Carver recognized as a 2022 Top Workplace

Carver earned this trusted gold badge from the nation’s most credible employer recognition program. It is a symbol of how our organization — or rather our community — outperforms in a crowded market. Carver engages with our employees to lead a people-first culture. Carver is committed to building a workplace that is meaningful, rewarding, and inclusive.

This annual list of Top Workplaces recognizes companies and organizations across the country with exceptional workplace cultures. Program organizers explain, “These companies are successful because they put their people at the center of all they do. By prioritizing the employee experience, they are known to out-produce, out-innovate, and out-deliver the competition.”

By winning this award Carver will be recognized in a special Hearst publication and receive an online profile on TopWorkplaces.com.

Jamaican Diaspora to be honored on Norwalk's Heritage Wall

The George Washington Carver Community Center is within walking distance to Norwalk’s Heritage Wall, located at the I-95 exit ramp and West Avenue. The Carver community is thrilled to support the Norwalk International Cultural Exchange (NICE) initiative to install a new bronze plaque on that storied wall to permanently recognize the significant contributions Jamaican immigrants make to our community today and through the decades.

Each of the Jamaican-American Honorary Members of the newly established Jamaican Heritage Trust of Norwalk knows Carver well: Valerie Watson, Vice President, Patriot Bank, and a member of Carver’s Board of Directors; Novelette Peterkin, CEO, Carver Foundation of Norwalk; George Daley, Norwalk Police Department; Ingrid Aarons-Porter, LMSW; and Diane Jellerette, Executive Director, Norwalk Historical Society (which included Carver in its “Norwalk: Portrait of Diversity” exhibit).

The Heritage Wall’s first plaque honored Hungarians in 1983; today there are 17 plaques recognizing Hungary, Italy, Native Americans, Poland, Greece, Scotland, Puerto Rico, Ireland, Costa Rica, African Americans, French-Canadians, Haiti, Germany, England, Portugal, China, and Columbia. The Norwalk Common Council approves each plaque following a review process. The installation of this new plaque this summer will commemorate Jamaica’s 60th Anniversary of Independence.

NICE is one of many Carver partners. Founded by the Black community in 1938, Carver remained a single community center until we began to move our after-school and summer programs into Norwalk’s schools. Today, we are in every school and we engage many of the region’s nonprofits and companies in our work. Community and collaboration are constant Carver themes through the decades. We don’t compete, we partner.

Jamaicans are the largest group of immigrants in Connecticut, according to the Pew Research Center’s counting of countries of birth. Jamaican immigration to the U.S. increased during the civil rights era of the 1960s. Jamaican-Americans have always been involved in the Carver community. As with many other sources of Caribbean immigration, the geographical nearness of Jamaica to the U.S. increased the likelihood of migration. Traditionally, America has experienced increased migration through means of family preference, in which U.S. citizens sponsor their immediate family.

It is time for Norwalk’s Heritage Wall to include a plaque commemorating the countless contributions the Jamaican diaspora has made to Norwalk and particularly to the Carver community through these many decades.

Join us on Monday, June 20, for our 8th Annual Golf Classic!

We’re almost sold out! Sign-up soon, if you want to join us for another great day of golf for the benefit of Carver kids.

See the images of our day of golf last year in our Facebook album. The weather, the course, the club’s pros, Diageo’s refreshing drinks throughout the day, and the sumptuous lunch and dinner made our 7th annual golf event a day to remember. And we are forever thankful. Together, more than 100 players, sponsors, and many other donors raised $113,000 for Carver kids.

TeamBonding's "Charity Bike Build" benefits Carver youth

TeamBonding just conducted a “Charity Bike Build” at Merrit 7 that resulted in corporate volunteers building four new bikes for Carver kids!

TeamBonding is North America’s premiere team-building and team culture resource with over 20 years of expertise. We are grateful to TeamBonding for thinking of Carver youth while delivering their unmatched virtual, in-person, and hybrid team-building experiences for companies of all sizes and industries. TeamBonding’s events and team-building resources help teams improve communication, drive collaboration, and deliver long-lasting results.

