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Academy of Information Technology

Community Connections


We are looking for local businesses to provide opportunities to students that go above and beyond the educational process. This includes internships, field trips, guest speakers and shadowing opportunities. AOIT industry partners and sponsors can lend, showcase or enhance the current curriculum and provide students with relevant training in many different ways. 

Internship

The paid internship is perhaps the most memorable and critical component in the NAF AOIT experience for high school students. It is also one of the most rewarding, as it is the opportunity for students to apply, in a real-world setting, what they've learned in their Academy classes in the preceding years. To ensure that the students' paid internship lives up to expectations, all stakeholders must invest an appropriate amount of time and resources.

A paid internship is not just a summer job. It is an extension of the Academy classroom instruction and curriculum, further developed and challenged in a business environment, supervised by business leaders in a real-world setting, resulting in a broad, relevant, enriching educational experience for the student. Done correctly, paid internships provide the context in which a student's classroom learning is applied.

But the paid internship doesn't stop at just applying classroom skills in a work environment. It also exposes the student to a broad view of work experiences and situations, which could be expected if the student were to pursue a career in that field. And, the student is also exposed to a broad array of soft, workplace skills: critical thinking, teamwork, decorum, ethics, creativity, time management, ingenuity, honesty, problem-solving, comportment, and a solid understanding of the importance of excellent written and oral communications skills. This combination of benefits provides a valuable foundation for any career the student chooses to pursue in the future.

Guest Speakers  

Become a volunteer! Join an AOIT instructor in designing an in-class presentation or workshop devoted to sharing the skills and expertise you have gained in a specific industry. 

Workplace Tours

Our Academy believes that the world is an extension of our classrooms. Field trips serve to energize and inspire students by breaking down preconceived notions of the IT industry. Students get to see firsthand what it is like to be on the inside of a first-class organization. In addition, they get an opportunity to witness the environment in which professionals conduct day-to-day operations.
The following reflects a typical Academy field trip visit:

  • provides insight into the field of IT;
  • introduces students to various different professionals and explains their role in the organization;
  • presents the various different products and services that the business provides to its clients;
  • discusses the current trends of the industry;
  • lasts for 2 – 4 hours.