Helen Deng

    What will you be doing when you are in Grade 3 of senior high school? Preparing for the National College Entrance Examinations? Writing application letters for an Ivy League university? Unless you have decided not to go to university, you are bound to be super-busy.

    But there are some Grade 3 students who do not want to bury their heads in books. A group of high school students in Shenzhen and North America — including some Grade 3 students — have established a Web site that helps students plan their off-campus time.

    The Web site, Teenext.com, was initiated by Lei Chenyang, Zhang Dingyun and Zhao Shenyao of Shenzhen Foreign Languages School. “Student activities are usually consigned to the campus. We want to change the situation by establishing a Web site to bridge the gap between students and the rest of society,” said Zhao, adding that the idea originated from a conversation among the three at the school canteen two months ago.

    The Web site incorporates functions such as social networking, a calendar of events and activity publication, according to Lei, chief executive of Teenext.com Corporation, and a Grade 3 student of Shenzhen Foreign Languages School.

    Teenext.com is expected to help students share off-campus activity information, design schedule and share their social life.

    The Web site will have an enterprise section to help student groups get access to sponsors, according to Lei. The Web site will be operational in December pending approval from the government.

    The company is composed of two teams: G-team (Genius team), which attracts technical genius and is responsible for designing and mainlining the Web site; and M-team (Miracle team), which is composed of non-technicians: events organizers, information collectors, marketing staff, and public relations experts, according to Lei. The company will both run the Web site and organize student forum “Thinext,” he said.

    The company announced the launch of Teenext.com at Shenzhen Concert Hall on Saturday, when the first “Thinext” forum was also held. The THINEXT & TEENEXT.com Gala attracted nearly 100 participants, mostly student leaders of elite high schools.

    Liang Yudong, director of the management committee of the Shenzhen Education and Inner Development Youth Fund, and Hu Xiaohong, a senior teacher of Shenzhen Foreign Languages School, attended the event.

    The gala started with a street dance performance by Harvard student Guo Xiaoji, and followed by an introduction to the Teenext teams.

    It climaxed at the “Thinext” forum, when four student speakers, Zhang Puran from Yucai Middle School, Guan Zhen from Ivy League Prep School, Lu Ziwei from Shenzhen No. 2 Shiyan Middle School, and Huang Haisong from Shenzhen Middle School, gave speeches about a new charity program.

    The event was sponsored by the Shenzhen Education and Inner Development Youth Fund.