Meet Carver Summer Camper, Abi, age 9

Describe your favorite memory at Carver.

“My favorite memory at Carver is when we got to go to the movies and watch Paddington 2. It was a really funny movie because the grandma– nevermind, I don't want to spoil it for you! It's really funny movie, but I'm not going to say why.”

Who is your role model?

"My role model is Michael Jackson. He has good dance moves and he's really famous. He does one of my favorite dance moves: the moonwalk."

What do you want to be when you grow up?

“I want to be a police officer and a TV show producer. I want to be a police officer so I can save people, and I want to be a producer because it sounds fun. I think Carver could help me with that because I could practice acting like a police officer here.”

What is your biggest dream?

"To be rich."

And what would you do with the money?

"I would save it for my house bills."

Describe an accomplishment that you’re proud of.

"I really care about my family. Almost all of them are funny, and some of them speak a different language. Lots of them speak French. I don't speak it yet. I'm still learning."

Describe an accomplishment that you're proud of.

"I'm proud of breaking a board in karate class. I was surprised because I thought it was going to be really hard to break, but it wasn't. I was really happy."

Describe Carver to someone who doesn’t know what it is.

“Carver is a really fun place. It's a really good learning center that's named after someone really famous: George Washington Carver, the inventor of peanut butter!”

Summer Stories: Thamisha, age 11

Describe your favorite memory at Carver.

“My favorite memory at Carver was when us and 13 boys played capture the flag. Technically, it was capture the football. It was really fun. I got hit two times in the face with a ball, but it was still fun. I think we won because the boys cheated! They pretended we didn’t tag them when we actually did. But still, it was really fun.”

Who is your role model?

“My role model is Dove Cameron. She’s been through a lot, and she inspires me. And I like her movies. She reminds me of myself.”

What do you want to be when you grow up?

“When I grow up, I want to be a doctor. I realized I wanted to be a doctor because my mom is a doctor, and I really want to help people. I want to tell people not to smoke, and I want to teach them to be healthy. I really love the job, and I love everything about being a doctor.”

How would Carver help you accomplish that?

“When you’re a doctor, you need to know the person, their problems, and their feelings. You also need to know science, which teaches you about the human body, and I think Carver teaches me both of those things.”

What is your biggest dream?

“My biggest dream is to be a famous singer. I always sing in the shower. I’ve never sang in front of other people, but maybe one day I would. I need to believe in myself, and have faith and hope so I can be famous.”

What is something you’re passionate about?

“I really care about my family. They’ve helped me go through any difficulties I have. They bring me hope, and they help me have faith in myself. They truly love me.”

Describe an accomplishment that you’re proud of.

“When I was in second grade, I was 'student of the month,' and I was really happy about that. I was the only one in the class to be it.”

Describe Carver to someone who doesn’t know what it is.

“Carver is a place where everyone is family. We help each other, we work together, we build stuff, and we have a lot of memories here. Carver is Carver. There’s no place like it. I can’t explain it. It’s just Carver.”

Carver summer stories: Layla, 10 years old

Describe your favorite memory at Carver

“Playing basketball on the basketball court with my friends. We were just playing a game together, and it was really bad, but it was so funny.”

Who is your role model?

“My parents. I want to grow up to do what they do. They have some inspiring words for me. They teach me how to protect myself.”

What do you want to be when you grow up?

“A track athlete.”

How would Carver help you accomplish that?

“We do fun activities here that have to do with running, like relay races.”

Describe an accomplishment that you’re proud of.

“Graduating fifth grade. It was a really fun experience. We got to see pictures of our old selves throughout all the years.”

Describe Carver to someone who doesn’t know what it is.

“It’s fun. You should come here because you could make new friends in one day. It feels like a lifetime, being here, but it actually isn’t. And when it’s over, you’ll be very sad.”

Summer Stories: Arianna, 8 years old

Describe your favorite memory at Carver

“I liked when we went to Skyzone today. We got to jump, and do really cool stuff. I felt awesome.”

Who is your role model?

“My friends. They support me and look out for me.”

What do you want to be when you grow up?

“There are so many things that I want to be when I grow up. But I like to paint, so I’m going to have to choose an artist. Once I made jellyfish here out of paper plates, string, and crayons. I do a lot of crafts here.”

Describe an accomplishment that you’re proud of

“There’s this game, but it’s a math program. It’s called Prodigy, and I’m on level 5. You basically answer math questions, but it’s actually really fun. I like math, and Prodigy makes me better at math.”

