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Honoring All Who Served

Today, the country honors those who served and are serving in military. Veterans Day became an official federal holiday in 1938. Also founded in 1938, the Carver community has much to remember and honor today.

Sunday will mark the 40th anniversary of the dedication of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. More than 58,000 names of every US service member who died or went missing in the Vietnam War have been read this week leading up to a Veterans Day Observance at the memorial today.

If anyone ever doubts the capacity of our young people today to achieve lasting greatness, let’s remember that the wall, consisting of two 200-foot-long sections of black granite listing the names in chronological order, was designed by then-21-year-old Yale student Maya Lin and cost $8.4M to construct. More than 5 million people each year visit the wall, making it one of the most visited memorials on the National Mall. See some of the items that have been left at the wall.

You can watch Veterans Day ceremonies at Arlington National Cemetery here.

Carver's 84th Public Annual Meeting of the Board of Directors

Carver CEO Novelette Peterkin looks on as Stephanie Thomas, a freshman legislator from Norwalk, the newly elected CT Secretary of the State, and a longtime Carver volunteer, greeted our Annual Meeting gathering

We invite the public annually to the Annual Meeting of Carver’s Board of Directors. A new board is constituted at this meeting. Each board committee leader presents the outcomes of the last fiscal year (2021-2022). We discuss new business. And we celebrate our staff, volunteers, partners, and donors and greet old and new friends.

Here is the Annual Meeting Report.

Here is the message our CEO Novelette Peterkin gave from the podium.

Thank you for being a vital part of the Carver community.

Carver was founded in 1938 as a supportive community in a new industrial age. Carver remains more committed than ever to its first principles in this new age that requires us to rethink assumptions about education.

New upheavals in our common world require vigilance and innovation. We address pandemic learning loss with intensive, personalized interventions and project-based learning. We are balancing goals for our youth to achieve college degrees with K-12 workforce development education that leads to in-demand jobs. We remain committed to our goal that every child progresses to the next grade on time and is well prepared for the work ahead.

Our namesake George Washington Carver persevered against all odds. We do the same. Our annual budget doubled over the last two years, and we are discussing today with new school districts how Carver might help them meet their goals.

This may still be the early years of Carver’s important work. All our successes last year and the years before prepared us for this moment when Carver is needed more than ever.

All of you have seen the headlines. Pandemic-era learning loss is a national emergency. Catching up an entire generation of students is among the most pressing tasks facing leaders at every level of government today. Key to helping our children learn is giving them more time to learn, which is exactly what Carver is the best at providing. Schools and communities will be investing more and more in after-school enrichment programs and expanded summer school.

The school calendar drawn in the 1900’s is outdated. Still committed to our values and principles established in 1938, Carver is here to provide unique solutions that meet the challenges our nation faces today.

Thank you for being such a vital part of our journey.

Igniting stories about children.

John Lewis & Partners use their 2022 Christmas ad to ignite conversations about children in care. This year’s ad shows the touching but bruising efforts of a foster dad determined to learn how to skateboard to share his new foster daughter’s passion for skateboarding.

Each year, the trend John Lewis started works because they have transformed the advert from something we want to ignore or fast-forward into something we want to watch. As human beings, we love a story. Here is the 2018 video that also speaks to themes that animate the Carver mission — nurturing the gifts that all our children possess.

From Israel to Rowayton, a new fun game has our students getting good exercise!

“Our kids are absolutely gaga for Gaga Ball,” reported Dean Vaccaro, our Lead Coordinator at Roton Middle School and a certified teacher during the day. “Very happy we have it in the RAMS afterschool program. “It is very competitive, a great cardio workout, and loads of fun.”

Gaga is a fast-paced, high-energy sport played in an octagonal pit. Dubbed a kinder, gentler version of dodgeball, the game is played with a soft foam ball, and combines the skills of dodging, striking, running, and jumping while trying to hit opponents with a ball below the knees. Players need to keep moving to avoid getting hit by the ball. Fun and easy, and as Mr. Vaccaro reported above, everyone gets a serious workout.

All players start with one hand touching a wall of the pit.

  • The game begins with a referee throwing the ball into the center of the pit.

  • When the ball enters the pit, the players scream 'GA' for the first two bounces, and 'GO' on the third bounce, after which the ball is in action.

  • Once the ball is in play, any player can hit the ball with an open or closed hand.

  • If a ball touches a player below the knee (even if the player hits himself or herself) he or she is out and leaves the pit. If a player is hit above the knees, the play continues.

  • If a ball is caught on a fly, the player who hit the ball is out.

  • Players cannot hold the ball.

  • If needed, a second ball can be thrown in the pit to expedite the end of the game. The last player standing is the winner of that round.

The origins of gaga have remained largely a mystery since its first appearance in the mid-20th century. However, the predominant theory is that it was invented in Israel and exported to other countries worldwide, usually as a game played by children at summer camps.

In any event, Gaga ball is a dodgeball variant that has been sweeping through school districts in the past several years.