Merritt 7 is located at the nexus of the Merritt Parkway and Route 7. Clarion Partners, LLC, and Marcus Partners, leading real estate investment managers, have retained JLL as the exclusive leasing agent for Merritt 7, a six-building, 1.4 million-square-foot park in Norwalk. With the guidance of world-renowned architecture firm Gensler, Merritt 7 is nearing the completion of an extensive repositioning project for the property.

Carver kids are going to a world renowned camp in Maine this summer!

Thanks to the ideas and generosity of The Grossman Family Foundation, 25 rising 6th graders will have an opportunity to experience a traditional New England sleepaway camp this summer.

They will explore the woods, waters, and fields of The Ecology School at the River Bend Farm, a historic 105-acre farm located on a scenic bend in the Saco River, just twenty minutes from the Maine coast. Next year, this initial cohort of students will return along with the next 25 rising 6th graders that follow them.

In the words of Mara Gay, a member of the New York Times editorial board:

For some lucky American children, summer means campfires with new friends, long hikes in the woods, hot days swimming in cool lakes, magical nights under starry skies.

Summer camp is a cherished experience for millions of children, an American tradition with deep roots in the country’s enduring romance with the great outdoors. As much of the United States reels from the pandemic, gun violence and threats to its democracy, the summer camps many have enjoyed for generations may offer something else: healing for America’s young people.

The Ecology School summer camp will include classic summer camp experiences like arts and crafts, theater, campfires, and songs. Campers will be immersed in environmental exploration, learning through hands-on activities, and following their curiosity to uncover deep-rooted eagerness to connect with nature.

Campers will stay in one wing of the camp’s three-wing dormitory with adult chaperones. Meals, with produce directly from the camp’s farm fields, will be shared family style in the Dining Commons.

This camp will complement Carver’s traditional summer learning programs. During the camp, students will participate in a variety of activities to build community, develop relationships, and learn through first-hand experiences.  The Ecology School will work closely with Carver to design a camp experience that meets the needs of our campers.

Attending an overnight camp is often the first long-term independent experience outside the family for a child. It’s that separation that influences the child to grow up in several important ways and provides the family with the chance to notice and appreciate that growth.

The summer camp world created at The Ecology School is dedicated to child development. The Ecology School transforms how youth think about science, food, the environment, and themselves through joyful, hands-on learning.

New England sleepaway summer camps are renowned for giving youth a boost in confidence and a greater sense of self. We are grateful to The Grossman Family Foundation for giving this priceless experience to children who would not normally be given this privileged opportunity.

Free summer art classes offered by our partner The Norwalk Art Space!

Click on the image above to go to The Norwalk Art Space summer education page.

New Canaan High School student Avery Cotton teaches Carver kids about the world of birds!

New Canaan High School student Avery Cotton teaches Carver after-school students at Brookside Elementary School about the fascinating world of birds!

A tiny, round bird perches just outside the classroom window. It has a black “cap” atop its little head, white “cheeks,” a short bill, and a long, narrow tail. In schools throughout North America, students have surely seen this bird many times. But do they know what it is? Carver students at Brookside Elementary School know!

The Black Capped Chickadeen with “white cheeks”

In addition to music, New Canaan High School student Avery Cotton is passionate about birdwatching, conservation, and nature. He is an active volunteer at the New Canaan Land Trust. Avery is also sharing his passion for nature with our after-school kids!

On May 24, Avery provided his custom enrichment program to our scholars at Brookside Elementary School. He will be returning soon to guide our students on a birdwatching tour of their school campus.

Birds are a part of every child’s life, even if only as a part of the background. By teaching our students how to identify some birds, we can help make them more aware of our local biological diversity and more attentive to our local environment in general.

Especially Hummingbirds, tiny creatures faster than the Space Shuttle that balance the impossible equation of extreme fragility and superhuman strength. As if the evolution of ordinary bird flight weren’t miracle enough, the hummingbird can fly backward and upside-down and can hover. It is hovering that most defiantly subverts the standard physics of bird flight: head practically still as the tiny turbine of feather and bone suspends the body mid-air — not by flapping up and down, as wings do in ordinary bird flight, but by swiveling rapidly along the invisible curvature of an infinity symbol.

Bird identification is not nearly as daunting as it sounds. It’s like any other skill: practice will make our students better. It’s best to start at the beginning and gradually build our students’ knowledge of birds and bird traits. One of the great things about getting started is that everyone has some kind of basic knowledge of birds. Birds are everywhere!