What is your biggest dream?

“To have a pet unicorn.”

Something that could actually happen?

“To have a lot, a lot, a lot of puppies.”

Describe Carver to someone who doesn’t know what it is

“This is my first year, so I don’t know too much, but it makes me feel really good.”

Summer Stories: Lissette, 7 years old

Describe your favorite memory at Carver

“My favorite memory is when we went to swimming class because it was so fun. I learned how to do freestyle, backstroke, and frog legs. I had a lot of fun because of all the different things we did.”

Who is your role model

“My parents are my role models. They do stuff for me all day. But I help them do stuff too like vacuum the house and do laundry. Also, Kayla is my role model. She’s a camper and she’s my friend. She’s always smart and can draw a lot of things.”

What do you want to be when you grow up?

“A karate chopper. And a gymnastics girl.”

How will Carver help you do that?

“It will help me learn stuff so I can be smarter”

What is your biggest dream?

“I would be fast and everybody would see me.”

How would you describe Carver to someone who doesn’t know what it is?

“Learning and getting smarter.”

Daniela, 9 years old: “I would describe Carver summer camp as a fun and learning camp. Not like a summer camp. More like a summer school, but with a lot of fun.”

Describe your favorite memory at Carver summer camp so far

“My favorite memory was the first day of camp because that was the day I met my best friends. And also the special days like when we go swimming and when we go on adventures. My favorite field trip was when we went to the movies. I sat with my best friend, Laura, and we bought some popcorn and some candy. The candy was really good. And I love the popcorn there. I got to see my favorite movie, Incredibles 2, and it was the best day of my life.”

Who is your role model

“My role model is my best friend, Laura. She’s supportive and she does gymnastics and I do cheerleading, and it’s basically the same thing, so I have a friend that can stretch with me.”

What do you want to be when you grow up?

“When I grow up, I want to be a veterinarian and a cheerleading coach.”

How will Carver help you reach those goals?

“Going to Carver will help me be a coach because I can stretch here and be more flexible. And to be a vet I can learn more here.”

What is something you’re passionate about?

“I really care about doing Prodigy, which is a new math program for me. I like math because you get to learn a lot. Prodigy helped me get a lot better at math. It’s has reading and math, and I really like reading too, so I really like Prodigy.”

Describe an accomplishment that you’re proud of?

“I’m proud of doing my back hip circle on the playground. It’s when you go on the bar and you put your good leg up and go backwards on the bar and then stand up straight. I’m also proud of math, because we learn a lot of math here, and I’ve gotten a lot better. Also, we learn reading, science, and baking here, and I’m proud of that too.”

How would you describe Carver to someone who doesn’t know what it is?

“I would describe it as a fun and learning camp. Not like a summer camp. More like a summer school, but with a lot of fun.”

Carver Stories: Bailey, 7 years old

Describe your favorite memory at Carver Summer Camp

“Camp is my favorite memory because we get to go on fun field trips like Lake Compounce, Skyzone, Maritime Aquarium, and swimming. My favorite field trip is when we go to Lake Compounce because of the water rides.”

Who is your role model?

“My friends are my role models. They support me.”

What do you want to be when you grow up?

“Well, I want to be a teacher because they help kids learn. The teachers at Carver and at my school make me want to be a teacher.”

Describe an accomplishment that you’re proud of

“I’m proud of doing well on Prodigy and learning stuff on Prodigy. There’s math questions, and it’s really fun.”

Describe Carver to someone who doesn’t know what it is

“You have lots of fun here: you get to go outside, and after school, you can go outside or do all your homework, and you also get to play in the gym.”

Carver Camper Stories: Kyla, 7 years old

Describe your favorite memory at Carver this summer

“When we went to go see the movie Incredibles 2. I got to sit next to my best friends, Karina and Mallory. I was happy.”

Who is your role model?

“Selena is my role model. She’s one of the counselors. She’s nice to all of us. She takes care of us like we’re her children.”

What do you want to be when you grow up?

“I want to be a person that helps old people. I like old people, and I like helping people.”

Describe an accomplishment that you’re proud of

“Having fun with my friends. I love spending time with them.”

Describe Carver to someone who doesn’t know what it is

“It’s a camp where there’s lots of people, and lots of kids, and you can have fun.”

Alanna, age 10: read about her favorite memories and aspirations!

