Images of the first day of summer at the Carver Community Center!

Carver's Summer Enrichment Programs at the Carver Community Center and at Columbus Magnet School began today and run through August 3rd.

See all the photos here in a Facebook album after walking around the Carver Community Center this afternoon -- a few minutes in a summer of learning and play!

These summer camps are among the most affordable and high-quality programs available to Norwalk students ages 5 through 13 years old. The summer literacy program, facilitated by certified teachers, uses the myON and Lexia Reading Core 5 software to provide personalized learning. Certified teachers also teach math sessions.  Through the years, summer camp program partners have included the Girl Scouts, the Center for Contemporary Printmaking, Norwalk Grassroots Tennis and The Norwalk Seaport Association. Field trips reinforce learning, e.g., Peabody Museum, CT Science Center, Discovery Museum, NBC Studio Tour, Stamford Nature Center, Beardsley Zoo, Bishop Orchards, New York Botanical Gardens and Maritime Aquarium.

See the last days of summer 2017 video and 1,000+ photos -- see it all here! Read about our summer transition program for rising 6th students at West Rocks and Roton Middle Schools. Read about our rising 9th graders at our summer transition program at Brien McMahon and Norwalk High Schools. 

Here are stories about summer field trips to such destinations as Sheffield Island and swimming and bowling. Some of our campers went away for 10-days to New Pond Farm. Here are more stories about what our campers do on a rainy day to this video of a typical day at a Carver summer camp!

Help us build a new playground at the Carver Community Center!

We are well on our way to raising our goal of $60,000. The interns from New Canaan High School planned and implemented this campaign thus far. Help us bring the new playground all the way home for Carver kids! 

Here is the online giving platform for this campaign. Carver's current playground is aging and was build for pre-kindergartgen children. What we need is a playground with all the latest safety and fun learning features for K-5 aged children, including a new padded surface that ties together all the pieces of our planned playground together.

Ask children, “How was school today?” and you’re likely to hear about what they experienced in playtime. In Carver after school and summer programs, play can include robotics and many other hands-on project-based activities, but we never lose sight of the fundamental value of play as it’s been understood and enjoyed through the centuries.

For many children, the time on the playground represents the emotional core of their day. Whether they come home light- or heavy-hearted depends on what happened during play time. Researchers say that one of the best predictors of whether kids feel happy in school is whether they feel comfortable and competent during play.

Philosophers and child development experts have been trumpeting the importance of play for centuries. Piaget said that children discover the world through play. Friedrich Froebel, who opened the first kindergarten in 1837, called play “deeply significant.” And Plato believed that children had to grow up in an atmosphere of play to become virtuous citizens. In the face of this accumulated wisdom, we are grateful to you for helping us reimagine and recreate the playground at the Carver Community Center.

Play requires the acquisition of a complex set of skills. It’s not just about exercising or letting off steam. It’s about making agreements with others as equals, stepping into an imagined structure, and accepting that structure even when things don’t go your way. This may be why Plato considered play the ideal preparation for citizenship.

Thank you for helping us build healthy and happy citizens at Carver!

Fairfield County Alumnae Association of Kappa Kappa Gamma reads to Carver kids!

Betsy Kelley Evans (R) and Meri Erickson read to Carver kids

For more then a decade, the Fairfield County Alumnae Association of Kappa Kappa Gamma has been volunteering at Carver’s after school program. Members of the sorority travel to the Carver Community Center quarterly with a special book to read to our CASPER K-5 students. It is followed with homemade desserts and an art project.

Kappa has a total membership of more than 260,000 women, with 140 collegiate chapters in the United States and Canada and 307 alumnae associations worldwide. Although the groundwork of the organization was developed as early as 1869, the 1876 Convention voted for October 13, 1870 to be recognized as the official Founders Day as no earlier charter date could be determined.

Kappa Kappa Gamma is a women's fraternity due to its founding before the term "sorority" came into use. Because men were able to create fraternities at the time, Kappa Kappa Gamma's founders did the same, but as the fraternity admits only women, it is referred to as a sorority. The fraternity is a founding member of the National Panhellenic Conference(NPC), an umbrella organization that includes 26 American sororities.

Here are just a few "firsts" that this prestigious sorority is proud to have.

• In 1942 Kappa was the first women's fraternity to set up Service Women's Centers during World War II.
• In 1952 Kappa Kappa Gamma was the first to purchase a Headquarters building, and base their operations permanently in Columbus, Ohio.
• In 1980 The Heritage Museum was established, and Kappa became the first fraternity to own and operate a public museum.
• In 1989 The Minnie Stewart Foundation purchased the Stewart family home, which was then merged into the Kappa Kappa Gamma Foundation in 2000. Kappa is the only women's fraternity to own the home of a Founder and operate two historic house museums.
• In 2000 Kappa Kappa Gamma launched Pathways – Kappa's Continuous Education Experience, leading men's and women's fraternities into new frontiers of education and training.
• In 2002 Kappa Kappa Gamma released The Voyage of Discovery, a virtual tour through women's history.
• In 2009 Kappa Kappa Gamma launched the Kappa Learning Institute, an interactive online portal which provides free e-courses to active members and alumnae.

Thank you to KKG for your on-going partnership!

The John and Ethel Kashulon Foundation supports Carver's educational programs

On behalf of the entire Carver community, Novelette Peterkin expressed her deepest gratitude for the generosity of the Kashulon Foundation to Martin McLaughlin, trustee of the Kashulon Foundation.

Carver is the recent recipient of a $5,000 grant for the advancement of Carver students. 

