The Exploring Computer Science (ECS) curriculum is currently being implemented in Chicago Public Schools to broaden participation in computer science. This curriculum allows for teachers to center their students’ backgrounds and lived experiences. Exploring Connections to Computer Science (EC2CS) is a program designed to help teachers understand their students and adapt lessons accordingly. Students receive bookmarks based on surveys of their identity. Student worksheets from 2022-2023 were analyzed to determine the extent to which students incorporated ideas from their bookmarks into the unit activities and what type of connections they were making. The most popular connections across both courses were bookmark connections to culture (race/ethnicity) and hobbies and skills and bookmark extension connections (connections inspired by but not explicitly mentioned in their bookmarks) to social awareness. These connections are aligned with culturally relevant pedagogy, particularly cultural competence and sociopolitical consciousness. Chi square analyses showed that students in ECS made more bookmark connections to future goals, while those in AP Computer Science Principles (CSP) made more bookmark extension connections to their personal preferences and neighborhood. Overall, bookmarks helped students make connections between computer science and their lives and the activities helped inspire additional connections that students had not thought of at the time they completed the identity surveys.