I've tried several systems, Neat, Foundation— and for bigger projects I think they work really well.

For smaller projects, quick prototypes, etc. I've been using calc() to roll my own. It's easy to implement, you can make your mixin for it— it has partial IE9 support.

I would love people's thoughts if you're using it (or something similar) too:

Intro: http://webdesign.tutsplus.com/tutorials/calc-grids-are-the-best-grids--cms-22902

Mixin for it: http://www.sitepoint.com/creative-grid-system-sass-calc/

Just as a follow-up, here's what I intend to cover:

Beginners

Tools

• Sublime, browser, web inspector, jsbin for collaborating

HTML

• Intro to HTML
• Document structure
• Inline verse Block level

CSS

• Linking HTML and CSS together
• Targeting elements
• Targeting nested elements
• Class vs. ID
• Specificity and Cascade
• Resets/Normalize

Box Model

• Layout using floats and clear fix
• Centering
• Semantic HTML
• Padding
• Margin
• Border
• Shorthand
• Inline-block

More Advanced

• Boostrap, Foundation, or other framework of choice
• Middleman
• Bourbon/Neat libraries
• Responsive/Mobile-first development
• Preprocessors: SASS/SCSS
• jQuery

Hey Joel, I'm in Chicago. Let me know where your organization is located. Feel free to email me or tweet me too, we can chat more.

Start by reading through the Beginner's Guide on http://learn.shayhowe.com. Completely free online and a beautifully written guide— completely beginner focused.