New Canaan High School newsletter features a student initiative for Carver

See the article here at the New Canaan High School Courant.

See the Carver blog post here about the NCHS students visiting with Carver kids.

Joelle Anselmo, Story Editor
Katie Jahns, Reporter

@janselmocourant @kmjahns

To most kids, a birthday is a celebration filled with presents and cake. However, NCHS student Kiera Russo took a different approach to her celebration. “For my 16th birthday, instead of getting presents, I decided it would be a good idea to gather donations and gifts for a charity,” said Kiera. After doing some research, Kiera and her mom discovered a local charity only 20 minutes away, called the Carver Center.

After her birthday, Kiera and her mother went to the center to drop off the donations that she had received. “They were so appreciative of it, it was really nice to see,” Kiera said. She didn’t know it at the time, but this experience would quickly spark a new journey in philanthropy for Keira and many other students.

Kiera’s mother, Jeanne Russo, has always been an inspiration and role model figure to Keira. She also strongly believes in charity work. “I’ve always taught my kids to be grateful for what they have, and it’s almost our duty as a community to give back to those in need,” Ms. Russo said.

The Carver Center is an afterschool and summer program located in Norwalk, Connecticut. “It’s an facility for kids who don’t have a stable home life, or whose parents work, so they can’t go home after school right away,” Kiera said.

According to the Carver Center Website, the program is the largest provider of afterschool and summer programs in Norwalk , helping over 800 children become better students and make life long friends. “They can go there to feel safe and secure,” Kiera said.

Jim Schaffer, coordinator of the Carver Center, partnered with Kiera to establish a volunteer program where NCHS students can go to the center once a month to help out. “It’s like a trial run. It’s to see if the Carver kids are comfortable as well as the NCHS kids, and if the atmosphere is friendly and nice,” Kiera said. Modeled after this program, Kiera is starting the Carver Club at NCHS, which students that are interested in volunteering can join.

The Carver Center has recently opened up a technology room where students can use computers for their studies. They can enjoy many activities such as journal-time, basketball, or homework help. “Reading different testimonies and praises of the center, a lot of the principles of Norwalk schools said that this helped kids become better students and make more friends,” Kiera said.

Kiera has been working to make this program a monthly occurrence, where high school students can help younger kids with their homework or just play kickball in the gym. “ Kiera’s support and the support she rallies among her colleagues for Carver kids at NCHS will bring fellowship and opportunities to Carver kids,” Jim said.

One of Kiera’s main goals is to help students become more aware of what’s around them and how they can assist. She hopes to make people more attentive to the needs of others through her program. “Knowledge is power, and if you know something, you can do something about it,” Kiera said.

Kiera has been working to make this program a monthly occurrence, where high school students can help younger kids with their homework or just play kickball in the gym. “ Kiera’s support and the support she rallies among her colleagues for Carver kids at NCHS will bring fellowship and opportunities to Carver kids,” Jim said.

One of Kiera’s main goals is to help students become more aware of what’s around them and how they can assist. She hopes to make people more attentive to the needs of others through her program. “Knowledge is power, and if you know something, you can do something about it,” Kiera said.

Thanks to the hard work and devotion of Keira and her support team, the first group of volunteers from NCHS will send ten students on a trip to the Carver Center on October 13th. “It should be a fun program for both the kids and the volunteers, and will make a big difference in the community,” Mr. Schaffer said. “This was 100% the inspiration of Kiera and for that we are deeply grateful.”

79TH ANNUAL MEETING, WEDNESDAY, 11/15/17, 6:30 PM

New Canaan High School's new Carver Club founded by Kiera Russo brings joy and wellness activities to Carver

Carver Annual Halloween Party this Friday!

Beth and David Atlas graciously host Carver's Westport Connections in their home

NEW CANAAN VINEYARD VINES, THURSDAY, OCTOBER 19, 4-7 PM, YOU GET 10% OFF YOUR PURCHASE AND VINEYARD VINES IN NEW CANAAN DONATES 10% OF YOUR PURCHASE TO CARVER!

New Canaan Volunteers Support Carver's CASPER Students

Katherine Somerby

Katherine Somerby recently graduated from The Taft School and is on her way to a volunteer commitment in Costa Rica before heading to college in Scotland. Katherine's aunt, Elizabeth Somerby, also a New Canaan resident, has been a Carver volunteer for more than two years. They are with our K-5 CASPER students in these photos. Carver greatly depends on its more than 500 volunteers a year. New Canaan volunteers and donors abound, from all ages and from many different points of origin.

