Bowling is right up the students' alley for rising 6th graders at at West Rocks Middle School!

Michael Richards, a certified teacher for Grade 6 at West Rocks Middle School and our longtime Lead Program Coordinator for our after-school and summer programs there, took his rising 6th graders bowling for a joyous time at Bowlero Norwalk.

Bowlero is a blacklight bowling, retro-inspired hangout powered by a menu of Oversized Shareables, arcade games, and nostalgia. Our students experienced epic fun.

Bowling is a great activity for our summer students because it's something everyone can do. Whether they need bumpers to make the experience more enjoyable for less experienced bowlers, bowling is a good time for everyone and a great way to build friendships.

Wondering what’s biting in Long Island Sound? Just ask Carver summer campers!

This summer, our campers at the Carver Community Center and Columbus Magnet School are fishing again with our years-long partner Pelagic Beast Fishing Charters.

Our 10 to 13-year-old boys and girls go on scheduled trips of five campers and one Carver staff on each trip.

The boat Captain has a U.S. Coast Guard boating license and a deckhand who helps the campers with the techniques of fishing. The crew prepares the fish caught by the children for home cooking.

Based out of Norwalk, Pelagic Beast offers unforgettable fishing adventures using tried and tested fishing techniques that work for our summer campers. 

The Pelagic Beast is a 32 ft Downeast-style boat that offers a secure ride in almost any weather. Cruising at 20 knots, this boat gives the Carver kids more time fishing and less time traveling.

Wondering what’s biting in Long Island Sound? Just ask Carver students!

"A Community Gathering" with 30 of the area's leading interior designers is being organized by Carver's steadfast friend, The Community Fund of Darien!

Joy, Belonging, Friendship are the heart of Side by Side Charter School’s summer camp!

Stephanie Palmer is the lead coordinator of our summer program at Side by Side Charter School

Of our 11 summer programs underway this year, this is the second year we are producing a summer program at Side by Side Charter School.

The curriculum-based learning is coupled with enrichment activities that make up more than 50 percent of structured programming. Children are able to choose their activities with time each day for physical activity, unstructured play, and to connect socially both through play and trip experiences, but also through high quality enrichment activities and life skills development such as robotics, coding, the arts, sports, cooking, and Wellness activities such as Yoga, meditation, Wellfit, and Zumba. Classes and enrichment activities take place at SBS and are taught by SBS teachers and other support staff.

But mostly, as these images depict, Joy, Belonging, and Friendship are more than just words at Side by Side Charter School’s summer camp; they're at the center of the experience.

Support the Jamaica Heritage Wall Plaque Campaign!

The N.I.C.E. fundraising campaign is almost complete to permanently recognize Jamaican immigrants with a bronze plaque on Norwalk’s Heritage Wall.

Give here to participate in this important project.

 Carver is especially proud that our CEO, Novelette Peterkin, will be named on the plaque as one of the six Jamaican American Honorary Members of the Jamaican Heritage Trust of Norwalk. Novelette came to America as a youth and has served the Norwalk community in her leadership role at Carver since 2004.

 The vast majority of Jamaican Americans are of black African-Caribbean descent, and many are of full or partial Indian Jamaican, Chinese Jamaican,  European, and Lebanese descent.

Jamaican Americans have always been an important part of the Carver community, especially since the 1950s and 60s. 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, across the street from Matthews Park. Heritage Park is the site of many parades and cultural festivals. This new plaque will be a source of great pride to many of Carver’s youth and families now and through the decades.

Mindful Eaters! Clean Juice staff teach Carver kids about the benefits of healthy foods

Abigail Estrada, the store manager, works with our summer campers on learning the benefits of healthy eating

We are thrilled to invite the staff of Clean Juice Darien to teach our campers at the Carver Community Center about the attributes of organic healthy foods. The local franchise opened in Darien this past April.

In addition to bringing samples for our campers to enjoy, the visiting Clean Juice staff talked with our 7 to 9-year-old girls about healthy eating and food balance. They brought worksheets of the food plate for the kids to draw along with a nutrition crossword and tips on how to identify the different food groups.

Clean Juice is the first and only national USDA-certified organic juice bar franchise and quick service restaurant. Clean Juice offers organic cold-pressed juices, smoothies, açaí bowls, salads, sandwiches, wraps, and other healthy foods in a warm and welcoming retail experience. In its short history, Clean Juice has amassed dozens of achievements and awards, most recently being at Top Franchise and Top Franchise for Women in 2022 by Franchise Business Review.

