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15 / SEPTEMBER • OCTOBER 2017
Private instructors help neighbors reach their goals By Tricia Parker | Community Contributor
New Eastside is a gold mine of educational resources including private instructors that can teach anything from swimming to music. Here we profile two New Eastside tutors who are helping neighbors reach their goals.
Amie Krueger—“Coach K” Swimming Instructor If you were to see five-year-old Leila Allen somersault into her apartment’s pool at the Park Millennium (222 N. Columbus Dr.), you would be surprised to learn that only four months ago, the leopard-clad swimmer feared getting in the water at all.
pools of the New Eastside. For seven years, she has coached New Eastsiders of all ages and skill levels, including those who simply want to have more fun on vacation. Krueger, who was a competitive swimmer in high school, describes herself as “a tough love, safety first type of coach.” “I’m not your ‘Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star’ teacher,” she laughs. She displays a tender side, too, during her hour-long lessons.
Her newfound confidence can be attributed to lessons with swim instructor Amie Krueger, says Leila’s mom Noriko Allen. “After she got past the fear, she can’t wait for the lesson,” says Allen. “She will dress up five hours “You’re a mermaid on a rock? A before.” floating rock?” Krueger calls to Leila, Krueger, a former retail manager, says mirroring her moves to elicit a gigher passion for swimming pushed her gle. When the two are not practicing out of corporate America and into the strokes, turns and underwater smiles,
Krueger helps Leila perform “flippy-dippies” through the air. “I was a little bit nervous,” Leila admits about the first few flippy-dippies. Even though travelling from building to building to teach swimming can be a logistical challenge for Krueger— particularly in colder weather—she couldn’t imagine herself doing anything else. “This is the most rewarding thing I’ve ever done,” she says. $40 per hour, www.swimwithck.com Amie Krueger assists five-year-old Leila Allen perform flippy dippies at the pool in the Park Millennium condo building, 222. N Columbus Dr. Photo: Tricia Parker
Brant Buckley—Guitar Instructor Without REM’s “Losing My Religion,” 30-year-old Brant Buckley might have never found his way to being a guitar instructor. “Every day my classmate would give a cassette to my bus driver with [the song],” Buckley says, recalling memories as a five-year-old in Escazu, Costa Rica. “It planted a seed.” In the States, Buckley heard the song again as a 13-year-old. He then began teaching himself guitar, igniting a lifelong passion for songwriting and teaching. “This is my calling,” he says. After attending Berklee College of Music in Boston, Buckley found his way to Guitar Chicago, 150 N. Michigan Ave. He also gives periodic free nighttime lessons for residents of The Tides, The Shoreham and Aqua. He says many of his students are nearby professionals who use guitar lessons as therapy. “Many of [my students] are stressed with their jobs,” he says. “They’re lawyers, consultants, financial people, and they’re looking for an outlet. I’ll teach them at 8 p.m. to 9 p.m. on some nights—and then they need to go back to work.” He says students progress rapidly. “Within a lesson, they’ll come away with two or three chords to beginning songs,” he says. Buckley encourages his students to not give up, and embraces a “low-key, patient, easygoing” style. “Music is a healing art form,” he says. $40 per half hour; $80 per hour, www.guitarchicago.com
Brant Buckley. Photo courtesy: Brant Buckley