technology lead

camp counselor

tutor

school program staff

director of education

Black Rocket Productions

Black Rocket was first recommended to me by a mentor while I was obtaining my teaching license in Spring 2016. I've had two summers to work with the company and I can say that with rare exception I have enjoyed every moment of it. The class curriculum that you are expected to teach is well put together but flexible to suit both your needs and those of the class. There are a wide variety of topics that you might teach; some of my favorites were stop-motion animation courses using figurines and LEGO's that the students brought in to make movies and 3D video design courses that had my kids creating dungeons, flatformers and haunted house games within a week.

The admin team for Black Rocket is stellar and are communicative and receptive to your needs. There are almost always staff on-campus no matter where you are teaching in a given week and they are always on-call in the case of an emergency or in case you need help. I've had some of the best experiences of my life working with the instructors that they hire, and don't intend to taking working with them as long as I can.

Some things to be aware of; you will be working at different locations on different weeks unless you catch a lucky break, and some travel may be required (though Black Rocket will help pay for gas above a certain mileage). You might also end up teaching classes that you are not necessarily familiar with, though there are online tutorials that will take you through your course material weeks in advance of your classes. An interesting scenario I ended up in was being a male teacher in charge of a 2D game design class aimed specifically at girls called "Girl Gamers Club." This was likely out of sheer necessity of an instructor becoming unavailable a short time before, but it was still an enjoyable week to work.

All in all, I would highly recommend Black Rocket if you are looking for work as a teacher during the summer, especially if you are interested in working with technology more in the classroom.

The things described in the survey with ratings 1-5 in numbers or stars such as PTO, job advancement, etc don’t really apply to my position as a temporary employee. I’m working this summer as a Lead Instructor for the company so I will give my review based on that. My supervisors really care about my well-being, especially if a parent gets upset with you while you’re teaching on Zoom. The company is really flexible as long as you tell them you’ll be unavailable to work a certain week(s) in advance, obviously the earlier, the better. You can pick which weeks you want off just by checking them off in their Employee Portal! Unfortunately though, they do not have enough instructors staffed to cover for callouts, so keep that in mind. You really have to be flexible with them because you could be fully scheduled teaching for like 6hrs/day and then suddenly you could get a cancellation just from lack of sign-ups. Otherwise it’s a great company to work remotely for! They really encourage you to have fun and connect with the students you’re teaching. As long as the kids have fun, that’s what matters. So far I haven’t had a bad week in teaching because I love working with the kids.

I originally wanted to work the Summer of 2020, and I got through two rounds of interviews. Initially I didn't make the cut, which was understandable. 

I recieved an email with an opportunity to be the Weekend agent, working 32 hours from Saturday to Sunday, due to extremely high volume.  I signed on for $13 an hour. 

While the process was "trying to board a moving train" it was worth it. I worked with great people, got help when I needed it, delivered that support, and learned about new systems. It was great work. It felt like a community. We weathered through Tropical Storm Isias and power outages, but got the job done. Kids and parents were happy and it felt good. 

I learned the various programs that Black Rocket offers, as well as the Zoho CRM System. Both were invaluable skills to learn for the future. Black Rocket offers various courses, and I was able to learn how to set up MCCrearor, OBS, and other software applications. 

I was only on board for just under two months. I cannot really speak for cons about the job or other benefits. But for the 7 weeks I was there, it was great!

Definitely check them out. 

I applied for summer 2021 as a recent college graduate and thought "Why not? You already babysit locally so, why not teach?". I got a email for an interview the same week I applied. I did my interview in about 15 minutes and got an offer letter 2 days later. I got to teach the kids about things I'm passionate about & seeing their little faces light up when they got to present their project was worth it! Getting to teach the next generation of media creators is a blessing and if I could teach year round for Black Rocket, I would. Management was great to work with due to their responsiveness and expertise when it came to certain things. Very communicative & welcoming leads! 

I worked during the outbreak of COVID-19 as an assistant instructor to one of the partner schools. At the beginning management seemed unsure how to progress things given the pandemic, but quickly found online solutions. I was among the first teaching remotely and we ran into numerous issues with the lessons that needing to be quickly changed into an online format, students quickly becoming bored or uninterested, or spontaneous absent instructors. However, management was very accommodating with any issues we brought up, and really took to heart everything the instructors and assistant instructors had to say regarding course tweaks and changes. Honestly, as long as you kept the kids entertained I don't think they particularly cared what you did in the classroom, but for kids that is what it should be about anyway.

I had a lot of fun at this job. Both as an after-school lead instructor and a summer assistant instructor. I really enjoyed all the things I had to learn in order to teach it. Example: roblox game building, VR level design, and other game and level building softwares. It's also great to get students interested in technology, the T in STEM!

As an after-school lead instructor I was given all the supplies I would need to teach the class, a case of laptops and a backpack with a mini-projector and other supplies. I kept these supplies at home and would load and unload them into my car in order to transport them between my designated work site,  and my home.

As a summer assistant instructor all i needed was the knowledge that needed to be taught. I'd drive to the location and assist the lead instructor and students as needed.

To work at Black Rocket as any type of instructor you should know that you won't be working at a fixed location, but at many different locations across the state. They try to work with you so you don't have to commute too far, but some weeks I had a 1.5 hour commute. On the other hand, some weeks my commute was only 15 mins.
The degree of difficulty and stress also varies from week to week. If you are assigned to work with a 7-year-old group, you'll be having a busy week, but on a week working with teenagers you'll pretty much be getting paid for doing nothing.
All in all, you don't get paid much (about $10 per hour) but you work with great people that are very flexible ...and it depends on whether or not you can tolerate kids for that to be a pro or con.

What is the best part of working at the company?
Staff is respectful and will always help when they can.

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
Sometimes the parents aren't satisfied with the work, so you always have to make sure they're helped.

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
You will learn everything you need to on the job, get help when you need it, but it's always good to study outside on your own.

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
Online: A lot of playing and testing what you have created in front of kids to make sure they know what they're making and checking to make sure they're paying attention.

In-person: A lot of walking behind students and helping one on one a bit more while making sure everything is kept in pace, while keeping teaching section short to make sure students understand.

As a black rocket kid myself I jumped at the opportunity to work here, and the job side of black rocket does not disappoint either. We work on a weekly basis, so you work every day for some weeks and have the other weeks off, which is nice. No weekends either. Working there has been a blast, management is super nice and the heads are human beings instead of corporate overlords. The subjects they have you teach are really fun and its nice to see kids eager to learn for once. Overall, would recommend to anyone and everyone who enjoys teaching kids

lesson plans were laid out step by step, some even had slideshows and videos you could show as the lesson. however trying to balance the difference in abilities within a class was difficult. kids should have have to know the very basics of using a computer like turning it on and opening the internet before being able to sign up for these classes where they're with some peers with advanced tech knowledge. also most didn't want to be there anyway. the few who did and put hard work into their projects made it worth it.

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Technology lead 2 salaries reported	$19.50 per hour
Camp counselor 2 salaries reported	$24.00 per hour
Tutor 5 salaries reported	$21.40 per hour
School program staff 1 salary reported	$28.50 per hour
Director of education 1 salary reported	$107,500 per year

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