Fitness & Athletics Instructors
Carolyn Alexander
Carolyn has a Bachelor’s of Arts in Elementary Education from Aurora University and has certifications in Zumba®, Zumba Basic 2®, Zumba Toning®, Zumba Gold®, and Zumba Gold Toning®. She has been teaching with Community Education since 2009. Carolyn has always loved to dance and while taking Zumba® classes as a participant, the experience sparked a passion in her to share this form of exercise with others who were seeking exercise that was effective, fun, and incorporates all of the elements of fitness: cardiovascular, muscular conditioning, flexibility, and balance. She works very hard to provide a friendly, supportive, and nonjudgmental environment for everyone, no matter what the level of fitness or ability. Come for the exercise; stay for the fun!
Nori Campa
Scott Dawson
Sue Garcia
Health, fitness and wellness are my passion. After spending 8 years as a first grade teacher in 1999 I left the classroom to begin my journey. Initially I spent 2 years personal training and teaching fitness at a number of private and corporate wellness and fitness centers in the northwest suburbs of Chicago. 2 years later started my own fitness company, Sue Garcia Fitness providing fitness and wellness for companies, park districts, and community centers. Since then I have expanded my reach and am working with high school athletes, nursing homes, dance studios and more. For me personally sharing the benefits of fitness with various organizations, businesses, participants, clients and athletes has been amazing.
Lynn Guercio
Vicki Gursoy
Vicki Gursoy earned her Bachelor of Arts degree from Indiana University with a major in World religion and a minor in Sociology and German. She holds certifications in ACE personal training , SCW pilates mat and small apparatus , Yogafit, Les Mills Bodypump and Grit , Piloxing , Schwinn cycling , SCW small group boot camp and Silver Sneakers. Vicki has been teaching since 2002 and with Community Education since 2009.
After losing 65 lbs and getting fit in 2003, she wanted to help others change their life like she did. Vicki will give modifications and progressions to her students, as needed . She teaches all fitness levels with no judgement, so it’s time to join Vicki so she can help you get stronger, both physically and mentally.
Cat King
Cat King received her Associates of Arts from College of Dupage in English. She became interested in belly dancing at an early age when her mother introduced her to it as it is a part of her Turkish heritage. She not only dances both Turkish and Egyptian forms, but her background in folk dancing and fusion styles include Dunyavi Rom, Saidi cane, and sword dancing among many other styles. Cat has been writing and performing choreography as a solo artist and as part of a duet/troupe for about 20 years and performs regularly. With certifications in Yang Style, Temple Form and as a T'ai Chi Chuan instructor, Cat is a well rounded instructor.
As a Community Education instructor since 2016, she is excited to teach her no-impact classes that are great for all ages and body types. Movement is a personal expression. Cat adjusts the movement options so everyone can dance to their appropriate level, depending on learning style, fitness level, or any other physical limitations. And above all, dance fitness can be fun. You’ll leave her class feeling empowered!
Cheri Kirk
Cheri Kirk grew up moving all over being from a military family. She attended High School in Texas and graduated from Travel School in Pittsburg. Cheri is certified in most all Zumba formats, a certified POUND PRO instructor and a licensed Walk Leader. Cheri was a student athlete and wanted to continue that as an adult. She had challenges finding a class that worked for her until she found Jazzercise. Once she mastered that and became an instructor, Walk Live and Zumba were next. Her love of music and passion for exercise keeps her teaching, along with the results she sees from her students. Cheri has been with District 214 since 2016.
Gary Koelbel
Gary Koelbel attended a local high school and has a degree from Southern Illinois University. He has a 5th degree black belt (Godan) in Shotokan Karate and a 1st degree balck belt in Budo Tai Jutsu. In addition to Shotokan Karate, Gary also teaches self defense and kickboxing. He has studied martial arts since 1985 and Shotokan Karate since 1990 and has been with Community Education since 1995. Gary’s story began when he made an acquaintance who he later found to be a martial arts instructor and he encouraged Gary to try a class.
Shotokan Karate is not just about self-defense and fighting competitively, but more about a person's physical, mental and spiritual development. The exercises promote movement and awareness of the whole body. The individual can progress at their own rate to reach the prescribed levels of advancement. Coming to classes consistently and training without any special equipment allows most ages and lifestyles to participate. The depth of art allows everyone to choose to keep learning even over a lifetime.
Sue Labbe
Sue Labbe completed her Bachelor’s of Science in Criminal Justice at Argosy University. Teaching fitness classes is not her full time job, but Sue loves helping others achieve their fitness goals so she decided to add teaching fitness to her life. Her certifications include Pilates Mat, Pi-Yo, Piloxing and Group Strength. Sue started teaching Pilates classes in 2005 and later started teaching Group Strength, Yogalaties, Piloxing and Barre classes. Her classes are high energy, just like her! All fitness levels can participate and Sue truly cares about the health and wellness of her participants, so she also keeps up with current fitness trends to pass along during her classes.
Sandy Moore
Sandy Moore first studied yoga and received her teacher certification through the Sivananda Yoga Organization in 1974. In later years, she received further training and certification through Lotus Yoga and the Temple of Kriya Yoga and is also registered as an E-RYT 500 through Yoga Alliance.
Sandy studied history and dance at the University of Wisconsin and then went on to get a Master’s degree in teaching. She has been teaching yoga with Community Education since 2004 and has taught yoga in a variety of other settings including corporations, classes for cancer wellness at the Alexian Brothers Cancer Institute and Wellness Place, and Chair Yoga at Luther Village and with the Sisters of the Living Word. Sandy strives to make her classes accessible to all by offering many alternative movements and encouraging everyone to move within their range. She structures her classes to include sufficient warm-up movements and core exercises so that basic postures become more accessible. Sandy also likes to include mini-flow and longer flow sequences.
Kathleen Tracy
Kathy has been teaching with Community Education since 2002 and has a certification from the Lotus Yoga Center. When Kathy took her first yoga class, she immediately fell in love with it. Her goal as a Yoga instructor is to help her students feel welcome and at ease, which allows them to move at their own pace.
Chris Van Grondelle
Chris has been working as a teacher and coach in District 214 since 1991. He has also been the coach for badminton for Buffalo Grove High School since 1999. Prior to that, Chris was the head coach at Wheeling High School. Chris received his Bachelor’s degree from the University of Illinois and Masters degree from National Louis University.
In addition to badminton, he has coached football, basketball, baseball, track and cross country at the varsity level. When he started at BGHS, the only position open was coaching badminton. Although his knowledge and experience was in other sports, Chris’s wife had played badminton in college and many of her friends were ranked players in the midwest. He believed he could learn a great deal from them and pass that on to his players.
Chris had a passion and love of sports, specifically badminton, which has guided him through many years and many players in badminton. Badminton has a culture and a following very different from most sports.