Elevate

Connected Lane County received $15,250 as part of a grant from Lane County's Community & Economic Development Program. These funds will help fuel our industry tours. We partner with rural and metropolitan Lane County schools, educators, and businesses to offer 700 high school students opportunities to explore careers in technology, manufacturing, health, and natural resources. Through hands-on industry tours, students interact with professionals from diverse backgrounds and g

In 2024, we merged codeORcreate and marketingJAM into one exciting weekend competition, celebrating all things creative and innovative. This annual three-day event, open to teams of up to five youths, invites Lane County High School students and Lane Community College students to dive into the worlds of coding, website design, graphic design, game development, marketing, branding, and business. Participation is free, offering a unique opportunity to explore and showcase your

Kira, a Cottage Grove High School graduate, found Connected Lane County during her senior year and has been involved in both Navigate and Elevate programming! Kira has participated in various events, including Wonder Wednesday, Job Fairs, Elevate Job Shadows, Wonder Week, and work experiences. “I've always had great fun at these events. I got to meet new people and learn about things I haven't known before that may help in the future,” said Kira. According to Kira’s Resourc

Meet Danica (she/they), our July youth highlight! Danica is a recent high school graduate actively participating in Summer Internships, Industry Tours, and DevNW Financial Classes! She learned about Connected Lane County through their career coordinator at Pleasant Hill High School, Kathy Duval, and participated in the 2023 Summer Internships before signing up for additional programming! Danica has enjoyed her various experiences with Connected Lane County; read her short int

In March 2024, Connected Lane County coordinated a tour of EWEB’s facility. Dozens of youth from schools across Lane County came to EWEB to explore the Utility Service Industry. The high school youth learned about various high-wage, high-demand jobs and saw how a large utility company like EWEB operates. The youth visited various stations and learned about the necessary technology for water and electricity. Some youth even took the opportunity to go up in bucket trucks and pa

Meet Leo, our April Youth Highlight! Leo (they/them) has been a Connected Lane County participant since the summer of 2023 when they were a Summer Intern! Leo was placed at Volunteers in Medicine and learned more about what a career in health care would look like. This internship gave them insight into the mental health field and allowed them to rule it out as a future career choice. Understanding that this path would require dealing with others' hardships helped Leo know t

marketingJAM, the three-day marketing competition, wrapped up a successful showcase! We had 12 teams and saw competitors from Bethel, Creswell, Junction City, Siuslaw, Springfield, and 4J. Teams took on real-world challenges from local nonprofits, including Springfield Education Foundation, Lane Workforce Partnership, City Club of Eugene, and Positive Community Kitchen. Marmalade Marketeers from Creswell High School took home Best in Show for their work on Saltwater Solutions

Meet Daniel, our monthly youth highlight! Daniel came to Connected Lane County through his school’s Career Center. He struggled to find employment and wanted to expand his skills. Our team placed Daniel in a paid summer internship with Bitforest based on his interests. Following his summer internship, he participated in codeORcreate, where his team won the Tech Stewardship Award! Daniel is now a University of Oregon freshman interested in a future career in Artificial Intelli

codeORcreate is an annual three-day youth technology competition. Connected Lane County hosted 48 youth from 13 schools and 7 school districts. The youth had three days to create a tech-based solution to community problems and were paired with tech mentors. At the end of the weekend, youth got to present their projects to a panel of judges during a showcase. The photo above shows the "Best in Show" team whose project was titled "Plant Hypothesis." The youth were three sophom

In early November 2023, Connected Lane Couty hosted its Career Expo event to provide youth access to different career fields. Click this link to read KEZI 9's article.

Noel’s Journey to Connected Lane County In his sophomore year at Siuslaw High School (2020), his enthusiastic computer science teacher, Mr. Mielke, approached Noel and recruited him to participate in our then-virtual youth hackathon called codeORcreate. The world was navigating the first year of COVID-19, and all extracurriculars had paused indefinitely. Noel, a computer science fanatic, had lots of time on his hands with few creative outlets, so he agreed to participate. No

In the heart of Lane County, a wave of youthful energy and ambition swept through this summer, as 62 aspiring minds embarked on a transformative journey through the 2023 Elevate Summer Internships. Last week, we had the privilege of celebrating the remarkable achievements of these interns at our Summer Internship Celebration. This event served as a testament to the dedication and hard work of our 62 interns, all juniors and seniors, representing 15 school districts and 23 sch

Bella's Journey From New Mexico to the Art Institute of Chicago We are thrilled to present the inspiring story of Bella, a talented young artist who joined our community after moving from New Mexico to Eugene during her freshman year of high school. Bella's transition to a new city was initially challenging. Yet she soon found her place at Willamette High School where she immersed herself in a wide variety of creative and nontraditional classes. It was through a youth culinar