Wonderful place to take a class. I'm learning so much and having a great time. It doesn't matter…read moreif you are new to art or have previous experience, Michael meets you where you're at and helps you reach your potential

I love making things with my hands; I love the sense of accomplishment it gives me. My grandmother…read moretook up upholstery in her 70's and made some beautiful pieces, one of which I inherited. The fabric on the piece isn't really my style and I decided that if it was going to be re-done, I wanted to be the one to do it. There aren't many places to learn upholstery. I am lucky to live a few blocks from the shop; my classmates weren't so lucky, they all lived at least 20 miles away. I wasn't sure what to expect with the beginner's class, so it's worth noting that in the beginner class you most likely won't work on an actual piece of furniture.* What you will do is complete four projects that give you the skills to move on to actual furniture. The class is very hands on, you will thread a machine and start sewing in your first class. There are no prerequisites for this class; half of us hadn't used a sewing machine before. Owning a garment machine, there were a few things that took getting used on upholstery machines. There are two instructors; Jeff, the owner, taught my class and one of his staff taught the other. I can't speak to the other teacher's style, but Jeff is very laid back and a firm believer of learning by doing. Jeff is very generous with his time, knowledge, tools and materials; many students don't finish all of the projects in the allotted class time, but you're welcome to come back and finish after your session is complete (provided there's room). You're always your harshest critic, but I was so flattered when the manfriend thought my final project was something I had bought. I really loved this class and can't wait to start the intermediate class. The intermediate is like an independent study, you bring the piece you want to work on. If you've meandered by and seen the work in the window on Lincoln, those are student pieces. * One project is a bar stool cover. If you've got a piece to work on, you can use it. TIP: There's a lot of close work in the class and it's easy to get into a groove. Wear comfortable clothes you wouldn't mind getting dirty and bring your glasses, water and a snack.

I just took the "Beginners' Upholstery Class" with Jeff Kraut and LOVED it!…read more The class covers upholstery techniques that can be applied to automotive upholstery, furniture upholstery, and bag making. It is taught on industrial sewing machines (no previous sewing experience necessary). I already knew basic sewing and I definitely picked up lots of new tricks/techniques. Some of the topics we covered: * setting up the machines and basic sewing. * quilted stitching on vinyl (like on the back of a car seat or stuffed chair) * adding piping trim * zipper installation and sewing a small case * stapling construction and making a panel (like recovering a chair seat or a car side panel) * beginning pattern making and making a seat cushion Projects might vary a little from class to class. I've posted photos of my work. The class was Mon & Wed, 7-9pm for 5 weeks. It's located just down the street from Trader Joe's on Lincoln. Easy parking & near the El. You can get more info from Jeff at canvasboss@yahoo.com. I'm looking forward to the advanced class!

This has helped my child immensely with physics. The tutor has a great demeanor. Patient,…read moreunderstanding, has instilled confidence, works with the existing curriculum and style of her teacher to make the process seamless, and makes sure the student has clear understanding of the work. Highly recommend.

Our senior daughter was struggling in math at Naperville North HS because her teacher was not…read moreteaching. She played on her computer while having the students sit in study groups watching YouTube videos. We had no choice but to look into tutoring. Club Z delivered! They're awesome! Our daughter loves her tutor Brian and says he's very easy and fun to work with. She's now getting a B in her class and it's all due to Brian and Club Z. She's a much happier person because of this. When my wife had her Zoom Parent/Teacher conference, her math teacher was so excited to tell her how much improvement our daughter had made. Then her face dropped when she was told it's because of tutoring. Love it!! I sincerely believe Club Z has much more to do with Naperville's reputation for great schools than District 203. Club Z delivered what NNHS wouldn't. Well worth it. I highly recommend Club Z!