Describe your favorite memory at Carver.

“My favorite memory at Carver is when we went swimming at Norwalk High. Last time, we went to the Wilton Y, and we had to use lifejackets during free swim. But at Norwalk High, if we were good enough at swimming we could swim freely without a lifejacket.”

Who is your role model?

“My role model is a counselor here. Her name is Ari. She dances really well, she has long hair, and she's in my group. I look up to her because I love dancing and I want to learn to dance like her. She's also really nice.”

What do you want to be when you grow up?

“I want to be a cheerleader because I like doing gymnastics a lot. Sometimes when we go outside and we get to do freeplay here, I do gymnastics outside.”

What is your biggest dream?

“My biggest dream is to get a lot of money and buy houses for my family. I want to give every person in my family their own house to live in with their kids. I would also want to donate my leftover money to homeless people or people with cancer.”

What is something you’re passionate about?

“I care about my family, especially my mom: she gives me somewhere to live, she gives me food to eat, and she helps me stay alive. I love my family because they care for me. They make sure I'm dressed nicely and they make sure my hair is done. Especially my grandma. I'm also really close with my cousin. She's always there for me. And she always stands up for me when someone's being mean to me.”

Describe an accomplishment that you’re proud of.

“I'm proud of when I did a handstand for a whole minute. My friend was like, 'Alanna, can you do a handstand? I'm going to count how long you do it for.' And I said, 'Sure,' but I didn't expect to hold it for that long. But then I tried my hardest not to fall, by bending my arms and keeping by body straight and my legs together. I managed to stay up for a whole minute! It was really hard.”

Describe Carver to someone who doesn’t know what it is.

“I would describe Carver as a really fun place. Sometimes you read and sometimes you get free time on the computers. You get to play fun games, you get to go swimming every Friday, and you go on really fun field trips like Skyzone. I have six siblings, and they don't go to this camp, but when you go to Carver, the friends you make here feel like siblings.”

Summer Camper Stories: Madisson, age 8

Describe your favorite memory at Carver

“When we went on a field trip to the YMCA, we had so much fun. I got to spend so much time with my friends. We went swimming and it was so fun because it was a very hot day and the water was very cold. We got to cool off and we had so much fun in the water. We had races and we went to the deep side.”

Who is your role model?

“My role model is my father because he tells me everything. He tells me what’s good, and what’s not good, and he tells me what I should and shouldn’t do. And he tells me what’s going to happen when I grow up. Like, how to stay healthy.”

What do you want to be when you grow up?

“I want to be a singer. I started singing when I was 3. And I wasn’t a very good singer when I was 3 because I screamed a lot. I wasn’t even singing. But I got better and better and better, and now I’m 8. I know how to sing now.”

How do you think Carver will help you become a famous singer?

“Whenever I look at the mother earth picture on the wall here, it tells me to be confident.”

Why does that picture make you feel confident?

“Mother earth is the home we live in and the air we breathe. She gives me the confidence that if I try my best, one day I’ll be famous.”

How would you describe Carver to someone who doesn’t know what it is?

“Carver is a wonderful place where you get to meet new friends and play. You get to go on computers and have fun.” 

Carver Camper Stories: Analisse, 7 years old

Favorite memory at Carver?

“My favorite memory was when we went to the zoo. I liked the animals that we saw. And I’ve always wanted to be a pet rescuer, so I saw all of the different animals that I could rescue. And then we got to go to the gift shop. I bought stuffed animals of the different animals I saw as a souvenir.”

Who is your role model?

“My mom because she always helps me with stuff and if I don’t know something she would tell me it so I could remember. She tells me not to give up.”

What do you want to be when you grow up?

“I want to be a pet rescuer because I love animals and because I always wanted to help pets. If I find a dead animal with my sister, I bury it somewhere. Whenever I go to pet stores I think the animals are so cute and I want to rescue them.”

How do you think Carver will help you be a pet rescuer?

“By encouraging me. If they ask me what I want to be, if I said a pet rescuer they would encourage me in that. And also by teaching me stuff. Maybe I could use the computer here to search how to rescue pets and then write that stuff down.”

What is your biggest dream?

“To make a lot of slime.”

What is something that you’re really passionate about?

“Being with my family. If I didn’t have my family, I wouldn’t be me.”

Describe an accomplishment that you’re proud of.

