Fairfield County's Giving Day is tomorrow, Thursday, 2/25/21!

Go the Carver giving page here any time over 24 hours beginning tonight at 12 midnight to make a donation of $10 or more.

The Virtual Launch Party kicks off the region's biggest crowdfunding day of the year tomorrow morning 8:30AM - 9:00AM on FCGives.org where they will be broadcasting the party live.

Carver has risen as high as 4th place in years past in this annual giving contest of the charity that receives the most unique gifts of $10 or more over this 24-hour giving period.

Through Giving Day, thousands of people are joining together to make an impact and strengthen where we live and work. This one-day, regional effort harnesses the collective power of individuals, friends, families, businesses, employee groups, school groups, and others to transform how people think about, talk about and participate in giving.

In a time of uncertainty and as we all navigate uncharted waters, Fairfield County’s Giving Day provides our region with a safe, comfortable, and familiar virtual fundraising experience.

Visit the virtual Legacy Project to get a glimpse of Black history in the making

Take this powerful and historic virtual experience this Black History Month!

Learning and celebrating Black History has never been more important. Microsoft understands this fact and has created The Legacy Project, which strives to lead the world in re-envisioning Black History's narrative to shine a bright light on the outstanding accomplishments that African Americans have made in the past but are continuing to make right now. This is the first of its kind. Utilizing the world of technology, Microsoft will also highlight and virtually transport 13 of the world's top Black History Museum exhibits into every student's home or classroom across North America. This partnership with museums, historical landmarks, cultural centers, athletes, and civic influencers worldwide will include a month-long series of FREE immersive and interactive experiences for K-12 schools and the community to celebrate and learn. The Black History month journey will be available from February 1-28, 2021. Schools, youth programs and families can click the link to enroll in the program.

Microsoft has committed to providing a platform for schools, students, and youth organizations for this year's Black History Month celebration. Their platform will inspire and educate the community about significant moments and prominent figures in Black History.

Students will have an opportunity to see sections in the museum entitled Black Boss Moves, Black Achievers, Blacks in Entertainment, Young, Gifted and Black, The Black Justice League, Blacks Changing the Game. Some of the people featured include Tyler Perry, Danita Johnson(First Black President in Major Leagues Soccer, Nikole Hannah-Jones(1619 Project), Noah Harris(1st Black Student Body President at Harvard College), Roxanne Gay(1st black female Marvel Comic writer), to name a few. There is a blank wall in the final section of the museum that that poses the question -What will your Legacy Be?

"Black History month is a time for us to emphasize the rich heritage and culture of black people as well as spotlight historical events and figures in the black community," states Shy Averett, Global Sr. Community Program and Events Manager for Microsoft in Redmond, Washington.” We are excited to providethe Legacy Projectas a platform to encourage people to come together and learn lessons from the past and apply them today and in the future."

As an educational initiative for all ages, the Legacy Project is living proof that Black History is alive and well, now and forever. It honors African Americans of today, tomorrow, and the future and is a testament to the fact that Black History is a woven and integral part of American History. We are also reminded that Black History should be celebrated not only in February but every day.

Participating classrooms will learn about policies that impacted Black communities. They will see a presentation that will showcase Muhammad Ali's fight against systemic racism at the Ali Center's "Truth Be Told" exhibit, no matter where in the nation that student lives.

"Muhammad Ali's message of social and racial justice was potent and impactful to people around the world," said Donald Lassere, President and CEO of the Muhammad Ali Center. Through our "Truth Be Told" exhibit, we candidly share the policies that have impacted Black lives in America for 400 years so that all people can understand the unfiltered truth left out of our history books and become champions for racial equity for all Americans."

The students will also witness the struggle for life & liberty for all at the National Center for Civil and Human Rights while safely at home in front of their devices, as well as reading sessions of inspirational children's stories about Black History like Hidden Figures & Let the Children March, with books read aloud by some of our favorite NBA & NFL players for K-2nd graders.

