JA Inspire Virtual
- Middle School
- Classroom Based
- After School
- Virtual
- Work Readiness
- Financial Literacy
- Entrepreneurship
JA Inspire Virtual is more than a career fair: It brings together the business community and local schools and is designed to help launch middle school students into their future—high school, college, and careers beyond. The program consists of three segments: (1) pre-event curriculum that may be teacher-led in the classroom, delivered via a remote learning session, or completed by students using the self-guided curriculum; (2) virtual career expo experience; and (3) post-event debrief.
VFairs, the online interactive platform used to host the JA Inspire Virtual career expo, can be used either in place of a face-to-face JA Inspire event or as an enhancement following a face-to-face event. Within the virtual experience, students attend webinars and presentations, explore career booths, and interact with career speakers. The experience can be configured in a variety of ways, depending on JA Area and local school district preferences.
Following participation in the career expo, students will be able to:
Gain insight into career clusters that interest them.
Make connections with adults who have jobs in careers that interest them.
See the connection between high school programming choices and careers.
Collect information about the education required to be successful in a job.
Practice soft skills.
JA Inspire is part of the JA Work and Career Readiness Pathway and is recommended for middle school students (grades 6–8). It is a fully online, self-guided learning experience following completion of the JA Inspire curriculum. JA Inspire requires a digital device for each participating student and provides an online, interactive alternative for students who are unable to attend an on-site event. It can be used as an optional enhancement for students who attend an on-site, face-to-face event.
As part of this program, JA teachers and volunteers are encouraged to use the resources available in JA Connect™ Learning Pathways, located at https://connect.ja.org/. This self-guided experience includes interactives, JA Digital Career Book™, and games and apps for student use.
JA programs support national and state standards in reading, mathematics, social studies, and work and career readiness. See below for more information on alignment with national and state standards.