Carver was founded by community leaders in 1938. Known for most of the ensuing decades for its community center, Caver’s growth in recent years has mostly been realized as an afterschool provider in Norwalk’s four middle and two high schools.
Yet, Carver remains a community, whether at its community center or in the schools. And that community is more and more designed with vital input from our youth.
Various channels are provided to make our young people’s thoughts, intentions and ambitions known. Surveys. Youth-led councils. Youth on Carver’s staff. Youth leader liaisons to the Board of Directors. Annual citywide events showcasing their talents and accomplishments in celebration of Norwalk being named (twice) by the America’s Promise Alliance as one the “100 Best Communities for Young people.” Special events such as dances, competitions of all kinds, movie nights and the like that the youth produce from scratch to completion in the Carver community center. Big production Youth Forums in the Brien McMahon High School auditorium with 500 people in the audience, media personalities moderating and community leaders and policymakers constituting the “Listening Panel” that listens attentively and responsively to what the members of the Youth Panel have to say about the issues and concerns that impact their lives in and out of school. Carver’s Local Voices column in the Norwalk Patch.com serves as a regular outlet for our youth’s written messages, pronouncements and challenges to the community, and for their descriptions of their personal experiences.
Carver is a community called to birth in 1938, and it is still living out its mission. Carver grows, deepens, evolves with time, but all is not planned beforehand. As young people and their families join the Carver community they have their say in its development. They bring their insights and inspirations. Events modify the way things are done going forward. We learn. Little by little a common vision is renewed and forged – decade after decade.
If Carver is to be congratulated for its growth and successes, the youth that embody and continually inform Carver’s growth are the true Carver Heroes.