"We need to know our history so we can know what our future will look like," states Haitian American Cliff Avril, a ten-year NFL Vet, Superbowl Champ with the Seattle Seahawks Pro Bowler. "My Black history hero is Toussaint Louverture, Haitian General, who led the Haitian Revolution and led the entire island of Haitians to freedom.

NASA's Perseverance LANDS on Mars!

Rover survives 'seven minutes of terror' to embark on 2-year mission to search for extra terrestrial life in a crater that was once a lake

• NASA's Perseverance rover has landed on Mars following a 239 million-mile journey through space

• It traveled around 12,000mph and deployed a parachute to slow down before landing safely on the surface

• The sky crane performed the same landing maneuver as with Curiosity using long Nylon cords

• The crane released Perseverance from its grasp and flew to safety, allowing the rover to start its journey

• Perseverance will search for biosignatures in the Jezero crater that is said to be an extinct lake

• It will collected samples and cache them across Mars for a separate mission in 2023 to retrieve

Multilingual Parent Webinar on Immigration Law, February 25, 6-7PM

Click on the image above to RSVP

Carver alumnus Marcus Hooks is elected to the USTA New England Board

Marcus Hooks is the founder of the news CTA, Six Love, and the youngest ever member of the USTA New England Board.

We think about Marcus Hooks often because he stayed close to home after college, his work sometimes involves our Carver kids today, and because he keeps making news!

Here (and here) is our profile of Marcus back several months ago. Today, we learned that Marcus was elected to the USTA New England Board of Directors.

Here are more details about his professional and personal successes from the USTA New England press release. .

NORWALK, CT - It’s safe to say, Marcus Hooks has accomplished more in his tennis career than the average 25-year-old. That’s because he’s not your average 25-year-old. In just a quarter century, Hooks, who grew up in Norwalk and Stamford, CT, played college tennis, is in his 10th year coaching, founded his own Community Tennis Association (CTA), serves on the USTA Connecticut Board of Directors and has now made history as the youngest member of the USTA New England Board. 

And his tennis journey is just beginning. 

When you take a look at Coach Hooks, as his students call him, it’s hard to overlook his glaring passion for the game. It’s when you get to know him however, that you’ll quickly discover his commitment to helping others far surpasses that.  

Hooks learned to play tennis informally at his local park as well as at the Stamford Boys & Girls Club. As he got older, he received more formal tennis training, played in high school and college and gained valuable professional experience as a coach, including at the same Boys & Girls Club he grew up at. It wasn’t until last January however that Hooks decided it was time to take the next step in his tennis career and give back in a way he wished someone had when he was a kid. 

After months of research, planning and paperwork, his new CTA, Six Love, was born.  

“I just wish I had something like this when I grew up,” Hooks said. “I could only play with dad. The Boys and Girls Club had a program but it was unorganized and no one really wanted to play tennis back then. I never got to have an experience like these kids do.”

Six Love’s programming was delayed because of COVID-19, and even though it started running in the fall, Hooks already has a Board of Directors, a youth council, a steady faction of players and has big plans for the future. 

He currently teaches a weekly yellow ball program for middle and high school players at New Canaan Racquet Club, where he also works as a tennis pro. He plans to start a similar orange ball program in the coming weeks, and by the summer, hopes to run his Mini Tennis Buddies program for beginner players in grades 3-5. 

“I eventually want this to be the place you can go in the community to play tennis your way, and in creative ways,” Hooks said. “Before anyone can be good at tennis, they have to be a tennis player and have that base. For us it's about being a tennis player, and then we can filter you into whatever type of player you want to be, whether it’s high performance, college or recreational.” 

On the educational side, his youth council features 15 students. Creating a program that gives students the opportunity to learn and grow in a real-world setting was something Hooks made a priority when launching the CTA.

The council elected officers, wrote a mission statement, has regular meetings and has goals of fundraising and introducing their peers to tennis. 

