January 20

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Paula is a community college mathematics professor and STEM Center Coordinator. In her roles she strives to offer students diverse STEM experiences and support them in realizing their STEM career dreams! In her free time she hikes, bikes, writes and sings along to music. She values community building and enjoys spending time with family, friends and most of all, her daughter. 

Tom Reilly is an education technology leader, dad, and lover of the outdoors. He began his storytelling career in high school to explain his whereabouts to his mom. Tom has since told stories with The People Tree, Let Me Tell You, Teller's Night, This Much is True, and As I was Saying.

Chris Rooney has been a resident of Oak Park for 30 years. While he comes from a long line of storytellers, he was introduced to formal storytelling by Errol McLendon in 2024. Since then, he has participated in The Moth storytelling series, and has begun to explore the storytelling community in greater Chicagoland. This is his first time at STORIES R Us.  When he is not telling stories, he works with an non-profit organization in IT, and enjoys participating in a variety of circus and acrobatics arts with his wife Amy and son CJ. 

Act 1 of Carol's life took place all over Chicago's Southwest side, racking up unique life experiences. In 1994, Act 2 moved her to Lockport with her husband and Son #1, to refine her parenting skills as they acquired Sons #2, #3, and #4. Carol's "plot twist" came in 2010, when her beloved Vietnam Veteran husband died from Agent Orange, leaving her to raise their four sons, alone. Now in Act 3, with her sons grown, Carol volunteers with Lockport's Limestone Stage Community Theatre. After a 30-year hiatus, she's back performing on stage, as well as working as Marketing Director. This year, Carol wants to improve her writing enough to be published again! When she's not at home practicing "The Gentle Art of Swedish Death Cleaning," Carol's excited to improve her storytelling with Stories R Us!  She hopes to give her memories a voice and to touch your heart with her words. 

Paul De Wispelaere loves to travel the world, has been to all 50 states, sings, bikes, gardens in his back yard, reads and has an overactive imagination. He is a lifetime Illinois resident and lives in Lockport.