Came here for a training and it was a great space! They have two FREE parking lots (I feel like…read morethis is almost unheard of) and easy accessibility to the building. The staff were super friendly - the building is a bit of a maze, but staff were kind to answer any questions. There is also a huge green house and outdoor garden which provided a lovely ambiance. I attended my training in one of the classrooms and it was spacious, temperature was actually good and the technology was up to date. They also have a cafeteria but I'm not sure what they serve. There are also some fast food places nearby for lunch. I would definitely come back here for any type of trainings.

Well I will speak of the vaccines given to the general public during one of the most horrendous…read morepandemics we've seen in almost 100 years. Working the PODS as we call them, I was able to be point person in several aspects of the distribution of the pandemic vaccines. Arturo Velasquez is definitely a front runner when it comes to location. Unfortunately it can "only" accommodate 300 people a day due to the gym size and guidelines for bringing people in for vaccines. Worked here for a few months and loved working with the general public also, but alas, the city only can stay at this location so long before we had to return to our regular jobs. But with so much effort, AVI (Arturo Velasquez Institute) was able to let us share our experience in running a POD during a pandemic. The school is beautiful and who knows, I may come back after all of this pandemic and take a class or two. Be safe everyone, and get vaccinated!

Best trade school to in my eyes. Go in knowing nothing leave with all the knowledge you could…read morepossibly have, teachers are excellent and have no problem breaking problems / questions down many different ways so you can get it. Everyone does their part to assist you but if you ask me my opinion the most helpful and most committed person wanting you to succeed there is LAURIE!!! Shes the best. Laurie helps with everything you need from tools, resume, questions about jobs, to finding a job after school. Won't go wrong going there to learn HVAC/R or Welding. EVERYONE is a big help, if you're looking to get into a trade my advice is go to ETI School of Skilled Trades! Best thing that happened for me was enrolling, now I have the experience and knowledge of HVAC/R and now getting paid $24 an hour at a commercial job. So thankful for the Teachers, Administrators, and everyone there. -Q

Complete scam. No certs were given after earned...took payment and left students with federal…read morestudent aid bills and no certifications.

A great experience! I took the 101 course and although I'm definitely not a master craftsman (they…read morewould have had to perform miracles for that to happen) I took away a lot from my time here. Mark, the instructor for 101, is extremely knowledgable and accommodating. I missed a couple of classes because of work, but was able to make it up and finish with the class thanks to his help! I learned a lot more than I thought I would and am now considering taking the 102 course.

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.

We came here for an event about poetry in various languages by Chicago-based poets and translators…read more We used to come years ago (pre-pandemic) to watch movies, or listen to book reviews. We speak NO German but it was always a nice space to visit. We never joined to study the language or take classes but we definitely want to visit someday. The space is about how I remember it, and the presentation (we were kind of late) was good. The seating was not ideal. I was not able to see the subtitles for the readings (there were PowerPoint slides) so I sat in the very back on a sofa. I really blame myself for being too late to sit up front, not the institution. There was a wine reception following, with treats from local bakers as well as the Italian Cultural Institute. We chatted with a few people too. The view of Michigan Avenue from there is so great, even at night. I'd go back for another event, I do miss this place.

Once upon a time, I took German in High School. Over a decade later, I decided to rekindle my…read morerelationship with the language. There's a good chance that I may be going to Germany to teach English next year, so now is a good a time as any to take the class! I thought I would know a lot coming into the class (I barely tested into A1.2) but then I realized that there were already many things I didn't know or forgot. But the great thing about these classes is that you are thrown in and fully immersed in a certain theme of German speaking. ie, asking for directions, making a doctors appointment, telling time, etc. Unlike my HS German class, you don't necessarily learn "from the start" but take steps towards learning the language in a way that may be helpful in speaking and understanding. My last class is next week, but I've already signed up for the next level. The instructors seem to rotate and vary depending on skill level, but our teacher is simply the best! She's always high energy, positive, and makes the class engaging. I certainly hope she's the instructor for the next level! A great course at a great price. High recommendation.