Himes sees Carver Center programs in action
NORWALK — U.S. Rep. Jim Himes visited the George Washington Carver Center on Tuesday evening to tour the facility and get to know students and staff.
Novelette Peterkin, chief executive officer, started by giving Himes an overview of the programs and services offered at the Carver Center, which helps economically challenged and academically at-risk youth in Norwalk. The organization offers after-school supports and programs including coding, fencing, homework help, cooking classes and employment opportunities.
Each year, Carver Center staff and volunteers take students on a National College Tour where about 35 youth visit 10 colleges and universities in about 10 days. This year, students will visit University of Alabama, South Carolina State University, Morehouse College and Spelman, to name a few. The trip ends with a visit to Six Flags Over Georgia. About 40 percent of students who go on the tour enroll at one of the schools visited.
“If you’re a Carver student you would see 30 national schools if you go on all the trips,” Peterkin said of ninth through 11th-graders. “We try to get our kids to have access to opportunities, any opportunities they might not have had otherwise.”
Peterkin told Himes that she recently hired a manager of monitoring, evaluation and learning to analyze data collected on every Norwalk Public Schools student using the Carver Center’s services.
“It informs where we put our investment and it informs our adjustment in terms of how we instruct,” she said. “If we see a specific group struggling in literacy we find out what’s needed. Our donors have been impressed with what we’ve produced and that has increased funding.”
When she started in 2004, the graduating class included 10 or 11 students.
“Now its in the 40s,” she said. The Carver Center’s advancement has also included budget increases. Under Peterkin’s leadership, the organization’s budget has climbed from $700,000 in 2004 to $4.6 million in 2019. Last year the organization was able to serve more than 1,400 students.
Thamisha Thoby, a sixthgrader, paid Himes a special visit.
“What’s the hardest part about being a congressman?” she asked.
Himes said it’s difficult to consider the opinions of so many constituents while voting on various bills.
“Taking the opinions of about 750,000 people and distilling it down to how I can vote in a way that would make most of those people happy is really tough,” he said. “Sadly, communities like Norwalk and Bridgeport see the violence and gang activity that kids turn to if they don’t have alternatives. So, it’s just an enormously gratifying thing to see kids being given this opportunity.”