Transitioning the UCI Math Circle (UCIMC) to an online format has forced us to pivot our pedagogical goals from teaching specific mathematical concepts to building an online mathematical community of young scholars. Each academic quarter, we recruit math Ph.D. students, undergraduate math majors, and faculty to serve as UCIMC mentors and run small breakout rooms during each meeting. Mentors are asked to volunteer for an entire quarter, so that they have time to build bonds with participants. The curriculum, created by the Julia Robinson Math Festival, and the accompanying digital applications, allows students of all ages to engage in online mathematical explorations. Prior to each UCIMC meeting, we run a “mentor training” session where we train the mentors on how to use an inquiry-based approach to guide their students on the week’s online mathematical game or puzzle. Students are encouraged to come up with their own observations and hypotheses, as young mathematical researchers, towards understanding a mathematical investigation. With 23 sessions offered throughout the school year, and an average attendance of 50 students and 10 mentors, UCIMC is making an impact on students’ math skills, while also bringing solace and stability to youths in the pandemic, by offering a dependable once-a-week scheduled online visit with peers and college mentors. In this paper, we detail the benefits of this approach towards fostering community between and among the students and mentors, and the benefits gained by the mentors towards developing their own teaching skills. Using comparison data collected from the past several years, we describe how our novel approach has been a resounding success. The geographical reach of UCIMC has expanded, our attendance has increased, and we have been able to better retain female UCIMC students
