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Carver scholar Cassandra Midy is one of our 24 students interning at Norwalk Hospital

Cassandra is a Norwalk senior with a 3.7 GPA. She has years of volunteer experience at such places as the Norwalk Public Library and the Stepping Stones Museum for Children.

Cassandra is also a Carver after-school student participating in our new internship program at Norwalk Hospital.

Cassandra is looking at several colleges, but right now Iona College will be her likely choice. She received an early acceptance letter. This private Catholic college in New Rochelle offers more than 60 undergraduate programs. What also appeals to her is the intimacy this relatively small campus offers.

Cassandra is interning at Norwalk Hospital with an interest in pursuing a career in psychiatric care. She already possesses the most important skills to work in the mental health field including empathy, compassion, active listening, information technology savvy, healthy professional boundaries, ethics, and a strong desire to help. The National Council for Mental Wellbeing recently reported that 77% of counties in the United States are experiencing a severe shortage of mental health providers. Demand for mental health professionals is projected to greatly increase in the years to come. 

She aims to help remove the stigma of mental illness, to show that it is not a weakness. “We should be in awe of the amazing tenacity that many people with mental health challenges display daily. Simply getting through the day often requires huge reserves of energy, determination, and mental strength,” Cassandra shares.

Cassandra wants to be there for those whom teachers, parents, and friends too often cannot reach.  She will bring to her studies and eventually to her professional work the unflinching conviction that no person is irredeemable or incapable of having a full life.

Carver has many programs, budgets, a long history, and strategic plans. But it is the individual Carver student, such as Cassandra, who embodies Carver’s significance and promise.

Carver scholars are changing our world and our pride and confidence in them are boundless.

Carver mentor Tony Nanez encourages Carver students to excel by persevering

Antonio (Tony) Nanez, Regional Head of Commodity Trade Finance at North America HSBC, is a mentor to Carver high school students. With over 20 years of experience in client relationship management, structuring and syndication in the trade and commodity finance space, and as a graduate of the NYU Stern School of Business, Tony’s advice and guidance are priceless.

Our students attentively embrace all that he gives them. 

Tony recently met with a group of our high school students at the Carver Community Center. He shared lessons learned on his personal journey and listened to our students who voiced questions and concerns about life, learning, and careers. 

Tony connected with our youth by meeting them exactly where they are. He talked about his early childhood in Washington Heights as an only child with a single parent along with his numerous cousins after his family emigrated to the US from Venezuela. Tony didn’t allow the discouraging influences of his neighborhood to stir him in a negative direction. He shared about the personal challenges he faced early on when could not speak English and later when he became the de facto translator for his family. Tony worked through college.  The striving never ends. Tony has been living in Connecticut for 20 years helping raise four children with his wife who is a nurse pursuing her master’s degree. 

Student Question: Did you always know you wanted to go into banking? 

Tony talked about the importance of having a mentor. His father-in-law, an African American international banking executive told him about banking and working hard, habits he still uses today. 

Student Question: How do you handle stress? 

Tony talked about finding balance, the benefits of meditation, and managing stress by putting it in different mental compartments, and by prioritizing. Tony talked about the importance of being in programs like Carver’s and being around like-minded peers and adults. He talked about setting goals and committing to accomplishing them. Tony spoke about being open to learning new things, and about the power of internships, traveling, and continuing education.

 The students asked many questions: 

How has the war in Ukraine and other world events impacted your job? How many countries have you visited? How did you make it out of Washington Heights? Did you ever want to give up or feel like you didn’t belong at NYU? How challenging was it not to be able to speak English? What made you not fall into the negative paths of growing up in the Heights and getting in trouble?

Tony met with our students last week during the confirmation hearings for Supreme Court nominee Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson. Jackson’s story of wandering the campus of Harvard as a new student, feeling out of her element, and wondering if she belonged, echoed what Tony and our students discussed. 

Jackson was encouraged that fateful day decades ago by an older black woman who knowingly read the expression on Jackson’s face and simply spoke to her a single word, "Persevere." That word may have made the difference for Jackson. But for her (and our students) it may be more the realization that she, young and lost as she may have felt, was seen and appreciated.

Tony likewise acknowledges the infinite value of each of our students by being there with them and encouraging and advising them. Tony gives our students that same message today: to persevere.

Jerry Craft is our 2022 Child of America honoree

At our annual gala on Friday, May 20th, at Shorehaven Golf Club in Norwalk, we will be honoring Jerry Craft.

Jerry taught graphic arts and writing to Carver kids for more than 10 years. Jerry is an American cartoonist and children's book illustrator best known for his syndicated newspaper comic strip Mama's Boyz and his graphic novel New Kid. Jerry is one of only a handful of syndicated African American cartoonists in the US.

Jerry is the New York Times bestselling author and illustrator of the graphic novels New Kid and Class Act. New Kid is the only book in history to win the John Newbery Medal for the most outstanding contribution to children’s literature (2020); the Kirkus Prize for Young Readers’ Literature (2019), and the Coretta Scott King Author Award for the most outstanding work by an African American writer (2020). Jerry was born in Harlem and grew up in the Washington Heights section of New York City.

Despite attempts by lawmakers and some parents to remove his books from Texas schools, Jerry’s books have actually gotten more attention thanks to the controversies.

Moreover, the director Prentice Penny, LeBron James’ SpringHill, and Universal are teaming up to bring Jerry’s New Kid to the big screen!

Carver "Earn & Learn" student interns are fitted for their scrubs at Norwalk Hospital

We shared here recently (and here) about Carver’s new Earn & learn paid internship program for Norwalk high school students.

Twenty-four of these students are interns at Norwalk Hospital. They were formed into four groups of six students, each cohort rotating equally through the hospital’s various departments, including HR, food services. and the hospital’s own power station.

