National Charity League mothers and daughters treat Carver kids to a Halloween Party

Carver kids at the Carver Community Center were treated to a Halloween Party hosted by members of the National Charity League (NCL) Westport Chapter, a mother-daughter volunteer group.

All enjoyed spooky decorations, tables of arts & crafts activities, Halloween-themed bingo with prizes, pumpkin decorating, and homemade cookies & cupcakes.

 The National Charity League Westport Chapter chose Carver as a philanthropy partner for the next two years. 

Big thanks to Jane Tarsy, our NCL liaison, and the NCL moms and daughters for bringing the fun for Halloween!

NCL is a multi-generational philanthropic organization of mothers and daughters. They donate close to three million hours annually to over 6,000 charities in the United States.

NCL, Inc., Westport Chapter is a group of mothers and daughters who have come together to commit to community service, leadership development, and cultural experiences. Members reside in the Westport-Weston area. The Westport chapter of NCL was founded in 2006.  It has been going strong ever since. For 2019-2020, they earned the Blue Rose Chapter Award, the highest award level from NCL, Inc.  

The Fairfield County Business Collaborative for Education Equity Supports Carver Kids!

Established in August 2020 in partnership with longtime Carver advocate and financial supporter Fairfield County’s Community Foundation, the Fairfield County Business Collaborative for Education Equity is a multi-year local impact and funding collaborative to help reduce and eliminate educational disparities among Fairfield County’s most vulnerable pre-K through 12+ students, their parents, and guardians, as well as teachers and staff. The Collaborative also provides grantees with non-financial support services, such as student mentorship and guidance on career pathways.

This is the second consecutive year The Collaborative is supporting Carver kids. This year’s award of $40,000 supports Carver’s Middle School Workforce Development Initiative.

Carver’s career exploration strategies are opportunities for middle school students to discover work environments and understand the various aspects of the workplace. Strategies include tools and instruments that help students understand and appreciate their strengths and interests. Students start plans for their future with career information and postsecondary education data. Plans include course selection and planning as well as career aspirations and goals; Student Success Plan; Workplace visits with career interviews; Career research; and Career-tech student organizations. Middle School students participate in project-based, hands-on learning activities that include the following areas: Artificial Intelligence, Arts, Manufacturing, Technology, and Healthcare.

The Collaborative serves the Greater Bridgeport, Danbury, Norwalk, and Stamford regions by supporting local nonprofit organizations and initiatives with financial contributions, employee volunteerism and expertise, mentorship and internship opportunities, and other resources. Its members include The Ashforth Company, Bank of America, First County Bank, Gallatin Point Capital, Henkel Corporation, Lapine Associates, Pitney Bowes, Synchrony, Tudor Foundation, Inc., and Xerox.

Carver’s K-12 Workforce Development Plan

Carver middle school students are learning how to make their art powerful, thanks to our partner The Norwalk Art Space

ARTIVISIM: What do you think needs to change in today’s world? How can you create art that activates people to do something about it? Carver kids are asked these questions at the Norwalk Art Space as they explore the issues they care about and learn how to create something that engages their audience.

Carver students are learning how putting creative energy into the things that worry them is healing and effective – and will give them the power to educate others and make some good changes!

Carver kids learn and play after school at the new SONO School!

Alexandra Estrella, Superintendent of Norwalk Public Schools, greets the new students to SONO School

For the first time in 40 years, South Norwalk has a school of its own, and Carver’s After the Bell program is there to support its students before and after school.

The school is temporarily operating at the vacated former Columbus Magnet School site until the new school is constructed nearby. South Norwalk School (SONO) currently has two pre-k and two kindergarten classes.

The new school, once built, will be a 682-seat pre-K through fifth-grade elementary school in South Norwalk.

SONO is intended to foster a greater sense of community and accessibility for students and parents. Once the new school is constructed NPS will allow the community to give the school a permanent official name.

