In the News
We talked to a nonprofit education support organization Connected Lane County to hear how they are endeavoring to provide relevant education that sets our youth up for success.
Governor Kotek Visits Spark at Booth-Kelly
On Thursday, December 14, we had some special visitors! Governor Tina Kotek and First Lady Aimee Kotek Wilson toured Spark at Booth-Kelly as part of Governor Kotek’s One Oregon Listening Tour! Koteck met with program youth, staff, and local leaders to learn about barriers youth in our community face. Our director, Heidi Larwick, shared a…
codeORcreate a Three-Day Youth Technology Competition Ends With a Weekend Showcase
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…
Connected Lane County Hosts Career Exploration Event for Middle Schoolers
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.
Connected Lane County receives a 1.4 Million Dollar Grant
Connected Lane County received a 1.4 million dollar Future Ready Oregon Round Two Workforce Ready Grant from the Higher Education Coordinating Commission. The grant received will support the growth of Connected Lane County’s Excelerators: the Manufacturing Excelerator, Technology Excelerator, and Health Excelerator. Each Excelerator is a 250-hour experience that includes paid training at Connected Lane…
Celebrating an Outstanding Achievement in the 2023 Oregon Business 100 Best Nonprofits to Work For in Oregon List
We are thrilled to announce our inaugural placement on the Oregon Business 100 Best Nonprofits to Work For in Oregon list for 2023. This recognition ranks Connected Lane County among the small nonprofits category. The small nonprofit category is reserved for nonprofits with 20 employees and under at the time of the survey. Scores are…
Students debut inventions with Connected Lane County’s STEM program
Student inventions included ‘wearable tech,’ like customized jackets, water bottles and more. Check out this story at registerguard.com.
Lane County program provides free books to 3,000 K-2 students
BookFest was started six years ago by Connected Lane County and United Way with the aim of keeping kids inspired to read and preventing what’s called the “summer slide.” Read more on KLCC.org.
BookFest aims to promote summer reading for local students
BookFest is a community-wide book gifting program providing thousands of K-2 students with new books as they head into summer. Read more on KEZI.com.
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“Sparks” will soon be flying at the Booth-Kelly Center in Springfield — ones that will intersect community, education, and business for the county’s young and underserved population. This spring, Connected Lane County...
Siuslaw’s Business Tech students competed in an event in Eugene from Jan. 20-22. It was Business teacher Eddie Meilke’s team’s first competition — something that clearly had no barring on the team’s ultimate potential.
Between tree farming, horseback riding, sports marketing, construction, coding, computer programming, and more, eighth-graders who attended the Middle School Career Expo each found out about jobs they had never heard of before.
Eighth graders from around Lane County made their way to Spark on 7th to participate in Connected Lane County's annual Middle School Career Exploration event.
— KVAL
"Every child in Oregon deserves an education that will give them an equal shot at success in our modern economy,” Brown said. “A deep understanding of computer science is a critical skill for today’s workforce."
Oregon Governor Kate Brown visited Spark on 7th... She’s dedicating 5 million dollars in emergency education funds to provide grants, with special consideration for programs that reach women, people of color, and rural communities.
— KLCC
BookFest, a community-wide program hosted by United Way of Lane County and Connected Lane County, began in 2018 in response to the gaps in reading scores in local schools. BookFest gets books into the hands of K-2 students around the county.
— KMTR
It all started when Danielle was introduced to Connected Lane County and their Navigate Program, which provides workforce development training opportunities to young people ages 14-24. They helped her land a job at St. Vincent DePaul, and explore...
With the help of a local construction company, one 17-year-old is gaining hands-on experience that is helping him understand and discover a career path that fits best for him.
— KEZI
From Dec. 3 through Dec. 5, the Siuslaw business and technology program competed in the annual codeORcreate Hack-a-thon. This is the third consecutive year the team has entered this competition. This is also the third straight year SHS has taken 1st place honors in the category of game design and development.
Spark on 7th is Connected Lane County’s new space where community, education, and industry come together to support Lane County youth for invention, education, and career-connected learning. Spark on 7th has hosted a number of tech industry partners and collaborations including Trifoia, CodeNinjas, Palo Alto Software, Hunter Communications, Pronoia Tools
— Sally Bell, Technology Association of Oregon
We focus on STEM, Career Connected Learning, Early Literacy, and education and workforce re-engagement. In July 2021, we opened a new space in downtown Eugene called Spark on 7th. Spark on 7th is a place where community, education, and industry come together to support Lane County youth.
Oregon Community Foundation's IGNITE program inspires regional partnerships to increase STEM opportunities for youth that experience the opportunity gap.
Inspired by the local efforts of Connected Lane County and Youth Era, Hunter Communications decided to donate internet and phone service, as well as sound devices to Connected Lane County’s new Spark on 7th building and Youth Era’s Drop-in Shelter.
Connected Lane County opened Spark on 7th in 2021 to help teach youth technical skills. Spark on 7th is the newest — and largest to date — initiative by Connected Lane County, a local nonprofit focused on improving student success for historically underserved populations around Lane County.
— Becky-Jo Samples for City of Eugene Downtown News
The buzz in the room was palpable—30 students tinkering, creating, programming, and learning about technology. They were part of Spark on 7th’s first camp, an invention lab where students were tasked to invent a new technology following an air quality theme, mentored by local industry professionals.
Media Inquiries
If you need information for newspaper, TV, radio, or other media reports, contact Becky-Jo Samples, Marketing Director, at beckyjo@connectedlane.org.