Elizabeth Somerby

Examples include St. Luke’s School students organizing annual events for Carver kids such as the annual Christmas celebration including games, face painting, Santa and gifts for Norwalk youth; and individual volunteers from New Canaan serving Carver in many capacities, from serving on the Board of Directors to volunteering as tutors, participating on various committees and/or one-time initiatives. New Canaan youth have been participants in the Carver Basketball League and our AAU League. Teams from both leagues have gone on to win county and state titles through the years. Perhaps Carver’s most prominent volunteer is Richard Whitcomb, the former long-time headmaster of St. Luke’s School, who has made Carver his priority commitment in retirement and serves on the Carver Board of Directors. 

Junior Youth Development Program students at the Carver Community Center begin a book club

The first book the Jr. YDP students chose is The Hate U Give. It is a young adult novel by Angie Thomas, that follows a protagonist drawn to activism after she witnesses the police shooting of her unarmed friend. Published February 28, 2017 by Balzer + Bray, The Hate U Give opened at number one on The New York Times young adult best-seller list. It is Thomas's debut novel. The book is presently being made into a movie.

The Carver Jr. YDP book club is called BAC (Book Adaptation Club) after books that are made into movies. Shooting began two seeks ago with Amandla Stenberg (The Hunger Games) playing the lead role of Starr, a 16-year-old girl who’s from a low-income neighborhood but attends an elite prep school in the suburbs, only to be torn between two worlds when she witnesses her unarmed friend shot to death by a police officer.

Donors responded generously to an online appeal, and BAC students now have 25 copies of The Hate U Give. 

The BAC students designed the flyer to promote their club. The new Carver student-run club is a hit at the Carver Community Center, and it's just beginning!

Steak Out for Charity at Sedona Taphouse: Carver benefits for every steak dinner on 10/16, 23 and 30

New Canaan Advertiser: New Canaan helps Carver educate Norwalk kids

A recent Connections Party to raise funds for the Carver Foundation of Norwalk drew 75 people. These include, top, from left, Joe Gallagher, Novelette Peterkin, Nick Williams, Shaniya Mesilien, Dick Whitcomb, Whitney Williams and Carla Romeus; bottom, from left, Ayasha Cantey and Nakai Steen. — Contributed photo. New Canaan recently helped educate kids whom are apart of the Carver Foundation of Norwalk, and at the Carver Community Center also in Norwalk.

See the article here. 

By New Canaan Advertiser on October 5, 2017

A recent fundraiser at the New Canaan home of Nick and Whitney Williams drew 75 guests and raised “significant funds” for the Carver Foundation of Norwalk.

The nonprofit, founded in 1938, provides after-school and summer programs for public school students in Norwalk in the schools and at the Carver Community Center. 

The Sept. 24 Connection Party was to raise funds and build awareness of Carver and its mission, said Director of Philanthropy Joe Gallagher.

“We serve 835 kids in after-school and summer programs,” he said. “We contract a late bus to bring the students home from the Norwalk Public Schools who are in the after school programs, and one of the bus routes stops at Carver for students that go there.”

Carver employs teachers from the city’s public schools and has van transportation for some of its students.

“I feel blessed that I’m associated with this place,” said Richard Whitcomb, a board member and advisor, interviewed by phone from the Carver Center recently.

A former headmaster at St. Luke’s School, he’s served as a board member and advisor for nine years.

“I get up the morning and have a place to go,” Whitcomb said. “When I retired I would do some volunteering. I searched. I do a lot in New Canaan. This is my number one cause. It’s extraordinary what they do. It’s an organization that’s one of the top organizations in Connecticut to do what they do in a state where everything was cut down. We’re still hanging in there. It’s all about helping kids.”

Nick Williams, a Town selectman and former New Canaan Board of Education member said many of the programs, like the tutoring that Carver provides for Norwalk students, are programs that parents in New Canaan can afford to pay for themselves, or are already provided in the New Canaan public schools.

“Since 2005, Carver students graduated from high school on time and nearly all have become first generation college students in their families,” Williams noted.

“Whitney and I went to a fundraiser in Darien and Joe Gallagher was there, and a number of students,” said Williams. “We toured the Carver Center in Norwalk and met a number of students. We spoke to advisors. We looked at a new computer lab which is fabulous. To have a social service organization that’s doing what Carver does so close to New Canaan where we forget how lucky we are. Working with and assisting Carver is an opportunity to spread some of that luck around. This in my mind is a great way to do that.”