The game is thought to have started in Israel — gaga means "touch touch" in Hebrew — and was played in Jewish summer camps beginning in the 1970s, according to a 2012 article in The New York Times.

Dream Big! Today is STEM/STEAM Day!

STEM Day is celebrated every year on Nov. 8 to encourage young people to explore science, technology, engineering, and math education programs.

At the Bureau of Labor Statistics, when we talk about STEM occupations, these include computer and mathematical, architecture and engineering, and life and physical science occupations, as well as related managerial and postsecondary teaching occupations and sales occupations that require scientific or technical knowledge at the postsecondary level.

In 2021, there were nearly 10 million workers in STEM occupations and this total is projected to grow by almost 11% by 2031, over two times faster than the total for all occupations.

Carver youth create bookmarks given to attendees of the Community Fund of Darien's "Designed to Dine" fundraising luncheon

By student volunteer, Julia Berg

Students take turns selecting a strip of colored construction paper to decorate as a bookmark.

They pick out a foam heart, easter egg, grass, and a letter from the numerous colors and shapes of foam stickers on the table in front of them. They peel off the white strip on the back, carefully placing the sticker on their bookmark.

Several students choose to line the side of their bookmark with grass while other students who place the bookmark vertically, choose to evenly space a couple sections of grass.

Occasionally, a pattern of a foam fish or other foam figures catches the students’ eyes. They customize their bookmarks further using glitter and markers.

The bookmarks were created for the Community Fund of Darien luncheon, featuring the area’s finest 30 designers, who presented imaginative tablescapes. The Community Fund of Darien is a longtime major donor and advocate of Carver programs.

The featured speakers at the luncheon were renowned husband and wife Pilar Guzman and Chris Mitchell. Pilar is the former editor-in-chief of Conde Nast Traveler and Martha Stewart Living. Chris is a former publisher of Vanity Fair, The New Yorker, GQ, Wired, and others.

All guests received a signed copy of their new book, Patina Modern: A Guide to Designing Warm, Timeless Interiors — along with the Carver students' bookmarks. It was a great privilege for Carver youth to add their personal touch to this important event!

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.

Our Fox Run Elementary School Scholars and parents build wooden sign pieces from scratch that are worthy of their home walls

Our Fox Run Elementary School Scholars Transition Program students and their parents brought their creativity and willingness to learn to build wooden sign pieces from scratch that are worthy of their home walls. They rolled up your sleeves, distressed some wood, and created farmhouse-classic masterpieces that they can be proud of for years to come.

Students in our Scholars Transition Program throughout Norwalk are being prepared for successful entry into their respective middle schools.

In response to student performance data, surveys, parent meetings, and years of after-school and summer programming, Carver provides hands-on, project-based, personalized learning experiences.

In addition to providing individual support in literacy, math, and science, 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 transitioning to the next grade on time and prepared; academic rigor focused on project-based learning and individualized learning; building healthy relationships; Student Voice and taking responsibility; building community through defined structures of cooperative decision-making; and a youth development approach to instruction that recognizes individual strengths, needs, and learning styles.

Roton Middle School students paint pumpkins for their families in time for Halloween!

Dean Vaccaro, a U.S. History Teacher during the day and the Carver Lead Program Coordinator at our R.A.M.S. after-school program at Roton Middle School, shared these images of his students painting pumpkins in time to take them home for Halloween.

Stefanie Bronner, a Roton Middle School art teacher, inspired and led this project again this year.

Our after-school programs occur within the student's respective schools and are led by each school’s daytime certified teachers. Recreational, wellness, and cultural components enhance a variety of skills for children. Our primary goal is for all Carver students to transition to the next grade on time and prepared.

Along the way, another goal is for our students to have fun each day!

If you ask us, pumpkins are the best Halloween decorations. But unless you possess master carving skills, all those intricately carved creations can be slightly intimidating. An easy no-carve idea for pumpkins is to paint the gourds. It's fun for our students to show off their creativity (without having to deal with all those pumpkin guts). And that's not the only benefit to painted pumpkins — they also tend to last much longer than their carved brethren.

Our Brookside Elementary School Scholars Program Students & Families Visit Silverman’s Farm

Silverman’’s Farm yields much more than a container of juicy fruit. Time at the farm also provides a pleasurable place to have fun and make discoveries. The Silverman’s Farm Market and Animal Farm offer great experiences and memories for everyone.

Silverman’s Farm in Easton turns 102 years old this year. Ben Silverman founded Silverman’s Farm. Born in New York City in 1898, like Carver’s namesake, George Washington Carver, Ben loved plants and gardening. At 18, he moved to Connecticut and began working on cow farms for $1.00 daily. When WWI broke out, Ben worked at a munitions factory in Bridgeport. He saved enough to purchase his first land on Sport Hill Road in Easton.

During the ’70s and ’80s, Silverman’s evolved into a Pick Your Own fruit farm featuring a widespread orchard, scenic tractor rides, and a petting farm with many barnyard animals and fowl. Today's farm offers children such as Carver students and their families a place of wonder and fun.