The mission of the John and Ethel Kashulon Foundation is to improve people’s lives through the funding of programs whose mission and projects align with its three unified goals of enhancing Educational, Children’s and Cultural opportunities.

Ethel Orco Kashulon was a lifelong Bridgeport resident until her passing in 2017. She graduated from Saints Cyril and Methodius Commercial High School, and immediately began working at the Bridgeport Housing Authority, where she was recognized as being their longest serving employee, retiring at age seventy after fifty-three years of employment.  
For many years, Mrs Kashulon also worked at the family business, Kashulon’s Market, on Sheridan Street in Bridgeport. Devout Catholics, she and her husband, John Kashulon, had been an active members of Saint Cyril and Methodius Parish, Bridgeport for over fifty years. John Kashulon and Ethel were married on Halloween, October 31, 1960, and enjoyed 36 years of marriage until the passing of Mr. Kashulton. 

The foundation was created in their memory and the Carver community is deeply grateful for being one of the recipients of the foundation's thoughtful giving. 

Carver's 2018 Testimonial Dinner!

Young people and their proud parents came together at the Carver Community Center for our Annual Testimonial Dinner on Tuesday, June 12, 2018. Each year, the Carver Foundation of Norwalk awards Carver students, including current college students, with scholarships and recognition.

We also recognize our Volunteer of the Year, High School Volunteer of the Year, and our College Graduate of the Year. We honor all our college graduates, high school graduates, most improved students of the year, and many other levels of graduation and achievement. 

This year, Carver awarded $84,500 in financial college scholarships. 

See the photos on Facebook here!

New Canaan High School student group organizes a walkathon to benefit Carver kids!

Led by Carver Club founder, Kiera Russo, here are some of the young people at New Canaan High School who recently produced a walkathon raising $1,393 for the benefit of Carver kids: Nathiya Vasantha Kumaran; Emily Bacon; Skye Curren; Kaleigh McCarthy; Cait McCarthy; Kayla Homan; Erin Bean; Julia Tamburro; Ellie Scott; Betsy Marsh; Chloe Stanley; Sky Davidson; Ari Rothman; Isabella Hamilton; and Celia Sokolowski. 

Walkathon sponsors included Mad Dog Sports Radio, Get OutDoors Club, and Vicolo's Pizza in New Canaan.

See the article here at the New Canaan High School Courant about the creation of the Carver Club at the school.

See the Carver blog post here about the NCHS students visiting with Carver kids and bringing them joy and wellness.

Thank you, Carver Club!

Deloitte's Annual Impact Day at Carver

Senator Richard Blumenthal greeting the employees making Deloitte Impact Day 2018 such a success

Deloitte’s annual day of service—Impact Day—is a longstanding tradition (this is their 19th year) both globally and at Carver. The Impact Day at Carver is led by Deloitte employee and member of the Carver Board of Directors, and also Carver's Treasurer, Jude Earl Alaba!

See all the photos HERE on Facebook of their day at Carver!

Today was a celebration of Deloitte’s year-round commitment to collectively making an impact that matters in our communities. It’s also one of the top reasons cited for why Deloitte was ranked No. 6 by Fortune and Great Place to Work on their 2017 list of the “50 Best Workplaces for Giving Back.”

On Impact Day, Deloitte professionals and leaders come together in 80 cities across the country to work on more than 1,000 projects for nearly 190,000 collective hours of service. At Carver, Deloitte volunteers refurbished the inside and outside of the Carver Community Center!

Together, they help tackle community and societal challenges on Impact Day—and year-round. Through these efforts, they focus on helping to strengthen our communities—whether it’s helping diverse, underserved groups reach their full potential or assisting community organizations—which in turn can help strengthen America’s future workforce and its economy.

THANK YOU, DELOITTE!

Rowayton Connections 2018!

Thanks to our amazing annual Rowayton Connections committee, some 80 Rowayton residents and friends gathered at a beautiful Rowayton home to celebrate Carver students' success and to raise new funds for Carver college scholarships.

SEE ALL THE PHOTOS HERE AT FACEBOOK!

Carver students and staff were present to share their individual stories, and speakers such as Board of Education Chair Michael Barbis and Mayor Rilling talked about the impact Carver is making in the lives of Norwalk’s young people. 

THANK YOU, EVERYONE!

Carver alumnus, Kenneth Shuler (FNX), writes letter to The Hour

Hi hop artist credits Carver center

Published Thursday, June 7, 2018 SEE THE LETTER AT THE HOUR HERE

My name is Ken Shuler, also known as FNX, and I am a hip hop artist and small business owner. I would like to open with a quote from George Washington Carver.

“How far you go in life depends on your being tender with the young, compassionate with the aged, sympathetic with the striving and tolerant of the weak and strong. Because someday in your life you will have been all of these.” 

(...and the letter continues at The Hour linked above)

Carver alumnus Kenneth "FNX" Shuler (and here) wrote and rapped "We Are Carver" as a tribute to Sean Combs who received the Child of America award at Carver's 80th Anniversary gala on May 11th. FNX was joined by Carver alumnae Gabbie Pierre-Louis and a chorus of Carver youth. Kenny Cash produced the music, cinematography was by John Shyloski, and Marc Alan edited the music video. All are associated with Carver's great supporter, Factory Underground. "We Are Carver" will now live on as Carver's anthem! 

Volunteer Joshua Zhang organizes second annual Club Carver Concert!

Carver CASPER volunteer, Joshua Zhang, organized the second annual Club Carver Concert at the Saugatuck Congregational Church Sanctuary raising vital contributions for the benefit of the children served by the Carver Foundation of Norwalk.