Factset volunteers teach Carver kids how to code

On November 13, Factset employees visited the Carver Community Center to teach our students how to code! This was the first of more lessons to come. Led by FactSet engineers Nick Dean and three others, plus two Carver after school program assistants, thirteen 7th and 8th grade Jr. YDP students participated. New careers in IT are being launched at Carver!

FactSet joined forces with HomeFront this past year to revitalize the Carver Community Center. Laura Ruhe, S.V.P of Corporate Social Responsibility at FactSet, serves as a member of Carver’s Board of Directors. FactSet has also supported the Carver annual college tour for years as a part of the corporation’s strategic focus on education.

Thank you, Factset!

Annual Holiday Party Toy Drive!

Marge Costa teaches Carver kids videography!

Marge Costa teaches a videography class to Carver students, serves on Carver’s Marketing Committee, and is involved in the Carver community in many other ways. Here Marge is teaching a group of kids the art of video editing.

Marge has a deep experience in video production, working for CBS Television Stations as a producer for 10 years before starting her company, Aries Video Productions. 

In addition to serving as the Executive Director of the Norwalk Education Foundation, Marge’s love of film compelled her to share her talents with Carver kids for many years. A number of her students go on to work in TV production, including at Channel 12 news.

Costa recently completed a documentary about illegal adoption from mother-baby homes in Ireland between 1940 and the mid-1960s that was well received by a number of film festivals.

Thank you, Marge!

Carver Students Tour Connecticut Universities

Each election day, as they did this year, some 30 Carver students visit and experience life at several prominent colleges in Connecticut. This year, students visited the University of Hartford and the University of Bridgeport.

For many students, the process of figuring out which school best fits their needs is an overwhelming and confusing task. Carver's fall College Tour transforms this experience into an enriching adventure, in which students take campus tours, have meetings with admissions representatives and receive materials to help evaluate each school. Tour participants are shown how to get the most out of their future college visits. For example, students learn what questions they should be asking of campus officials, how to compare schools to one another, and what factors are most important for their personal college selection process. Many tours are led by the admissions office staff, depending on the campus and tour dates. 

Carver's 10-day Spring and one-day Fall College Tours offer a wonderful opportunity for students to tour numerous college campuses and evaluate their college options. Students visit a wide variety of campuses, including private and public schools in both urban and rural areas. Participants are able to determine if a large or small school suits them and, with the comparison materials we give them, they can review their options back home. Students also have the opportunity to experience great American cities. 

Join us for the Carver Annual Meeting, Wednesday at 6:30PM!

Fairfield County Alumnae Association of Kappa Kappa Gamma returns to read to our CASPER students!

The Fairfield County Alumnae Association of Kappa Kappa Gamma returned to Carver on November 7 to read to our youngest children attending our CASPER after school program.

Among the volunteers are two Kappas who are also dedicated Carver volunteers, Meri Erickson and Dr. Susan G. Weinberger.

The Kappas, Meri, Susan, Julie McLaughlin and Betsy Evans each read a book around the theme of young children who nurture STEM ideas. 

The reading of books are always followed by a treat. Apple cider and a yummy and decadent chocolate cake baked by Betsy were a winner. Carver staff loved the cake so much the last time that Betsy baked an additional cake for them as well!

For more then a decade, the Fairfield County Alumnae Association of Kappa Kappa Gamma has been volunteering at Carver’s after school program.

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!

Dick Whitcomb is the New Canaan Community Foundation Hall of Fame Awardee

The New Canaan Community Foundation will present this year’s annual Volunteer Recognition Awards on Thursday, November 15th at 5:30 PM at New Canaan Town Hall. This annual event honors local volunteers who dedicate their time and talent to local nonprofit organizations. The Foundation honors inspirational volunteer efforts and Carver is honored that Dick Whitcomb is the 2018 Hall of Fame recipient!

As most Carver visitors here know, Dick Whitcomb has been a stalwart and inspirational Carver volunteer, donor, advocate and board member for decades! Without question, Carver’s year after year growth and success would not have been possible with our Dick’s leadership in so many ways and times.

Dick Whitcomb did not just take up his career in education to make a living. He did it because he could not imagine living any other way. That passion took Dick from Vermont to the pinnacle of his profession in Connecticut.

In 1961, Dick Whitcomb began preparing students for success in life in at St. Luke’s School in New Canaan. In 1980, Dick was named Headmaster and was pivotal in the growth and stature of the school where he remains Headmaster Emeritus. In 2002, Dick retired and then founded a scholarship fund to enable economically challenged students, many from Norwalk, an opportunity to attend St. Luke’s School. In late 2010, Dick founded the Richard and Barbara Whitcomb Foundation to extend his philanthropy to many others, especially to the Carver community. For many years, Dick’s unofficial office has been the conference room in the Carver Community Center. In addition to general operating support, Dick is especially committed to financially supporting  Carver’s college scholarship fund.

Since his earliest years at St. Luke’s School, Dick and his students have been volunteering at Carver. Several years ago, Dick formed Carver’s Strategic Planning Group, which brought many new resources and leaders to the Carver community. Dick also recruited the significant financial and in-kind support necessary to renovate the Carver Community Center, which had not benefited from such thoroughgoing renewal since the day the building’s construction in 1975. Carver awarded Dick its Lifetime Achievement Award in 2013, Carver’s 75th anniversary year.

Each year, Dick is a leader on the Carver Board of Directors, the committees serving each of Carver’s major special events, such as Carver’s annual gala and golf outings, and a close counselor to Carver’s longtime executive director, Novelette Peterkin. Dick is also a mentor to any number of Carver students, not a few throughout their college and graduate school careers.

Throughout all of his success as an educator, philanthropist, and volunteer, what has inspired Dick the most and something he has never forgotten, is the help he received as a young man growing up. He remembers all the hard work and dedication his mother gave as a single mother of three. He recalls the many individuals who stepped into his life, guided and supported him. “That’s why I’ve never been big on individual accomplishments. I don’t think anyone can be successful individually. You can’t accomplish anything without the support of others.”

 Carver certainly could not have achieved what it has to date for Norwalk’s youth without Mr. Whitcomb’s unwavering and extremely generous commitment to Carver’s success.  

Congratulations and THANK YOU!

Here are some of the Quality Design Principles that guide Carver's work

Carver adheres to these Quality Design Principles and more as a guide to the ongoing development of Carver’s competency-based learning practice to ensure that every Carver student succeeds. The use of design-orientation allows for schools and afterschool and summer programs like Carver’s be intentional in their purpose and creating positive outcomes for their students.

You are invited to a ribbon cutting for new street artwork on Saturday, 11/3, 5:30PM

For all Carver friends of Wall Street and Downtown Norwalk, some of you may know that Marc Alan at Factory Underground curated the painting of a traffic box on Wall Street. The work is completed and you are invited to a ribbon cutting on Saturday, November 3, at 5:30 pm. The location is just to the left of Wall Street Theater at 71 Wall Street.

This project was done in association with the Wall Street Neighborhood Association, including Factory Underground, Rene Soto Gallery, Norwalk Arts Commission, and made possible by David Shockley and Norwalk Redevelopment. In all, a great community effort. 

The theme for the work is "Music and the Arts, reflecting the multi-cultural diversity of Norwalk." The artist is Cesar Alvarez, a local Connecticut painter, and sculptor, whose work is shown at Rene Soto Gallery.

Following the ribbon cutting, there will be a reception and art show at Rene Soto Gallery starting at 6pm. We hope to see you there!

Support Carver's Annual Thanksgiving Food Drive!