously to help Carver complete this important project. Your gift will support:
- Recording Carver’s alumnae Gabbie Pierre-Louis on We R 1
- Finishing the musical instrument recording for the song
- The final mix and master of We R 1
- Filming a short video of Gabbie and Carver students in the studio for a behind the scenes look
- Releasing We R 1 as a worldwide single on iTunes, Spotify, and all major retail/streaming sites
Goal: $1,500
The Song
Carver alumnae Gabrielle Pierre-Louis will join renowned music artists Michael McDonald, Peabo Bryson, Oleta Adams and other international star vocalists to produce the song “We R 1” for worldwide distribution. “We R 1” was written by Morris Pleasure and his wife, Lori, in 2002, and recently gifted to Carver. Over the years, Morris Pleasure captured recordings of the artists named above for the future release of the song. The song is sung in the style of the charity single “We Are the World” written by Michael Jackson and Lionel Richie. The advent of Gabrielle’s powerful voice brings the professional recording of “We R 1” now to completion.
The Recording
Factory Underground Records is a Norwalk-based independent recording studio. Universal Music Group/Caroline distributes Factory Underground’s label worldwide. “We R 1” will be available soon on Spotify, iTunes, and on many other platforms available in 115 countries. Carver after-school students will observe the recording process at Factory Underground as part of Carver’s STEAM programming.
Gabrielle Pierre-Louise
Carver alumnae and Norwalk resident Gabrielle Pierre-Louise (Gabbie, 21 years old) is currently studying to be a dentist at the University of Bridgeport, inspired by years of helping her mother and father and other family members deliver humanitarian relief and dental care in particular to Haiti and other places in need. Gabbie is a gifted vocalist who is using her prodigious talent to support Carver.
Morris Pleasure
Mr. Pleasure received Carver’s Child of America award at a performance at Carnegie Hall in 2014, the only time Carver ever conferred this honor apart from Carver’s annual gala. The award recognized Pleasure’s volunteer support of Carver’s “Youth Voice” initiative, WeR1Voice (named after his song). Born and educated in Connecticut, Pleasure is an American composer, producer, multi-instrumentalist, and touring musician. He has recorded and performed with artists such as Ray Charles, Najee, George Duke, Earth, Wind & Fire (a band member for 10 years), Roberta Flack, Christina Aguilera, Peter Cetera, Mary J. Blige, David Foster, Bette Midler, and many others. Pleasure appeared in the documentary, This Is It, and Janet Jackson’s film, Janet: Live in Hawaii.
We R 1 Lyrics
WE ARE ONE…
WE KNOW OUR WORLD HAS GONE ASTRAY
EVIL AND VIOLENCE EVERYDAY
IT CAN’T GO ON THIS WAY FOREVER
FATHER HEAR OUR PRAYER FOR THE FUTURE
OUR CHILDREN GROW UP IN A WORLD OF PAIN
IN A LIFE WITHOUT DREAMS WHAT HOPE REMAINS
WE’VE GOT TO CARE FOR EACH OTHER
LOVE IS THE ONLY WAY
WE ARE ONE….
JUST LIKE THE SUN WILL CROSS THE SKY
EACH DAY A JOURNEY AS TIME GOES BY
WE NEED TO COME TOGETHER
WE MUST BELIEVE
WE ARE ONE…
WHEN LIFE GETS HARD TO UNDERSTAND
WE HAVE TO HAVE FAITH IN THE MASTER’S PLAN
LET’S MAKE A NEW WAY FOR THE CHILDREN
HELP THEM BELIEVE
WE ARE ONE…
ENOUGH OF THIS POVERTY AND DESPAIR
CORRUPTION, INJUSTICE EVERYWHERE
IT’S TIME TO MOVE ON, LET’S WORK TOGETHER
THROUGH UNITY, WE CAN MAKE IT BETTER
LET’S BE A BEACON IN THE NIGHT
SPREAD PEACE LIKE WE’RE ANGELS TAKING FLIGHT
A MESSAGE OF LOVE AND UNDERSTANDING
HEAL OUR WORLD TODAY
DON’T GIVE UP HOPE FOR YOUR BROTHER
HELP HIM BELIEVE
WE ARE ONE.
LOVE ALL AROUND AND YOU’LL KNOW
THEY’RE PEOPLE WHO’RE BELIEVERS WHEREVER YOU GO
A SMILING FACE WILL SHOW
WE NEED UNITY
IT’S UP TO YOU AND ME.
Cost to professionally record and distribute Carver’s theme song, We R 1: $1,500
Summer learning is crucial to closing Norwalk's achievement gap
Summer learning stimulates curiosity, builds background knowledge, contributes to social and emotional development, and expands social networks. It prepares young people for the school year ahead. The damage of not having a summer of learning and discovery is direct and acute. On average, low-income students fall behind academically – and the effect is cumulative, furthering our persistent state achievement gap. Research shows that over half of the gap by ninth grade can be attributed to this phenomenon of summer learning loss.
The gap in spending on enrichment has nearly doubled over the past 30 years, with the top income quintile of households now outspending the bottom quintile by seven times. We also know more about the importance of these experiences to school performance. Most importantly, the economic, health, and educational stakes are higher for those who do not complete school successfully. Schools alone are unlikely to close achievement gaps or equip students with all the skills they need to succeed in college and careers. Summer is a key variable in the school success equation.
Carver's successful approach for more than 700 youth has been to engage kids based on their interests. They all learn the basics with support from certified teachers, but also learn new skills and make amazing discoveries in the field trips such as on the schooner Soundwaters, visiting the Maritime Aquarium and Stepping Stones Museum, and so much more. Throughout this network of programs, students are applying academic concepts in enriching “real world” experiences.
National research conducted by RAND, supported by The Wallace Foundation, reveals a significant advantage in math in the fall for summer learning program participants over their peers. Evaluations show students are improving their skills of critical thinking, collaboration, perseverance, and self-management over the summer. Summer learning presents a unique and targeted investment opportunity with solid returns.
Since many families throughout Fairfield County have the wherewithal to access national and inetrantaional summer programs, Carver focuses on those families who do not have the time, means, or language abilities to organize these activities for their children. Carver parents can work without the constant strain of finding childcare. And Carver students stay on track with their peers while adding positive—often transformational—experiences to their sense of who they are and can yet become.
Carver Campers' Summer Field Trip to Stepping Stones Museum
More than just a physical space, the Stepping Stones Museum for Children offers vital learning experiences that enable young people to discover, create, test, explore, observe, predict and make sense of the world around them.
Through their tours and workshops, young minds experience interactive, fun-filled learning spring to life. Engaging museum exhibits, spaces and programs support Carver's and the museum's guiding concept that children learn through play.
Thank you, Stepping Stones Museum, for all the excitement and wonder you instill in our summer campers!