South Norwalk did not have a neighborhood school for over 40 years, a result of desegregation efforts in the city during the 1970s. The rationale was to integrate the NPS school system by busing minority children from South Norwalk to mostly white schools throughout the city and beyond. As Norwalk grew increasingly diverse, the integration rationale no longer made sense. The city finally delivered on a long-promised goal by committing to establish this new community-based school.

No picture is worth the making, if it’s not the work of the imagination

By volunteer student Carver blogger, Julia Berg

The sketchbooks are spread out on the desk behind Waid Ramsubhag, the Program Manager for our Carver After School Program for Education and Recreation (CASPER) at the Carver Community Center, as he discusses the benefits of drawing with our 3rd to 5th-grade students.

He asks for their input and calls on a couple who describe the joy of having their own space designated for drawing freely as a benefit.

They struggle to identify another advantage of using a sketchbook, so Waid guides them toward one of the item's notable strengths by miming an action. He pretends to draw in one of the sketchbooks before he acts as if he needs to go somewhere, walks a few steps with it still in his hand, and resumes his drawing.

Waid calls on one of the students whose hands shoot up: “You can take it with you anywhere.”

Waid commends them before specifying that the Carver invested in sketchbooks this year to give the students the rewarding experience of owning one that they can use without pressure.

He explains that the group will spend a brief period at the end of the program each day peacefully drawing and easily take them to other activities in case they have free time or are inspired.

As the students had already used the sketchbooks before but did not write their names yet, they retrieved their books from the pile one at a time and wrote their initials inside before thinking about what to sketch.

One of the students decided to draw a miniature train car that they had brought, placing it in front of them to use as a reference. A student sitting next to them likes the idea and asks if they can draw their other miniature train car on the table.

The rest of the students return to their seats and begin to sketch whatever is on their minds.

Volunteer Julia Berg tells us lively stories about our summer and after-school students at the Carver Community Center. See more of her stories here.

The City of Norwalk celebrates the unveiling of the Jamaica Heritage Wall Plaque

(L) Novelette Peterkin, Carver CEO, standing with Valerie Watson, Carver board member and VP at Patriot Bank

We’ve been sharing stories about this initiative since last summer. Now, this important plaque in the life of the Carver community and the City of Norwalk is a reality! Yesterday’s unveiling event coincided with Jamaica’s National Heroes Day.

We are proud that Novelette Peterkin, Carver’s CEO, is one among six of the Jamaican-American Honorary Members of the Jamaican Heritage Trust of Norwalk who inspired this initiative. All the other members know Carver well: Janet Evelyn, the Founder and Executive Director of the sponsoring charity, NICE; Valerie Watson, Vice President of Patriot Bank, and a member of Carver’s Board of Directors; 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).

Dozens of people dear to this cause gathered at Norwalk’s Heritage Wall yesterday to unveil the new plaque honoring all those of Jamaican descent who have lived in and contributed to making the City of Norwalk as great as it is and all those who do so today and will do even more in the future.

Mayor Harry Rilling proclaimed October 17 as “Jamaican Heritage Day in Norwalk” and read the city’s Proclamation. Norwalk Common Council member Greg Burnett, a longtime friend of Carver, joined other city officials in making this moment special.

Senator Bob Duff and Representative Lucy Dathan also joined the festivities and read the citation honoring this initiative on behalf of the Connecticut General Assembly. Lucy Dathan is the State Representative for the 142nd District in New Canaan/Norwalk serving her constituents since 2019. Senator Bob Duff represents Connecticut’s 25th Senatorial District, which includes Norwalk and Darien. Re-elected to the State Senate in 2020, he was chosen by his Senate colleagues in 2015, 2017, 2019, and 2021 to serve as Senate Majority Leader.

Our George Washington Carver Community Center is within walking distance of Norwalk’s Heritage Wall.  According to the Pew Research Center’s counting of countries of birth, Jamaicans are the largest group of immigrants in Connecticut. 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.