Hooks’ girlfriend, Amy Lafleur, serves as the treasurer of Six Love and works directly with the youth council as their advisor. 

“What’s better than getting their own peers into the sport,” Hooks said. “I’m just thinking about getting and keeping these kids in the USTA and in tennis, and I want to set them in the right direction so when it comes time for them to maybe join the USTA Connecticut Board or USTA New England Board, they will be excited and ready. By time they get to be 25, they’ll be way more advanced than I am.”

Hooks has his mind set on a bright future for the sport of tennis and youth players, and he thought to himself what better way to expedite that vision than by joining the USTA New England Board of Directors. 

“I looked at the questions that the Board hoped to address and those were some of the issues I’ve wanted to talk about, so I casually applied and didn’t really know where it would take me.” 

Despite his deep desire to serve, Hooks remained cautiously optimistic, thinking it was likely a long shot to be elected at his age.  

Much to his surprise, he received a call letting him know he had been selected and would be sworn in at the January 2021 Board Meeting.  

“His deep desire to grow and learn and contribute towards the mission of USTA New England, made him an ideal candidate to join the Board,” said Bill Leong, Senior Director, Association Executive Management & Innovation for USTA and directly supports diverse section initiatives. “Marcus' background and experience in diverse community engagement will add different perspectives to the Board room and will bring a positive business impact for the organization.”

“Being elected to the Board means a lot to me. It’s crazy to think where I started in tennis to now having a big say in what happens in New England,” he said. “I feel I’ll be impactful because of my outside view of the sport. There’s a box around tennis and I grew up on the outside looking in. The fact that I think that way and come from a place where tennis wasn’t popular, will help in the ongoing battle we’re trying to solve by getting new kids to play the game.”

Carver alumna Jasmine Brown avidly pursues her career in the helping professions

Carver helps young people build networks of support, develop important skills, and expand their horizons. Carver surrounds students with interconnecting rings of learning and assistance. Jasmine Brown exemplifies Carver’s purpose and the accomplishments of educational equity. But only Jasmine gets credit for her courage and prudent strength, and for devoting herself to a career of caring for others.

Jasmine belongs to that rare and interesting group of young people who contrive, without ever intending to do so, to make an art of their careers. Jasmine’s story is like nothing that has been written before in this series of alumni profiles and will likely never be repeated.

Jasmine was a supervisor at a provider of residential and mental health skill-building services to people with intellectual disabilities and mental health challenges until she recently left to pursue a second graduate degree, this time at Virginia Commonwealth University. Jasmine still works in the mental health field as a counselor while she pursues a Master of Social Work degree (MSW). This degree offers more professional opportunities in direct service in the medical, mental health, and education fields, providing support as therapists, healthcare social workers, school social workers, and clinical social workers. The MSW typically takes one to two years to complete.

Jasmine previously graduated with honors from Virginia State University with a Bachelor of Science degree in psychology. VSU is a historically black college (HBCU), America's first fully state-assisted, four-year institution of higher learning for Blacks. She then attended Sacred Heart University in Connecticut where she also graduated with honors with a Master of Arts in teaching.

Jasmine always works to pay for her academic journeys and accomplishments. In addition to working as a mental health counselor today, Jasmine owns a small cleaning service and she is a licensed real estate agent in Virginia. 

Jasmine found Carver many years ago through a Stamford community-based organization that recommended her to us. Our annual spring College Tour caught her interest at first, but that was merely the beginning of Jasmine’s years-long relationship with the Carver community. She commuted via public transportation from Stamford each day to fully embrace all the after-school opportunities she found at the Carver Community Center in Norwalk. On that spring College Tour, Jasmine and Virginia State University (VSU) found each other.

One of the points of these annual far-flung trips to colleges and universities across the country is to awaken the hopes of youth whose circumstances would otherwise deflate aspirations for higher education. Jasmine had her own life challenges to overcome, and she did.