One of these cohorts, as the photos here highlight, was welcomed by the hospital’s Chief Nursing Officer and the Nursing Leadership. The students were fitted for their own individual scrubs to be ordered for their days ahead in the internship program.

Medicine can be an extremely rewarding profession. It can also be a challenging career path. Our students shadow the most talented medical professionals in the world to learn what they will be getting into.

Carver after-school students learn essential leadership and teamwork skills. They learn the importance of avoiding snap judgments, contending with uncertainty, communicating effectively and humanely, and working as an effective team to deliver quality care to patients. And they learn about and abide by all the privacy rules that govern hospitals and healthcare.

Historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) are receiving the support they deserve

As our juniors and seniors consider their college and career options, we are planning our 50th annual Spring College Tour, we are raising support for our College Scholarship Program, and many of the colleges, especially HBCUs, that Carver students value are innovating and transforming their institutions.

In recent months and years, donors and the government have elevated the profile of HBCUs with the support they deserve. Most recently, the Thurgood Marshall College Fund, United Negro College Fund, and Partnership for Education Advancement have announced the launch of a collaborative effort to drive tangible, long-term progress across historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) and boost the Black economy.

With an initial $60 million commitment from the funding collaborative Blue Meridian Partners, the HBCU Transformation Project aims to increase HBCU health and sustainability, improve student outcomes in retention and graduation rates, expand enrollment, and bolster capacity building with faculty and staff. To that end, the coalition will provide flexible support and focus resources on the highest priorities at each institution, including support for institutional and intermediary capacity building, efforts to increase public funding for HBCUs, private capital campaigns for endowments and sustainable reserves, community, and regional economic development partnerships, and a reorientation of the narratives surrounding HBCUs toward their outsized impact on social and economic mobility outcomes.

Norwalk Hospital rolls out the red carpet for Carver high school students as they begin their paid internships

Peter Cordeau, president of Norwalk Hospital, consults with individual Carver students

Yesterday, Peter Cordeau, president of Norwalk Hospital, greeted Carver’s 24 student interns as they arrived to begin their individual career journeys in healthcare.

Mr. Cordeau, joined in the hospital’s theater by hospital department chiefs, oriented our juniors and seniors to the “city within a city” that is Norwalk Hospital, replete with its own power plant.

The two-hour introductory session, including a sumptuous meal, was no less choreographed and welcoming than if we were a visiting congressional delegation.

In the weeks ahead, our students, now formed into small groups to more easily rotate throughout the hospital, will explore healthcare careers. Our students will gain insight into the requirements of the many positions and make crucial connections with healthcare professionals.

This extraordinarily generous opportunity provided by Norwalk Hospital will give our students the ability to learn about the responsibilities of each position, the growth opportunities in each field, and the education and licensures required for each position.

This paid internship experience will help our high school students decide if they have an interest in pursuing an education and a future career in fields such as surgery, emergency services, food and dietary services, HR, rehabilitation, imaging, inpatient nursing, and so much more.

The goal of this partnership with Norwalk Hospital is to strengthen the workforce development and college readiness of Carver high school students. In workshops provided by Norwalk Community College and other coaching provided by our new Future Readiness Coordinators, these 24 juniors and seniors arrived at Norwalk Hospital yesterday dressed and mentally prepared for the experience and the work ahead.

Norwalk Hospital is a not-for-profit, acute-care community teaching hospital. The 366-bed hospital has more than 500 physicians on its active medical staff, and 2,000 health professionals and support personnel. Norwalk Hospital is a member of the award-winning Nuvance Health system of hospitals serving western Connecticut and New York’s Hudson Valley.

Norwalk Hospital alone consistently receives many national awards for excellence, such as recently being recognized with America’s 100 Best Hospitals Award, placing Norwalk Hospital in the top two percent of all hospitals in the country for clinical quality. Norwalk Hospital is the only hospital in Fairfield County, Connecticut to earn this recognition.

Some of Norwalk Hospital's medical education programs are affiliated with the Yale School of Medicine. Norwalk Hospital provides a variety of clinical programs and health education classes to local groups and organizations.

That said, yesterday, Carver students felt as if the only education program Norwalk Hospital provides is devoted exclusively to them. We are forever thankful for this priceless opportunity for our young people preparing for their futures.

Teen Night at the Norwalk Art Space. Free Pizza. Open Mic. Friday, March 18th!

The next teen night at the Norwalk Art Space is open to all high school students looking to perform, share, and support others in a fun, safe, and encouraging environment.

Bring your instrument/tool of choice (or listening ears if you aren't ready) and one or two things that you'd like to share! 10-minute time slot sign-ups start at 6:30 pm, first come, first served with limited spots available. 

 Poets, writers, comedians, dancers, animators, and musicians are all encouraged to perform! This will be an open platform for you to share something creative that you're working on. Please be prepared to support other participants before/after you perform! There will be a PA, microphone, guitar, and piano available for you to use.

The Carver Boys Basketball Team Opened for the Westchester Knicks Game!

We have been sharing here about our students and families attending professional basketball games together, and about one of those teams, the Connecticut Cobras, being constituted of many Carver alumni.

Today, we can proudly report that our young athletes are themselves the stars! Go Carver!

The Carver team did a tremendous job playing on an NBA size court before the Westchester Knicks played against the College Park Skyhawks. Carver staff report that they were completely exhausted by the end of their opening game, “…but they played their hearts out. We are all so proud of each of them!”

The NBA G League is the NBA's official minor league. Fans can get a glimpse at the players, coaches, and officials competing to ascend to the NBA's rank. With 41 percent of players on start-of-season NBA rosters boasting NBA G League experience when the 2021-22 season tipped off in October, the NBA G League is the best place to see the future now — and that goes for our Carver team players as well!