https://www.lavnercampsandprograms.com/

Lavner Education

Instructor

June - August 2023 • Seattle, WA

What I liked

All the adults were super friendly and supportive. I'm definitely more unfiltered here than in most social situations but despite that it remained a really supportive environment. Being able to teach kids stuff I'm super passionate about was an experience I'll never forget

What I wish was different

I have a lot of problems with how the camps are run. A lot of the gear we were given was pretty subpar. While the $600 computers could run some things fine, it was borderline insulting to something like YouTube, where kids record Roblox footage in 2 fps and use a free editing software. I was able to make it work by bringing my own equipment and software, but I know others are less lucky. A lot was expected from us despite the lack of preparation and lackluster curriculums, stuff that you can't expect a broke college student with little experience in teaching to do. We were also overstaffed, so I couldn't teach for the 2nd and 3rd weeks. I proved to the directors soon after that I was extremely effective in teaching one specific camp, so I was lucky enough to be on schedule afterwards. Finally, a lot of the camps feel scummy to me. I talked to one instructor who was teaching AI for 7-10 year olds (I know, already a red flag right?) and she complained about how distantly related the curriculum was from actual AI. There's very little education in the name for a summer camp with the word "education" in the name, and the fact that it takes place at a college campus makes it feel all the more scummy.

Advice

Prove to your directors that you care about what you do. Being versatile is really useful too. This was an unforgettable experience for me personally but the 5 star scale is based on how much I'd recommend it, and I know some won't have the same experience as me
5 ${count} people found this helpful

Instructor/IT Intern

June - August 2023 • Austin, TX

What I liked

I enjoyed working with kids and teaching them various STEM related topics. Being able to adapt and teach a lesson plan to a variety of kids gave me confidence in my planning and adaptability skills.

What I wish was different

I wish there were guaranteed work hours every week, the posting says $600/week but you aren't always put on the schedule every week.

Advice

Because of the inconsistent pay, this posting is only affordable it if you already have housing in the area. Also, be prepared to deal with new situations every day because working with kids in always unpredictable.
3 ${count} people found this helpful

IT Intern

June - August 2023 • Seattle, WA

What I liked

The working environment was great as it had great co-workers and a communication system. Also, working as an IT intern deepened my knowledge in computing system and language that I learned from school.

What I wish was different

Advice

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IT Intern

June - August 2023 • Pittsburgh, PA

What I liked

It was a super fun experience. I met incredible co-workers and, overall, learned a lot!

What I wish was different

I wish the company would specify work hours more strictly.

Advice

Don't be afraid to relocate to a new city to pursue an internship!
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IT intern

June - August 2023 • Denver, CO

What I liked

Working with the team and being exposed to work on different and new courses every week

What I wish was different

That the camp directors had a little bit more of proactivity and time management with the team, but thankfully the team was always on top of the work.

Advice

Be ready for a fast pace learning environment and being proactive
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IT Intern

June - August 2023 • San Diego, CA

What I liked

I liked the consistency of the assignments and timing, as it was easy to predict my availability.

What I wish was different

I wish that resources had been more easily accessible during the work process, as day-to-day preparations were sometimes complicated by difficulty in finding materials.

Advice

I would say that when working with children, particularly in the capacity of a teacher, having patience is key.
1 One person found this helpful

IT Intern

June - August 2023 • Los Angeles, CA

What I liked

Directors were super supportive and my fellow interns were so amazing

What I wish was different

I wish the job had been as advertised and I had gotten the oppurtunity to build my IT skills.

Advice

Be aware that this is not a good fit for most students. Unless you want to go into teaching or child care, you will not gain any relevent experience.
6 ${count} people found this helpful

Technical Intern

July - August 2023 • Orlando, FL

What I liked

Working with the kids, solving issues, teaching.

What I wish was different

Not enough employees, not nearly enough pay that was obfuscated to hide it, poor curriculum for the kids.

Advice

Communicate with coworkers, and ask for more money.
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IT Intern

June - August 2023 • Seattle, WA

What I liked

All the other interns + Directors + middle management were incredibly nice, and we (the interns) really stood up for each other when we were getting screwed over by upper management and parents.