VSU accepted her. They gave her scholarships and other grant support, but she still remained significantly short financially. At the time, Carver did not have the funds to help, so we encouraged her to begin her college career at Norwalk Community College where she earned her spot on the Dean’s List and into the hearts of her professors and peers there. With a scholarship from Carver, Jasmine then attended VSU.

When Carver’s next annual spring College Tour bus full of aspiring Carver students arrived at VSU, Jasmine Brown was there to greet them and introduce them to the campus. Jasmine became and remains a stunning role model for Carver youth and staff alike.

Jasmine’s career is always advancing. The exploration of the full range of Jasmine’s potentialities is not something she apparently leaves to the chances of life. It is something she pursues avidly. Following Jasmine through the years, it seems as though she looks forward to an endless and unpredictable dialogue between her potentialities and the claims of life — not only the claims she encounters but the claims she invents. And by potentialities, we mean not just her powerful intellect and booming skills, but the full range of her capacities for sensing, wondering, learning, understanding, aspiring, and valuing and tending to the needs of others.

Given all the upheavals and challenges we face as a country, the renewal of society can go forward only if there are people like Jasmine, people with boundless compassion, splendid skills — and untold potentialities.

A message from Phil Butterfield, Carver's Board President

Philip Butterfield, President, Social Venture Partners Connecticut; HSBC Bank Of Bermuda, Chairman, Retired

As Carver’s Board President, I write to you, our readers, to thank you for your interest in our newsletter and for your support of the young people whom we serve.

Under Novelette’s leadership, Carver has continued to meet the needs of these young people despite the very challenging environment brought on by the coronavirus. Each of our Board members is deeply committed to Carver’s mission and to helping our students navigate through these unprecedented times.

We are also celebrating Black History Month, an opportunity to acknowledge an extraordinary African American and our namesake, George Washington Carver. His legacy and contributions to the world at large are indeed worthy of reflection, admiration, and celebration.

The schools we partner with, along with all other institutions of learning, are in the national spotlight as the U.S. Senate considers the confirmation of Connecticut’s own Miguel Cardona for the post of Education Secretary. Mr. Cardona was a teacher and principal before becoming our state’s Education Commissioner. All of us will have important roles to play in the coming months as we determine the appropriate strategies for education in response to the Covid-19 pandemic.      

As a result, our Board is re-examining our 2020-2025 Strategic Plan. We expect to strengthen both our vision and mission to enable Carver to become an even stronger influence in our community. Innovation will bring significant changes to how our young people learn and Carver is committed to being at the forefront of this new normal through the delivery of enhanced programs within our partnership with the Norwalk Public Schools District.

March 2020 will forever be known as the time all the world's schools closed their doors. As we pivoted to remote learning, parents who had relied on schools as an anchor around which they organized their daily schedule faced the shock of life without in-person school. Carver has always known what powerful allies parents are in their children's learning. With the pandemic's dire consequences hitting the most vulnerable families the hardest, parent engagement and social and emotional learning will remain among Carver’s priorities in the months and years ahead.

The remarkable words of our newest hero, Amanda Gorman, are an inspiration for all of us. "Where can we find light in this never-ending shade?" America's 22-year-old youth poet laureate asked as she spoke at the inauguration of the 46th president of the United States. "And yet the dawn is ours before we knew it," Gorman reminded us. That light is us. "Somehow, we've weathered and witnessed a nation that isn't broken, but simply unfinished," she said. "There is always light, if only we're brave enough to see it." Carver youth are as optimistic and brave as Amanda Gorman.

Thank you for your attention, caring, and support.

Philip Butterfield, President, Carver Board of Directors

Marcos Garcia exemplifies everything we strive to accomplish

Joseph Giandurco is a Social Studies & Science teacher at Ponus Ridge Middle School and Carver’s longtime Program Coordinator of our after school and summers programs there.

Mr. Giandurco wanted you to know about one of his outstanding students, Marcos Garcia.