The US Education Department launched its online student loan forgiveness application today

The US Education Department launched its online student loan forgiveness application today after testing a beta version over the weekend. More than 8 million borrowers have already submitted an application since last Friday. See the application here.

The official release comes after President Joe Biden in August announced an executive action to cancel up to $10K of federal student loan debt for those who made less than $125K per year (or $250K per household) in either 2020 or 2021, and up to $20K for Pell Grant recipients.

The form, available through Dec. 31, 2023, asks for individuals’ date of birth, Social Security number, and contact information. No documents have to be uploaded. Borrowers who qualify for forgiveness and would like their balances adjusted before federal student loan payments restart in January should submit an application by Nov. 15. 

Nearly 43 million Americans owe about $1.6T in federal student debt. The average borrower owes more than $37K; the median is between $20K-$25K (see overview). 

We lost a great friend, Jacquelyn “Lavone” Roberson, who inspired all of us, especially our young people

The Carver community joins Norwalk Public Schools and many, many others in extending our deepest sympathies to the family and friends of Jacquelyn “Lavone” Roberson, who passed away this week.

Lavone started her career in education in Norwalk at Naramake Elementary School and taught third and fifth grade at the school from 2007 to 2019. Lavone was most recently an administrator at Horizons at the New Canaan Country School program.

Lavone also worked for a time at the George Washington Carver Community Center. Lavone’s mother, Jacqueline, has been Carver’s inspirational social worker for decades.

Lavone was a prolific children’s book author with a heart of gold. She wrote about Nia, a fictional character who helps people learn purpose.

Lavone died after a long battle with ovarian cancer. Lavone was first diagnosed with the disease in 2015. The disease returned in 2018.

“Lavone believed deeply that the true growth of a student could not be measured by test scores alone and that the social-emotional development was a necessary component for academic achievement,” Naramake Principal Jane Wilkins said.

Lavone (right) with her mother (left)

Lavone’s longtime colleague Lindsay Esposito said of her friend, “Lavone was one of the most amazing people I have ever met. She was a beautiful woman with a warm smile, strong presence, and a heart that embraced all people. Lavone saw potential in everyone, even before they could see it in themselves.”

Esposito said Lavone made meaningful relationships with all students and when they entered her classroom, they knew they were safe, welcomed, and loved. She held high expectations for everyone, and in addition to their academics, Lavone also taught them the importance of morals and values. She made everything she taught relevant and relatable.

“Each day she made her students repeat the mantra, ‘Good, better, best. Never let it rest. Until your good is better and your better is best,’” Esposito said. “Her goal was for each of her students to recognize his or her strengths and take the necessary steps to improve areas that needed support.”

Lavone also made an incredible impact on her school colleagues. She always encouraged them to challenge themselves to improve and do better for their students. She was considered a leader and an incredible educator, working collaboratively with her colleagues and creating meaningful learning experiences to positively impact students.

“Lavone lived her life with purpose and intent. She positively impacted the lives of the children and adults she interacted with. In the field of education, she is a leader beyond compare. She gained the respect and trust of colleagues and students, was empathetic, worked to understand people, developed ideas, solved problems as they arose, and always showed grace and patience,” Esposito said.

“Lavone is someone we should all strive to live like.”

Please support our annual Thanksgiving Food Drive!

Carver kids have a STEM education hero to watch in Marvel's Riri Williams

Black Panther is a particularly important franchise for our students. Beyond being one of the brand’s most successful theatrical debuts in history, it still exists as one of the better examples of inclusive entertainment, from its mostly Black cast to its diverse, Oscar-winning crew.

One especially resonant detail lies in how Wakanda—and, by extension, the franchise itself—embraces the overt presence of Black girls and women in STEM through Shuri (Letitia Wright), the resident tech genius.

With the franchise’s forthcoming second installment, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, our young science enthusiasts will get a double dose of brilliance with the addition of Riri Williams—a.k.a. Ironheart—played by Dominique Thorne.