Creating connections

Lauren Yang (pictured), a graduate of Memorial High School, spent her summer helping manage and raise awareness for a new organization called Connect-In-Place. A sophomore at UC Berkeley, Lauren worked with Berkeley rising seniors Danielle Egan and Saumya Goyal to start the free online program. Connect-In-Place helps middle and high school students connect with others who have similar interests, as well as with college-student mentors. The goal was to help students manage boredom and isolation and to continue learning during quarantine. Students participated from all over the world, including MHS and Memorial Middle School. Classes were taught by more than 150 college students coming from schools such as Berkeley, UT Austin, Stanford, Harvard and Johns Hopkins. Classes were free, with donations suggested. Proceeds go toward providing technology-based learning tools such as laptops and hotspots to students in need; as of print time, the organization had raised more than $14,000. See connectinplace.org. 

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