We are grateful to Avery for giving our students an exciting alternative to the many screens that distract them. Connecting our students with the outdoors has many health benefits and helps them learn the importance of looking after our planet.

Carver elementary school students are our best recruiters!

As Miss Lauren Leal knows so well, one reason why recruitment is not a challenge is that thanks to support from the Lowey 21st Century Community Learning Centers (21st CCLC) initiative, Carver programs are fun!

Word of mouth is our most powerful form of recruitment. Miss Leal is a 5th Grade Teacher at Brookside Elementary School and Carver’s after-school Lead Program Coordinator there. These two student-produced videos shared here demonstrate creative examples of her students sharing their enthusiasm for Carver with their peers —as well as showing off their STEM skills!.

Carver works closely with school administrators, counselors, daytime teachers (many of who like Miss Leal also serve as Carver after-school and summer lead coordinators), and families to identify and recruit our students.

The 21st CCLC initiative is the only federal funding source dedicated exclusively to supporting local afterschool, before-school, and summer learning programs. The program serves nearly 2 million youth, through grants awarded by state education agencies. This funding that Carver receives provides for academic enrichment activities that help students meet state and local achievement standards. Carver is also able to offer a broad array of additional enrichment services designed to reinforce and complement the regular academic program, such as STEM programs, and physical activity and nutrition education programs. Carver also offers literacy and related educational development services to the families of children we serve.

As Norwalk’s longtime and largest provider of after-school and summer programs for K-12 students, many students participate in Carver programs from kindergarten to high school graduation, therefore enrollment each year only partially involves the recruitment of new students. But there is no greater recruitment method than word of mouth among the students themselves.

In addition to providing individual academic support, Carver offers a wide array of enrichment opportunities not available during the school day. Carver programming is organized around six core principles: high expectations with the final goal of graduating high school on time and college-ready; academic rigor focused on project-based learning and individualized learning; building healthy relationships; Student Voice/Choice; building community through defined structures of cooperative decision-making; and a youth development approach to instruction that recognizes individual strengths, needs, and learning styles.

Carver offers an agile educational experience for our students that is designed to innovate, bend, and stretch to meet the needs of every student, including our most complex learners. Examining data helps us to identify which students need more individualized support. We are constantly inventorying community-based learning opportunities and resources, as well as the extent to which they are accessible to our students and families. 

Those are the technical reasons why Carver programs are successful. But these two student-produced videos show our most convincing recruitment messages and why our students remain with Carver through the years!

Get ready for Mo's Summer Run!

Carver after-school students build straw towers as a STEM learning project

Carver after-school students at Brookside Elementary School built straw towers yesterday as a STEM learning project. Our Lead Program Coordinator Lauren Leal, a 5th Grade Teacher, never fails to keep our students thrilled about learning!

Students learned about civil engineering as they took on the challenge to design and build the tallest straw tower possible, given limited time and resources.

In the first mini-activity (one-straw tall tower), students design a way to keep one straw upright with the least amount of tape and the fewest additional straws. In the second mini-activity (no "fishing pole"), they determine the most number of straws possible to construct a vertical straw tower before it bends at 45 degrees—resembling a fishing pole shape. Students learn that the taller a structure, the more tendency it has to topple over.

In the culminating challenge (tallest straw tower), students apply what they have learned and follow the steps of the engineering design process to create the tallest possible model tower within time, material and building constraints, mirroring the real-world engineering experience of designing solutions within constraints.

Thanks to the Lowey 21st Century Community Learning Centers (21st CCLC) initiative, Carver is able to offer these programs. The 21st CCLC initiative is the only federal funding source dedicated exclusively to supporting local afterschool, before-school, and summer learning programs. The program serves nearly 2 million youth, nationwide through grants awarded by state education agencies. This funding awarded to Carver by the Connecticut State Department of Education through a very competitive grant process provides for academic enrichment activities that help students meet state and local achievement standards. Carver is also able to offer a broad array of additional enrichment services designed to reinforce and complement the regular academic program, such as STEM programs, and physical activity and nutrition education programs. Carver also offers literacy and related educational development services to the families of children we serve.