What a wonderful organization and creative community! I…read morediscovered this organization at the Printer's Row Lit Fest, and a friend recommended it too, and I am thrilled to know about this place! I attended an information session today and everyone was so kind and welcoming. They also provided an incredible food spread. The space is very warm and inviting. Really positive atmosphere. It was a lovely two hour event, which included socializing, an ice breaker, a writing exercise, and a Q&A. They offer a wide variety of classes, workshops, fellowships, and free events too. Lots of ways to become involved and find your writing community. I look forward to participating more in the future.

As a new author eager to grow within Chicago's literary community, I volunteered with StoryStudio…read morein December to give back to a space I truly admired and to earn class credit through their Work/Study program. I believed I was joining a reputable, nurturing organization for writers. Unfortunately, what began as an act of goodwill became one of the most disappointing experiences I've had with any arts organization. Despite showing up, completing my shift, and following up multiple times in good faith, my volunteer credit was never honored until I had to chase it down months later. Worse, after being told I'd be contacted for future opportunities, I was met with total silence--no returned calls, no responses to emails. Then, seeing new volunteer positions advertised publicly while I was still waiting for even a basic reply was frankly demoralizing. To make matters worse, when I finally did receive a response, it included vague recollections and misplaced blame about my punctuality--something that had already been cleared and verified by their own staff as a harmless scheduling miscommunication caused by conflicting information from the studio itself. Instead of accountability or an apology, I received an impersonal brush-off and a polite "we're all staffed up." As a writer and volunteer who genuinely believed in StoryStudio's mission, I expected better--basic professionalism, follow-through, and respect for the people who donate their time to keep the organization running. What I encountered instead was disorganization, poor communication, and a disappointing disregard for volunteers who aren't part of the inner circle. For new writers looking for a supportive creative home, I'd urge caution. Writers deserve better than to be ghosted by the very spaces that claim to nurture them.

Acting Studio Chicago has been a great resource to hone my skills, one class after another has…read moreexceeded my expectations. Kurt Naebig's Monologue class stands out as having been particularly impactful. Kurt helped me find well-suited monologues and a level of specificity in my work that really brought my monologues to life. A case of opportunity meeting preparation, I used a monologue I had recently worked in Kurt's class to successfully audition for representation! Having taken taken this class in-person, hybrid and virtually, I can honestly I can say I prefer the virtual version. The level of instruction was consistent with in-person, however the amount of reps in Zoom class was greatly increased. And, as all of our work is now in the virtual world, it was also great prep for Zoom auditions. I highly recommend this class and Acting Studio Chicago!

Do NOT attend this school if you're having issues and need to drop the class. They will not offer…read morerefunds after they swipe your card without notifying you. I attend another school in which a student is expected to run their own card. This school will run yours and not give you a refund. Again BEWARE before signing up for classes here. I recommend Black Box Acting in Chicago if you want a beginner friendly school with pricing policies that arent shady at best. For clarification, I was unable to send my email to drop overseas due to a family emergency but they swiped my card anyway. Not only can I not fet a refund, they refuse to transfer my credit. I hope they take the money and sue it to continue scamming other students. Acting is a hobby at best. This company is selling dreams while scamming students in the process. There are many other schools worth your time and this particular place will not recieve another dime from me.

We are so pleased with the results our daughter received on her ACT. She went from a 20 to a 28!…read more Her reading score was a 35, meaning she only missed one question. Sylvan's program was simple for her navigate independently. She did a little extra one on one instruction, which she found extremely helpful. So many more college doors have now been opened for her; she applied to an additional 4 schools that she considered "out of reach." We can't thank Sylvan learning center enough! The staff is very professional and help her attain extraordinary results!

Its too much money even when you get approve with their credit card at zero interest. Honestly my…read moreson's problem was not being able to comprehend what he is reading and he still can't. So not worth the money. I give 2 star because of the friendly staff.

I have taken improv classes, both in-person and virtually, at several places locally in Arizona,…read morebut had no idea that The Second City offered virtual classes! Wow!! What an opportunity! We have students from all corners of the US and Canada. The teachers are amazing and the atmosphere is extremely supportive. Highly recommend.

Just get off your ass and so it. I wanted to jump into a class and kept putting it off for years,…read morehad a good friend enroll me in a class and have had an absolute blast, now I'm signing up for several more. The instructors are true professionals that take the time to build week to week. The classmates I've had run the gamut on age, background and professions - all have been amazing. If you've ever thought about learning at one of the best comedy schools ever - sign up and you will not regret it!

I discovered Stages a few years ago (pre COVID) and my child fell in love with the Preschool Prep…read moreclasses almost immediately. Over the 5 years since we have done numerous camps, day off school sessions, and the spring musicals BUT recently I got to fall back in love with Stages when I attended a Broadway Baby class with a friends toddler. It was so fun, so relaxed and the kids (and me!) had a blast. We went thru an abbreviated telling of a musical (Lion King, but each week is something new) with stories, movement, songs, instruments and BUBBLES! I wish this existed when my kids were this age. Definitely recommend trying a class!

I've been following Emily & her incredibly talented team on social for awhile now and in awe of all…read moreher themed broadway musical classes. When it was time to plan my son's 4 year old bday bash I reached out to see if we could something work for his chosen theme: superheroes! It turned out they did have an interactive performance party with superheroes and so we booked it right away! All I needed was to find an empty room to host it and I booked the JCC for just that. Emily was super responsive throughout the party planning process and followed up closer to the party for a final count so she knew how many performers to line up. We ended up having 2 performers (Batman and Wonder Woman) for 25ish kids, which was perfect. I've hired many characters for many parties and these two were by far the most talented. Batman (Colin) and Wonder Woman (blanking on her name, which is too bad since she was incredible) had the kids totally engaged, which is not easy when it comes to a large group of 3 and 4 year olds. They had them dancing, singing, jumping and even gave them each a chance to pose for a pic with them. They also weren't completely masked like many other characters so the kids didn't find them scary. Superheroes is just one of the many themed parties Stages offers. Others I"ve considered in the past were a lion king party (perfect for toddlers/pre-schoolers). They even offer a pop star party where performers come and pretend to be the team behind a specific pop star (Taylor Swift, Jojo Siwa, etc) - and teach the kids how to become the next pop star. So fun! I highly recommend using Stages for an upcoming party and I hope to sign up my kiddos for one of their classes one day.