“I like answering math questions. Some of them are really hard, but if I get them right I’m really proud of myself. They put division and times and that stuff and I haven’t learned it yet, but when I get it right I’m proud.”

Describe Carver to someone who doesn’t know what it is.

“Carver is inspiring and fun. I feel happy here.”

Carver Summer Camp Stories: Meet Camille, age 9

What is your favorite Carver memory?

“My favorite thing about Carver is when we go swimming. First, you go in the pool and see if you can swim. If you can’t swim, they don’t get mad. If you can swim, maybe you can move up a level next time. It makes me feel like I’m the champion of swimming.”

Who is your role model?

“My grandma and my grandad because they tell me everything to do and they’re the best role models in my life. And my role models at Carver are the teachers. They do the right thing, so we can copy them and learn from them. Also, when people get scratches and they get hurt, the teachers help them with Band-Aids, and ice packs, and all that stuff.”

What is your biggest dream?

“I would be great at gymnastics and teaching people how to do gymnastics here and that would be my great dream– to teach people here to do gymnastics.”

Describe Carver to someone who doesn't know anything about Carver

“A very nice place. They allow anyone to come here, and anyone can make friends here. You get to have fun, you get to play, you get to go swimming, you get to go on field trips...You get to do anything except be bad.”

Meet Carver Summer Camper E’nya, age 8

Describe your favorite memory at Carver

“At the end of last year, we went to Lake Compounce which was really fun. And then after that, we did a dance recital for the boys. Also, I have a lot of fun on the swings here. You get to see all your friends, but you also learn how to take turns and share.”

Who is your role model?

“My family because if I don’t know something they would correct me so now I know. They help me with math and stuff and they encourage me sometimes. If I don’t know how to do something, my dad would tell me that practice makes perfect. Also my cousin Jasmine is a role model. She’s really fun but she also helped me with math and gymnastics. She’s a camper here and she’s the same age as me.”

What do you want to be when you grow up?

“I would either want to be a gymnastics or dance coach. I like dancing a lot and me and my cousin always put on shows for my mom and dad.”

How will Carver help you be a gymnastics/dance coach?

“We do dances here and learn something new by dancing.”

What is your biggest dream?

“To be famous.”

How would you get famous?

“If you learn a lot, like if you learn a lot of science, people can hear about it and you can get famous because of that. We learn a lot of science and math at Carver that some people might not know.”

What is your biggest accomplishment that you’re proud of?

“I used to not know a lot of math, but now because of Carver, I know a little more than that.”

Describe Carver to someone who doesn’t know what it is

“I would say it’s a fun, great place because you will learn something new and have a lot of fun field trips.”

Summer Images at the Carver Community Center and Swimming at the

See all the photos from today in the Carver Facebook photo album here! 

The Riverbrook Regional YMCA at the Wilton branch is an integral part of the Carver community. The Y shares its human and physical resources with other agencies such as Carver that can benefit from collaboration. 

The Y Youth Swimming Lesson Program is helping Carver summer campers to become competent and confident swimmers! Children are introduced to the water through a graduated series of lessons developed and standardized by the YMCA of the USA. The program is divided into age groups, and children move through the levels at their own pace as their abilities and skills grow. 

Carver's beginning swimmers work on water acclimation, safety, and basic swimming skills. Children may or may not swim independently with a float belt. Our more advanced youth work on swim strokes for front and back, safety, self-confidence, and endurance. 

It's collaborations like this with the Y that makes the goals and dreams of Carver youth possible. THANK YOU, the Y! 

Introducing Hanna's Summer Blog

This summer I will be sharing a series of stories and images from the more than 200 students  participating in Carver’s Summer Enrichment program for grades K to 5 (ages 5 to 13) located at the Carver Community Center.

I will also be interviewing a few of the kids' parents as well as Carver staff involved with running the summer camp.

At Carver summer programs across Norwalk (there are 8 individual programs in as many schools serving more than 900 students), students prepare for the coming school year through individualized learning, while also making memories during various enrichment activities and field trips. By sharing stories of students from their summer with Carver, I hope to give you a glimpse into some of the best moments of these students’ summers, as well as illustrate the impact of Carver on the community of Norwalk.

A little about me. I am a rising junior and an honors student at Greenwich Academy. My favorite book to date is The Kite Runner; my favorite food is Pizza; my favorite movie is Coraline; and my favorite hobbies or interests include cooking and playing the piano. 

Now let's begin to discover the interests and strengths of Carver kids!