Welcome to Occutry Virtual Internships.
In 2018, Mary Iwanski attended a Google Innovator Academy as part of the #LAX18 cohort. Throughout the academy she worked on delving into the problem of providing elective class access to students regardless of district size or teacher knowledge. Here is the initial application video:
What grew from the Academy was a desire to create elective classes for students that were authentic opportunities to expose students to jobs in the world that they could continue to pursue. Since these courses are intended for Middle School students, traveling to the businesses for internships was out of the question, but providing "real work" that interns in the company would participate in, was within the aim of reach.
Thus, Occutry Virtual Internships was created.
Occutry Virtual Internships are online courses developed in close connection with real businesses. Each of these internships includes authentic work experiences, videos of people doing the job within the company, and opportunities to practice softer employment skills such as communication and critical thinking.