My son really worked well with his math tutor from Midway and I would definitely recommend!read more

Having operated for over 8 years now, Midway Tutors is very good at providing high quality tutors…read moreto meet every need.

My seventh grade daughter went up 21 points on her MAP test scores! My ninth grader tested into a…read moremath class a year higher than expected--not exaggerating. Now my twelfth grader wants to work with her too. She is comfortable with all their subjects and makes the kids feel capable and confident. I am amazed at her results, and for three very different learners.

Top Notch Math Tutor. Marsha was a lifesaver this summer…read morewhen my daughter was overwhelmed and frustrated by a fast paced on-line summer Statistics class. Marsha explained concepts clearly and took the time necessary to help her understand material prior to testing. She will not watch the clock but instead stay and review the subject matter step- by -step until your student is comfortable with the lessons. She is patient and reliable and super easy to reach when scheduling. Very affordable as well. B plus in the class but an A plus for Marsha!

My uncle lives in a house that he nearly single handedly built himself in the woods of Vermont…read more It's sturdy, beautiful, and expertly crafted. So I thought, "surely I must have some of this handiness in my previously totally non-handy self." But before I plunked down thousands of dollars for lathes, circular saws and other manly machines you can buy at Home Depot, I thought I'd test the waters with a woodworking class. Finding one in Chicago proved harder than expected until one say I saw a flyer at a local coffee shop advertising Woodsmyths. It sounded like exactly what I'd been looking for: hands on, experience with a variety of common woodworking tools, and a mix of instruction and projects. The class started out fine enough: there were about 10 people, we read some handouts, received some brief instructions, then got down to business. I liked that we'd get to work on things ourselves that we'd then take home to keep, but the instruction left a lot to be desired. The teacher is a bit eccentric and seemed more concerned that everyone finished their projects than whether they actually learned anything. I felt rushed, didn't feel encouraged to ask questions and when I did, the instructor often just fixed my problem for me instead of showing me how to do it. After 10 weeks and $350, I had three items I'd crafted mostly myself: a toolbox, a simple bookshelf and a storage box-style end table. The last of these I really liked and still have, the others didn't survive my most recent apartment move. And disappointingly, I don't feel like I really learned all that much. The teacher was a stickler for safety (a good thing), so I feel mostly comfortable operating woodworking machines. But I don't feel like I know better now than I did before the class what to do with them. I know Woodsmyths also offers a more advanced class that people seem to take, so maybe others had better experiences that I. So if you can't find any other woodworking class options, it may be worth giving this one a go. But don't expect to be anywhere but a tiny step closer to building your own cozy bungalow in the New England woods.

Anyone who is taking this furniture making class is probably not looking to start a career as…read morewoodworker. I signed up for the the class to scratch my wood working itch to see if it might turn into a cool new hobby. I was hoping to learn some things about building furniture and seeing if it was something I want to explore further. The intro class is a 10 week program and I made it to week 5 before throwing in the towel. Neil has no business teaching anything. The guy has a major anger and control problem. The class is run from a converted garage behind his house and he doesn't have enough tools to accommodate everybody in the class. Space is tight. Which is manageable and means we had to take turns and learn to work as a group so we all didn't need the same tools at the same time. Not a big deal. However he made it a huge deal. He micromanaged everything to the point of driving quite a few of us insane. He's like the Anal Retentive Carpenter on an angry coke binge. By week 3, he didn't know any of the names of us dudes in the class yet he knew all of he names of the women in the class. Why? Because he was routinely hitting on them in pathetic ways. And probably burning mental images of them into his brain for lonely nights at home when his internet connection goes out. Week 1: The completely useless and extremely painful safety lecture. He talked for 3 hours about: really nothing. He told drinking stories and babbled about nothing that really had to do with safety. Captain Obvious. There wasn't much useful safety content. It was painful to sit through. I assume he doesn't lead by example since he violated all of his own safety rules routinely. Week 2-4: We started on a shelf project. Most of the components were precut and the bulk of experience was sanding things with an orbital sander and drilling screws. Think graduate level Ikea assembly. During the drilling part, he handed out a bunch of phillips driver bits that are used in drills. These are $.99 pieces. He handed out five of them and when we were cleaning up, we could only find four of the five. He went on a tirade that we weren't respecting his tools and had all 7 of us crawl around on the floor for 20 minutes looking for it. We never found it. Neil found it later - in his own pocket when he was doing laundry. When anyone asked questions about anything, he would get really agitated. Like we were dumb dumbs for not knowing wood is sold in 1/4 lengths. Duh. The following week, we were measuring pieces for our shelf project using a tape measure. We had a tape measure we were sharing among the group. Neil walked by our work bench and asked who was using the tape measure. None of us responded because none of us were using it. He went insane. He started yelling and screaming about keeping the work area clean. He started cussing like a scene from The Exorcist, opened the door to the shop and then chucked the tape measure out into the street. This is the same guy who the previous week gave a lecture about respecting the tools and had us crawling around on the floor for a $.99 piece. The guy has no business teaching. There are plenty of other good working schools in the city where you can learn the skills of a potentially very rewarding hobby.