Marcos is in the 8th grade and this is what Marcos has to say about his experience with Carver: "I love the Carver and the help they give me. I am proud to be a Carver Kid."

Mr. Giandurco reports, “Marcos has been in the Carver after school program for three years, and he is truly a great kid. He has strong attendance and uses the program and its enrichments to the fullest. He has been a member of the robotics team for two years. He is fascinated with photography and enjoys working on the school yearbook. Marcos is a polite young man who truly cares for others in the community. He often lends a hand to his fellow classmates. He is a diligent worker and overall a great Carver kid.”

Marcos shows us all that as much as we strive at Carver to offer our students every opportunity to grow and achieve, it is not always what they make of it for themselves. It is also what Marcos’ peers make of it, and how friendship and support from wonderful kids like Marcos impinge on their experience of it.

Carver is proud of Marcos and the help he gives his peers. We are grateful that we can be there for Marcos and that he considers himself to be a successful Carver kid. For us there is no greater honor.

5th Grade Scholars at Kendall Elementary School are bursting with creativity and knowledge

Miss Dilette Julian, teacher at Kendall Elementary School

This year, the Carver 5th Grade Scholar’s at Kendall Elementary School are participating in multiple hands-on projects throughout the week. 

Students develop team building skills. The young scholars practice their math and reading prowess by utilizing MyOn and Symphony math personalized learning tools. 

Students created comic books with their own personal narratives and fictional stories. Common Core State Standards are used to guide the students in organizing their stories.

They engage in enrichment STEAM activities, such as creating floating boats, erupting volcanos, air balloon cars, airplanes, Marshmallow towers/structures, and delving into robotics.

Our Scholars learn and teach each other languages such as French and Spanish. They have fun sharing basic greetings and conversational phrases.

They enter in math challenges and competitions, and they learn how to play Chess. 

Our 5th grade Scholar’s are artists, too. They paint, including paintings inspired by Jackson Pallock and Van Gogh, and they learn about painting on glass. They create colorful take-home paper carnations, pillows, acorn wreathes, ceramics, and they created a gallery for the school’s main entrance. 

Students are always looking for ways to help beautify the school. Our students created a google survey form to ask teachers what type of bulletin boards they would like. Students work together to add vision, color, and motivation to the walls of their elementary school.

When working from home, virtual learning includes activities and games, scavenger hunts, origami, Pictionary, charades, and so much more.

Carver 5th grade Scholars at Kendall Elementary School enjoy being challenged while having fun.

Carver is a vital before and after school part of the campus environment for almost all Norwalk schools, providing support, enrichment, and resources to address critical issues and enhance learning opportunities. Goals include individualized academic support and remediation and smooth grade-level transitions. We work closely with school leaders to develop effective programs and interventions.

A child’s educational success depends on a medley of factors. Family circumstances, teacher skills, school resources, and student motivation are each complimented and enhanced by Carver’s interventions and creative supports.

Fairfield County's Giving Day is Thursday, 2/25/21

Each year Carver is among the hundreds of Fairfield County nonprofits that participate in the online Fairfield County’s Giving Day.

As someone who grew up in Greenwich, I’ve seen firsthand the significant (massive) disparity in opportunities for kids of different socioeconomic backgrounds – which is part of the reason why I’m so thrilled to be a member of the Carver staff and supporting the mission of closing opportunity gaps in education.

Carver is aiming to win the $15,000 Grand Prize for Most Unique Donors. To achieve this, we’re asking you to participate by giving a gift of $10 or more on the Giving Day.

If you want to do even more, please consider being a peer-to-peer fundraiser to gather donations of $10 and up for Carver!

Here is the link to Carver’s Giving Day profile.

Please don’t hesitate to reach out to me with any questions. I’m here to make this as easy for you as possible!

Kindly,

Rachel Moledo

Resource Development & Engagement Coordinator; (203) 838-4305, ext 107; rachel@carvercenterct.org