What I wish was different

TLDR: -Job listing is misleading -Middle management is overworked/underpaid, upper management can be exploitative -Horrific communication/organization -Virtually zero support/resources for interns Many interns joined under the pretense of being able to work an actual IT / tech support internship with the occasional teaching role, but most of us were instructors at best and glorified babysitters at worst. One of their locations had a 19 year old intern working as Assistant Director because one of the Directors called out. This wasn't limited to one instance and happened multiple times throughout the summer. The intern was told that they needed them to fill the role but that they would still only be paid base intern wages for it. In addition, for the first week of work, each intern only received a 10 minute break per day, as opposed to the standard 30. We were chastised for taking any longer than 10 minutes. Halfway through the summer, a bunch of people quit because the work doesn't match the job description or because the exhaustion that comes with the work isn't worth the pay. From then on, they're constantly understaffed, and there's a 50/50 chance that if you originally had the week off or originally were supposed to go help out at the office for the week as a break from the camp, you're going to get called to either fill in as an instructor or get moved around to do something at a different site with little to no warning. Often times, vital information was not communicated to interns until the last second. This led to people being in the wrong place at the wrong time, parents of campers getting aggressive, and other equally avoidable situations. Even work schedules and site rosters often weren't communicated properly and had to be forwarded via email from one intern to another sometimes. You're told at the start of the summer that if you just follow the curriculum to teach the students, you'll be fine. This is objectively false. Many courses have unfinished curriculum, others have missing documents, a bunch are outdated, and some are just straight up dysfunctional (requires the usage of a paid software that the company didn't pay for). There is no "Curriculum Team" either. It seems like most of it is just other interns cobbling things together as necessary.

Advice

Unless you absolutely love working with kids, do NOT do it. This is not an IT Internship, it is a camp counselor / babysitting job.
14 ${count} people found this helpful

Lead tech instuctor

July - August 2016 • New York City, NY

What I liked

I learned alot of coding

What I wish was different

I wish nothing was diffrent

Advice

Its a pretty fun way to learn
3 ${count} people found this helpful

it intern

June - August 2022 • Merion Station, PA

What I liked

working with kids

What I wish was different

more it involved

Advice

if you’re interested in teaching, it’s great!
2 ${count} people found this helpful

Tech Instructor

June - July 2022 • Philadelphia, PA

What I liked

Working with kids and making a positive impact on them!

What I wish was different

Communication was a mess. They forgot to add me to their emails, so I never got the orientation change. They also gave me my paycheck 2 weeks late. Training could've been much more thorough; they don't actually help you with teaching kids that are neurodivergent or have neurodevelopment disorders. This was frustrating because I really wanted to be a good influence on them, but the company couldn't help me.

Advice

You'll be teaching many different kids from different backgrounds. I ended up doing a lot of research on how to teach different kids, and it really helped me through until I ultimately decided to resign.
7 ${count} people found this helpful

Instructor

June - August 2021 • New York City, NY

What I liked

On site team and direct supervisors worked well together despite difficulty from upper management

What I wish was different

Better organization and collaboration between instructors and corporate officr

Advice

Don’t do it
10 ${count} people found this helpful

Lead/teacher

June - August 2021 • Indianapolis, IN

What I liked

Nothing

What I wish was different

Actual communication rather than removing me from the slack and not scheduling me for OVER a month

Advice

Don’t treat your employees like trash
10 ${count} people found this helpful

Lead Technology Instructor

June - August 2019 • Narberth, PA

What I liked

I enjoyed having a positive impact on children’s lives.

What I wish was different

Advice

3 ${count} people found this helpful

Technology Instructor

May - August 2019 • Philadelphia, PA

What I liked

Technology related

What I wish was different

More organization

Advice

Take weeks off
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Technology Instructor

June - August 2018 • Fort Washington, PA

What I liked

I liked working with kids and revisiting my coding skills.

What I wish was different

The syllabi they provide can be kind of a mess and don't necessarily work for each group of kids. It can also be kind of hectic jumping around to different sites.

Advice

Be flexible and don't worry about things too much because the kids will have a good time regardless.
17 ${count} people found this helpful

Camp Counselor

June - August 2018 • Philadelphia, PA

What I liked

Adapting to work with children for long periods of time was a very fun and rewarding experience.

What I wish was different

Determining with other counselors how to delegate equipment (which at times there was not enough equipment to fit our needs) and setting it up under a strict time constraint at the beginning of each week was frequently difficult.

Advice

Genuinely enjoying your time with the campers will make the experience much more enjoyable.
6 ${count} people found this helpful

Technology Instructor

June - August 2018 • Princeton, NJ

What I liked

Fun atmosphere

What I wish was different

How the entire camp was ran

Advice

Its basically customer service for parents
5 ${count} people found this helpful