Flight of a Water Rocket and Launching Our Students' Imaginations!

Michael Richards, a Social Studies Teacher for Grade 6 at West Rocks Middle School, is Carver’s longtime Lead Program Coordinator for our after-school and summer programs there.

Here, Mr. Richards shares images of his rising 6th graders attending our Summer Transition Program enjoying a STEM project and “Science Wonders” delivered by Mad Science.

Students were given a STEM challenge. They worked in teams to create the tallest tower possible that could stand freely and support the weight of a book. Their only supplies were sheets of paper and masking tape.

The other pictures and video were from a visit by Mad Science and "Big Bang Brian". Students learned about exothermic reactions when he made "elephant toothpaste". They also learned about the build-up of pressure from the reaction of soda & Mentos. The final experiment showed air pressure when the air was pumped into a bottle of water, and the bottle was "launched" when the pressure was released; adding just a small amount of water to the bottle increases the action force. The water expels from the bottle before the air does.

Mad Science delivers children educational and entertaining science experiences by presenting concepts visually and interactively. Mad Science is a year-round Carver partner that teaches topics such as light, sound, electricity, magnetism, anatomy, optics, chemistry, space technology, and robotics. Children are given hands-on activities combined with discussion and demonstrations to meet specific learning objectives through a fun and challenging environment. The workshops correlate to the NGSS (Next Generation Science Standards).

Teach, Inspire, Engage: Rising 6th Graders Create "Inside/Outside" Anchor Charts at Nathan Hale's Summer Transition Program

Certified Teacher Nicole Lane introduces anchor charts to her incoming students at the Summer Transition Program for rising 6th graders at Nathan Hale Middle School.

An anchor chart is a large, poster-sized visual with information on it that students learn and retain. They don’t need to be perfectly drawn out. Imperfections make these charts unique and memorable to our students.

Character Traits Anchor Charts are the best way to help our students analyze, compare, and contrast characters in the books they are reading in a meaningful way.

Once students understand the character traits concept, it’s time to dig deeper. Categorizing character traits by internal and external character traits is the next step. The final lessons on character traits have students digging even deeper. Instead of students just identifying the trait, they have to explain what happened that makes them think of that character trait. They have to explain their reasoning. This activity really takes students up the spectrum of higher-level thinking.

It's not all academics in the Nathan Hale Middle School Summer Transition Program. The students have FUN too!

Mr. Taylor teaches Health and Fitness. Mr. Taylor and Mrs. Thorne organize a game of Hungry Hungry Hippo. Bucketball with Miss Lane takes on new life.

In the energetic life-size version of the Hungry Hungry Hippos game, students slide on scooters to catch the most balls on the ground! The awesome part about this game? Students have to work together as a team to play. One person lays on their stomach on the scooter while their teammate is behind them, holding up their feet (like a wheelbarrow race, but the scooter is used instead of arms). The person behind pushes the other person’s legs into the middle of the circle so they can catch balls on the ground with a bucket. The person at the end with the most balls wins!

Bucketball is played with a large rubber ball and a bucket. The object of the game is to throw the ball into the bucket. The player who throws the ball into the bucket most times wins the game.

Reason, observation, and experience: Carver's rising 6th graders learn the scientific method and their way around the new school they'll attend in the fall

NPS certified teacher Richard Sullivan and his student scientists are working hard at Carver’s 6th Grade Summer Transition Program at Nathan Hale Middle School.

Using the scale to analyze and understand the scientific method, these student scientists prepare for middle school, meet their new teachers, and make new friends.

The six steps of the scientific method include: 1) asking a question about something you observe, 2) doing background research to learn what is already known about the topic, 3) constructing a hypothesis, 4) experimenting to test the hypothesis, 5) analyzing the data from the experiment and drawing conclusions, and 6) communicating the results to others.

The scientific method was not invented by any one person but is the outcome of centuries of debate about how best to find out how the natural world works. Those scientists include Roger Bacon, Thomas Aquinas, Galileo Galilei, Francis Bacon, Isaac Newton, John Hume, and John Stuart Mill.

Scientists continue to evolve and refine the scientific method as they explore new techniques and areas of science, and Carver campers know that they too can contribute to this celebrated tradition.