Our instructors are experienced computer professionals with years of hands-on experience in the subjects they teach. But you won't find any confusing geek-speak at Compy School — our instructors also have backgrounds in communications, theater, or music, so they can effectively communicate their expertise to you.

Our lead instructor is Arlo Leach. Arlo has worked as a website programmer since 1996, building multimedia and e-commerce websites for corporate and small business clients. At the same time, he has used computers to record, package and promote his original music compositions. Arlo teaches our beginning and intermediate Macintosh and Windows classes, several Internet classes, and anything related to online music.

Elizabeth Gast has been an independent designer for over ten years, specializing in Photoshop art, and is a well-respected member of the National Association of Photoshop Professionals. When she isn't "pushing pixels," she attends to her second love of teaching computers to adults and seniors throughout Chicago. Elizabeth is also pursuing her lifelong dream of starting her own business, a customizable children's alphabet book company called myalphabetbook.com.

Steve Bellinger is a Certified Microsoft Office Specialist and has worked as an MS Office software instructor for over 10 years. He has taught internal, corporate classes as well as public classes at other local training companies. Steve also serves as Director of Technology for PCG Technology Services.

Steve Gadlin is the in-house web developer for Chicago Public Radio. Steve has built web sites and applications on a variety of platforms, and brings has Flash expertise to Compy School. His first computer was a TRS-80 Model 4, and his first programming language was Basic.

Christopher Ramsey runs a small web development company called Illusion Web Development. Chris has been creating websites since he was just 11 years old, although his real passion in technology is communication. Chris has a great deal of expertise in blogging, online radio stations and web-based phone systems. When he's not dabbling with the latest Internet technologies, you can often find Chris writing and playing music with his friends and family.

Compy School is always on the lookout for part-time instructors who can bring new courses to our lineup. Current needs include:

• Microsoft Office 2003 and 2007, especially Outlook 2007
• Windows Vista
• QuickBooks
• Typing

If you'd like to join our team, send a friendly message to describing your teaching experience and areas of expertise.