Meet Your Instructors
Justice Park District has an amazing team of qualified program instructors! Here you can find information regarding your program instructors. More profiles to come!
Beginning Acting- Gracie Polchan
Grace Polchan has been acting for the past 7 years. She has been in countless plays, musicals, and theater training classes. She even does extra work for tv shows and movies! She loves working with children and inspiring a new generation of young actors!
Dance and Cheer / Beginning Tumbling- Bella Baranski
Bella Baranski has danced and practiced gymnastics for over 6 years. She is captain of the sailorette team at Argo High School which has won 1st place in conference competition for the past two years. Bellas enthusiasm for dancing and cheering is very apparent in how she teaches her classes!
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Tai Chi Chuan / Chi-Gung- Patrick Baio
Mr. Patrick Baio has been training and practicing Chinese Gung Fu such as eight animal Chi Tai Chang, White Crane, Praying Mantis, Eagle Claw Gung Fu's, Tai Chi Chuan, Ba Gua Chang, Wu Hsing Pai and Chin Na for Fifty years. He is a fifth level Black Sash and has the title of Sifu and Lao Shi. He also has his own private practice and teaches classes across the Chicago Land area.
Yoga - Aneta Trusner
Aneta Trusner is a Registered Yoga Teacher (E-RYT 200) and a healthy lifestyle advocate. She has been bringing cultures and people together. Aneta was trained in traditional Hatha Yoga, Yoga 4 Cancer, and Yoga Nidra.
Aneta provides various styles of classes ranging from restorative, beginner, and gentle to more active classes using breath and movement to find stillness and focus. She is big on mindfulness and body awareness. Aneta received her M.A. in Education in Poland and Cambridge certificates in the UK. Yoga changed her life. She teaches public classes at local Park Districts and has a thriving private practice. www.zestflo.com
Music- Kathleen Thorson
Kathy has studied music since childhood and currently teaches band and music classes at the local junior high. She is proficient and can teach: Piano, Flute, Clarinet, Trombone and Saxophone. Kathy has been teaching at the Park District for the past 15 years. She looks forward to teaching many more young musicians.
Happy Feet / Twinkle Toes- Cherie Bennett
"My grandmother was a dancer and she was my inspiration for starting dance."
Miss Cherie began her dance training at the age of 9 at Tip Tap Toe Dance Studio. Training under various teachers including Paulette Mola and an instructor from Hubbard Street Dance Company. Training in tap, jazz, ballet and hip hop. Miss Cherie also took a summer semester of dance at Moraine Valley Community College with dance Instructor Melanie Herman, a former Chicago Honey Bear. Miss Cherie was a teacher at Tip Tap Toe for 11 years. Miss Cherie also taught at Bridgeview Park District for 17 years including instructing dance birthday parties. Pleasant Dale Park District for 5 years and Palos Heights Parks and Recreation for 16 years, teaching Preschoolers, through adult age as well as a variety of Parent/tot classes and childcare. Miss Cherie participated in a dance - off with Debbie Allen in Chicago.
"Keep dancing."
Violin/cello - Emily Zwijack
Emily Zwijack is an undergraduate at The Chicago College of Performing Arts pursuing a double degree in Music Education and Violin Performance. She currently studies with renowned violinists Almita Vamos and MingHuan Xu Choi. Emily grew up in the Chicago area where she developed a substantial passion for the violin at age 12. She studied privately with Matthew Mantell for 3 years and Carl Johnston for 2 years. Emily was a member of the Protege Philharmonic, Chicago Youth Symphony Orchestra, and the CYSO chamber music program. She served as concertmaster of the Argo Community High School Honors Chamber orchestra for 3 years. Emily was the president of her high school orchestra council and managed an online platform representing the schools’ music page. She also currently manages her own page on Instagram where she posts daily musical updates, practice videos, and musical tips to show the joy and process of learning a musical instrument. On her Instagram platform, she goes by thatviolingirl6. In her early music career, Emily was selected for the prestigious Illinois Music Education Association District festival all 4 years of high school. She also had the privilege of attending the All-State conference festival in 2019 and 2020, where she was announced 15th overall in the Illinois honors state orchestra 1st violins. She has been a part of many other musical events as well, such as; Birch Creek, Illinois Summer Youth Music (ISYM), Chicago International Music Institute (CIMI), Suburban Youth Symphony Orchestra (SYSO), and more. In these events, she has performed in masterclasses with Robert Chen, Laura Chen, Liba Shacht, John Heffernan, Almita Vamos, and David Taylor. During her musical journey, Emily studied the cello with Emily Mantell for 2 years. She also became a member of honors chorale at Argo Community High School during her senior year. Emily has recently discovered her love for music theory and analysis in her undergraduate program. She conducted her first research project on Aural Skills pedagogy during February-June 2021 and is co-hosting The Theory Club podcast with Lydia Bangura, which is a podcast about music theory and musicology. Emily manages their Instagram page as well. Emily began teaching private lessons in August of 2019 and continues to do so with her own private students. She previously taught lessons at the Justice Park District between February 2021-November 2021. She is currently a violin instructor on Through the Staff’s violin faculty and at the Above and Beyond music store in Berwyn, Illinois. She is continuing her musical journey at The Chicago College of Performing Arts and plans to become an orchestra director, teach private violin lessons, tutor music theory, and perform in well-known orchestras in the Chicagoland area.